My daughter age 19 will graduate (gpa 3.4 ) this coming semester with
a BA in Iternational Relations, she is fluent in Spanish, she would
like to study Law in Cuba or the Dominican Republic. A two part
question, are there any scholarships available for an American to do
this?, and are any of these law schools ABA certified? Of what value
is this education in the United States and what problems would she
have passing the Bar in North America, any suggestions as to how she
should approach this desire. I know the easy answer would be to go to
law school here. I realize she could probably supplement her income or
cost of school by teaching English in either country, is this a valid
assumption? any suggestions as to which schools in either country are
the best?

Hello and thank you for your question.

Obtaining admission to a US state bar following completion of a non-US
("foreign") law degree is certainly a non-traditional approach, but it
is not impossible.  Because of the US trade embargo, I would suggest
that between the two nations, the D.R. might be a better choice than
Cuba.

Here is the list of recognized law schools in Cuba and the D.R.:
Cuba
Universidad de la Habana
   Escuela de Ciencias Juridicas San Lazaro Y L. Vedads, CUBA,
Contact: Office of the Dean
 
Dominican Republic 
Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra Facultad de Ciencias
Juridicas
    Ave. Abraham Lincoln esq. Romulo Betancourt Santo Domingo,
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, Tel: (809) 535-0100, Fax: (809) 535-0053, Contact:
Lic. Carmen de Bejaran, Dean
Universidad Autonoma De Santo Domingo Facultad de Ciencias Juridicas
    Ave. Correa y Cidron esq. Alma Mater Santo Domingo APDO 1355,
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, Tel: (809) 533-0045, Fax: (809) 532-0256, Contact:
Lic. Roberto Santana, Dean
Universidad Central Del Este Facultad de Ciencias Jurisdicas
   Ave. Circunvalacion, Edifico Nuevo San Pedro de Macoris, DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC, Tel: 809 529-3562, Fax: 809 529-5146, Contact: Dr. Antonio
Leon Sasso, Dean
Universidad Iberoamericana Facultad de Derecho
    Avenida Francia No. 129 Santo Domingo, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, Tel:
(809) 689-4000, Fax: (809) 686-5820, Contact: Dr. Pablo Garrido, Dean
Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena Facultad de De Ciencias
Juridicas y Politica
    Autopista Duarte, Km. 1/2 Santo Domingo, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, Tel:
562-6601, Fax: None, Contact: Dr. Manuel Berges Chupani, Dean
Universidad Tecnologica de Santiago Facultad de Derecho
    Ave. Maximo Gomez esq. Jose Contreras Santo Domingo, DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC, Tel: (809) 220-6220, Fax: None, Contact: Lic. Eugenio Jose
Pelaez Ruiz, Dean
http://www.hg.org/latinam-schools.html#domrepub

The ABA will allow a US law student to receive course credit for law
study abroad if certain criteria are met.
Legal Study Abroad
http://www.ilrg.com/lsahq/aba-rules.html

But admission to the Bar is a matter of state law and administration.

The New York Bar sets the following requirements:
"Eligibility of Foreign Educated Applicants: Section 520.6 of the
Rules of the Court of Appeals contains the provisions covering the
eligibility of foreign-educated applicants for admission to the New
York State bar examination. In order to be considered eligible to take
the bar examination under Section 520.6, the applicant shall show
fulfillment of the educational requirements for admission to the
practice of law in a country other than the United States by
successful completion of a period of study which is (1) the durational
equivalent and (2) the substantial equivalent of the legal education
required by Section 520.3. We strongly suggest that all interested
applicants review Rule 520.6 prior to requesting an evaluation. A copy
of the Court Rules are available on this website.

Generally, a minimum of three years full-time or four years part-time
law study in a law school is required to satisfy (1) the durational
requirement. External study, correspondence study, and distance
learning are not recognized by the Board, notwithstanding the fact
that such study may be recognized by the admitting authority of the
country where you were educated. In order to satisfy (2) the
substantive requirement, the Board must determine, at a minimum that:
(a) the foreign country where the degree was obtained is one whose
jurisprudence is based upon the principles of the English Common Law
and, (b) that the program and course of study successfully completed
by the applicant was the substantial equivalent of the legal education
provided by an approved law school in the United States. The Board
must establish that the applicant meets both the durational and
substantive requirements in order to qualify to take the bar
examination. Additionally, the foreign law school which the applicant
attended must be recognized by the competent accrediting agency of the
government of such other country, or of a political subdivision
thereof, as qualified and approved."
Foreign legal education
http://www.nybarexam.org/foreign.htm
http://www.nybarexam.org/court.htm

I have not looked at the admission requirements of any state other
than New York.  Please let me know if there is any US state of
particular interest to your daughter, and I will endeavor to search
out its rules.

Search terms used:
aba accreditation "foreign law school"
"new york state bar" reciprocity foreign

Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to look into this
question.  If you find any of it unclear, or if there is any
particular state that I should look at, please request clarification. 
I would appreciate it if you would hold off on rating my answer until
I have an opportunity to reply.

Sincerely,
Google Answers Researcher
Richard-ga

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Clarification of Answer by richard-ga on 25 Apr 2003 10:20 PDT

Hello again.

In rereading the NY rule that I set out in my answer, I realized that
its requirements include that "the foreign country where the degree
was obtained is one whose jurisprudence is based upon the principles
of the English Common Law."

Unfortunately, all of the world's Spanish-language nations follow the
Civil Law which is rooted in the Napoleonic Code.  That is a system
fundamentally different from the English Common Law.

So I must conclude that the program that you have in mind for her will
not work.

Sorry,
-R

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Request for Answer Clarification by gabby20-ga on 25 Apr 2003 10:50 PDT

If I am reading you correctly, are you saying that if she attended a
law school in either of those two countries, which has the Civil law
rooted in the Napoleonic code, that she may be wasting her time , if
she ever wanted to utilize the law education in the US as a attorney,
because she would not qualify to sit for a Bar exam. would this be
true?
Are you saying that all the individuals that move to the US from a
Latin America country and either went to law school there or were
attorneys there, can not be attorneys here withhout going to law
school again in the US.
Then,if this is true, she maybe best served to go  law school in a
place like Miami

---

Clarification of Answer by richard-ga on 25 Apr 2003 12:53 PDT

Yes, because the two legal systems, Civil Law and Common Law, have
very little in common.  For example, Civil Law does not recognize
trusts as legal entities.  Trial procedures are also very different
under the two systems.

-R

Gabby, perhaps you would like to look into the law program at McGill
University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They have a unique BCL/LLB
undergraduate degree that teaches both civil and common law. You can
check it out at:

www.law.mcgill.ca

The main university page is at: www.mcgill.ca

However, one requirement of this program is a working knowledge of
French; although generally McGill is an english-speaking university,
the law faculty teaches some courses in French, some in English
(depending on the professor, I assume).

As opposed to your daughter, I have been looking into this school
because I would like the opportunity to work abroad, and not be
limited to only North America (and other ex-British colonies, which is
generally where Common Law is practised).

Just something you may want to consider. Also, studying at a Canadian
university is quite a bit cheaper than in the US (or at least, that
seems to explain the large number of Americans that I encountered in
my own studies!).

-Synerjen