American Law Institute prepares students for success

Jean Matthieu, a lawyer from Belgium, has come a long way since he studied in ELI’s American Law and Legal English Institute (ALLEI) in 1997. Soon after returning to Belgium, he wrote to express his gratitude for the program.

“This stay in Delaware was simply fantastic,” he said. “I have been really impressed by the program of courses and visits that were arranged for us. I have rarely received such lively lessons from law teachers, and I learned quite a lot for such a short time.”

The ALLEI student was soon accepted into a yearlong internship, working as an attorney researcher for the World Court at The Hague. It was an incredible year of working with attorneys and judges from around the world. As he wrote from The Hague, “Every day, I use the knowledge of American law and legal English I got while studying in Delaware.”

Where is Jean Matthieu now? In August 2003, he started a master’s degree in law at Columbia University Law School. When he first arrived in New York, he wrote again to ELI.

“I am so grateful for what ALLEI has done for me,” he said. “You cannot realize how important it is for foreign lawyers to benefit from the bridge-building tradition that your program has. Your ALLEI program also showed me the route I had to take to achieve my own goals.”

ALLEI was offered twice in 2003, in January and July. Fifteen lawyers, judges and law students from a variety of countries took classes and seminars in topics such as American court structure and procedure, contract and commercial law, constitutional law, corporate law, products liability and international law. On-campus classes were taught by attorney Christopher Wolfe, ELI’s legal studies coordinator, while additional seminars and professional visits were facilitated by several other attorneys and judges in Delaware. While studying in Delaware, the scholars visited state and federal courts and law firms and government agencies in Delaware, Washington, DC and New York City.

Since the inception of the program in 1997, several ALLEI scholars have followed Jean Matthieu and have gone on to continue their legal studies at American law schools, while others returned home to their law practice responsibilities.

ALLEI will be offered again in January and July of 2004.