LawWithoutWalls launch

UCL Laws student Anna Pope reports on the innovative launch event for LawWithoutWalls, hosted on 15 and 16 January by the Faculty of Laws at UCL - the only UK university involved in the international teaching project. 'LawWithoutWalls is like stone soup,' explained Michele DeStefano Beardslee, Associate Professor at University of Miami School of Law (and catalyst for the project), in her opening remarks to participants at the LawWithoutWalls (LWOW) launch event at UCL. 'We are all bringing what we have ' and putting it in the pot.' Her statements sum up one of the fundamental principles of LawWithoutWalls: collaboration. For LawWithoutWalls, collaboration means bringing together 22 students from six universities and three continents to embrace the potential for innovating and rethinking legal education and practice. As Trish White, Dean of the University of Miami School of Law explained, the purpose of LawWithoutWalls is to 'think collaboratively, broadly and collectively'. The launch event marked the start of a three-month programme where participating students will each consider an innovative solution to a current issue in either legal education or practice. During this time, students will meet for weekly virtual teaching sessions (using Adobe Connect) and be supported by academic and practitioner mentors.