Groundbreaking hands-on legal education program features FGV students

Two students from FGV’s Rio de Janeiro Law School (Direito Rio) have been chosen to participate in one of the most innovative legal education experiences ever conceived. Ana Carolina Alhadas and Julia Costa Batalha will represent the school at LWOW X (2017), sponsored by LawWithoutWalls.

Created by the University of Miami in 2014, LWOW X is a virtual and comprehensive hands-on legal education program, designed to integrate students from the 30 best Law and Business Administration schools around the world, including Harvard, Stanford, Melbourne University, and University College London.

Participants are divided into groups of two to three students, supported by two to three mentors, and are given a specific problem to solve. Case subjects include youth and advocacy, youth justice, human rights, and access to education and justice for vulnerable populations. Each team is tasked with the development of a value project: a feasible business plan and a prototype to creatively solve the problem.

“LWOW X is a global program that allows students to experience the process of developing creative and original solutions to latent problems, applying the content learned at law schools. Therefore, the program puts students in evidence and simulates, in a microscale, the job market challenges that will be faced in the near future. Our main goal is to come up with the best possible solution assisted by all of the mechanisms and professionals that FGV always makes available to us,” said Batalha.

The program begins in January, followed by three months of virtual team dynamics via videoconference, including presentations by renowned leaders from all over the world, culminating with the ‘ConPosium’ – an event that takes place in early April, when each team will present their projects to a panel of judges.

For Alhadas, the encouragement received from Direito Rio to rethink institutions, their designs and the constant problematization of law education methods – even inside the school itself –, were paramount to engage in a competition such as LWOW X.

“When I heard about LWOW X, I saw an opportunity to put all of this into practice; seeking new ways to solve social conflicts and studying law education with the eyes of those who are directly affected by it: the students, who are the future players in this system. I hope this will be an enriching and innovative experience, and that we can create the best possible solution with the help of the Law School’s professors,” she said.

Visit the website to learn more about LWOW X.