29 graduates of Handong Global University’s (President Chang Soon-Heung) Handong International Law School (HILS) passed the US bar exam conducted last February. Among them, 28 passed the Washington D.C. bar exam and 1 passed the California bar exam. The US bar exam is conducted twice every year in February and July.
Vu Tung Bach, one of the successful graduates, graduated summa cum laude from HILS in December last year. He worked at a Korean corporate hotel in Vietnam before entering HILS. Vu Tung Bach said, "Although it was a very difficult test, I would like to thank the professors who helped me to prepare well first. It was all thanks to various seniors who gave practical advice and friends who went through hardships and studied together." He also stated, “I want to help the foreign entrepreneurs who invest in Vietnam through legal activities in the field of corporate law and banking law and contribute to the economic development of Vietnam.”
Dean Eric Enlow of HILS said, “We are meeting the demand of foreign lawyers, which is steadily growing in the domestic legal market, by continuously producing US lawyers at our graduate school, the only three-year US law school in Korea. Also, the graduates who are already active lawyers are receiving excellent evaluations, and thus our position will get higher in the legal market."
Handong International Law School, which opened in 2002 as Korea’s first U.S.-style law school, has produced 428 graduates who passed the U.S. bar exam, which is more than 70 percent of all graduates. This is a high acceptance rate even when compared to other US law schools. HILS’s curriculum, which is considered one of the best law schools in the field of international law, is almost the same as that of the U.S. law schools, and classes are conducted in 100 percent English. The faculty is also composed of former U.S. lawyers. Students at the HILS will also cultivate their ability to reflect theoretical knowledge in practice through internships at government ministries, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, the Supreme Court, domestic and foreign law firms and companies during their school years. Recently, not only the production of American lawyers but also the fruits of fostering international legal professionals have emerged, making it an international law school, both in name and reality. Some graduates also obtained a lawyer's license in New Zealand and Australia by completing a certain number of local education courses and taking exams. Two foreign students of Indian nationality went back to their native India after graduation and passed the bar exam there as well.
(Photo) HILS Graduate Vu Tung Bach, who passed the US Bar Exam
