http://www.utlaw.edu/news/index.htm#szeged
Hungarian law graduates sample law and life in Toledo through visit coordinated by UT College of Law
 Eight College of Law faculty members have participated in the Szeged American Law Program. Pictured are (at left) Professor and Associate Dean Daniel Steinbock and Professor James Klein; (at right) Professor Bruce Kennedy and Professor Beth Eisler. Not pictured are Professors David Harris, Phillip Closius, Llewellyn Gibbons, and James Tierney. The Szeged University Law School graduates are (back, from left to right) Vera Jegesy, Szabolcs Szendrő, Ágnes Keszi, Réka Valastyán; (front, left to right) Melinda Lánczi, Judit Magony and Mariann Szekeres. |
As part of The University of Toledo College of Law’s partnership with the University of Szeged Law Department in Hungary, seven Szeged law graduates came to Toledo in July to sample law and life in the U.S.
The graduates stayed on The University of Toledo campus at the International House and completed internships in four legal settings, shadowing attorneys in both the government sector and private practice. Their first week was spent at the United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio; the second week was at the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas; the third week was at the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office; and the fourth week was spent in local law offices. Some activities the College of Law helped facilitate for after work hours include visits to a Mud Hens game, the Toledo Museum of Art, and other area attractions. The College of Law also helped facilitate visits with area politicians, including State Representative Peter Ujvagi, who is of Hungarian heritage.
“Hungary has the same population and number of law schools as Ohio,” said Associate Dean and Professor Daniel Steinbock. “To operate in an integrated Europe and a newly globalized world, by necessity, Hungarian lawyers need to understand foreign law.”
The graduates are fluent in English and financed their travels, Steinbock said. They hoped to supplement the knowledge about American law that they’ve gained in the classroom with observations about practicing law in the U.S.
UT Law launched this program in conjunction with the University of Szeged in 2005. Over the course of the first two years of the program, eight College of Law professors have traveled to Hungary to teach short courses in American law, giving Szeged students a taste of the more interactive American style of legal education.
The professors each taught in their respective areas of expertise – constitutional law, evidence, intellectual property law, contracts, property law, civil procedure, and criminal law – and came back with warm memories of the welcome they experienced in Szeged and of the classroom interaction with Szeged students. The program was designed to expose Szeged students to typical U.S. law classes, complete with case analysis and the Socratic Method, but the Szeged students aren’t the only ones who benefit. The program offers UT Law professors an opportunity to gain international teaching experience and gather different perspectives on their particular areas of expertise.
The UT Law professors who have taught in Hungary include Professors Daniel Steinbock (now Associate Dean for Academic Affairs), Beth Eisler, Bruce Kennedy, David Harris, James Tierney, Llew Gibbons, Jim Klein and former Professor and Dean Phil Closius.
