Global law firm White & Case LLP, along with Fordham Law School, GIMPA Law Faculty and the INES-Ruhengeri Law Faculty, announces a week of legal ethics programs and events, including the launch of the fourth annual Legal Ethics Training Program.
Held in Ghana since 2016, this year's program takes place in Rwanda and includes law students from 12 African countries.
These events are organized by the African Centre on Law & Ethics (ACLE), established in 2017 by White & Case, Fordham Law School and GIMPA Law School, to help facilitate a growing commitment to legal ethics through research, scholarship and training.
This four-day interactive course covers the principles and rules central to professional legal practice—in Rwanda as well as other jurisdictions. The program's innovative format makes use of practical exercises in small group sessions to discuss issues relating to the legal codes of ethics, regulation and enforcement, the relationship between attorneys and judges, confidentiality and avoiding conflicts of interest.
Seventy-one law students, hailing from 12 African countries, will participate in the program. Rwandan students will be joined by law students from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The faculty includes lawyers and professors from Rwanda, Ghana, Fordham Law School and White & Case partners Jennifer Paradise, Jacquelyn MacLennan and Claire Matheson Kirton, and Senior Manager of Global Citizenship Elizabeth Black.
White & Case partner and general counsel, Jennifer Paradise, who helped design the program's curriculum, said, "instilling a strong sense of legal ethics in the lawyers of the future could not be more important—in Rwanda or anywhere else. It is good to see the program move to a new region in Africa, teaching law students from 12 countries who will take this important information home with them as they begin their legal careers."
Interim Director of the ACLE and Clinical Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, Professor Paolo Galizzi recognized the essential role played by Dr. Fructuose Bigirimana of INES-Ruhengeri Law Faculty and White & Case in making the events possible. Galizzi said, "we are proud of ACLE's programs and especially pleased to expand throughout Africa and work with more lawyers and law students on the critical issues of ethics and the role lawyers play in society."
The ACLE focuses on four areas of programming: conferences and symposia; law school curriculum modules on legal ethics; executive education for practicing lawyers and judges; and the Legal Ethics Training Program for law students.
Key event highlights include:
- On Monday, Jacquelyn MacLennan joined Chief Justice Sam Rugege of the Rwanda Supreme Court, Julien Gustave Kavaruganda, President of the Rwandan Bar Association, Dr. Fabien Hagenimana, Vice Chancellor, INES-Ruhengeri, and Kofi Abotsi, GIMPA Law Faculty, to provide remarks.
- On Wednesday, an evening workshop will take place for members of the Rwandan judiciary and legal practitioners entitled "Comparative Perspectives on Legal Ethics: Building Cross-Border Understanding." Paradise and MacLennan will join Bar President Kavaruganda and Kofi Abotsi, of GIMPA Law Faculty, to discuss the importance of ethics and the fundamental role it plays in strengthening the rule of law.
About Fordham Law School
Situated in New York City, the global epicenter of business and culture, Fordham Law School cultivates the collaborative community, intellectual curiosity, professional craft, and commitment to service vital to creating lawyers and legal scholars who can move our profession, society and world forward. Follow Fordham Law School on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
About White & Case
White & Case is a leading global law firm with lawyers in 44 offices across 30 countries. Among the first US-based law firms to establish a truly global presence, we provide counsel and representation in virtually every area of law that affects cross-border business. Our clients value both the breadth of our global network and the depth of our US, English and local law capabilities in each of our regions and rely on us for their complex cross-border transactions, as well as their representation in arbitration and litigation proceedings. To learn more about the Firm, our work on behalf of clients, and our Global Pro Bono Practice, take a look at our Global Citizenship pages at www.whitecase.com.
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