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Akron Law prof. accepted as Fulbright scholar at Hanoi Law
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: June 21, 2019
He has been a member of The University of Akron School of Law faculty since 2014, now Patrick Gaughan is making news as the first to receive the Core U.S. Fulbright Scholar award to teach at Hanoi Law University in Vietnam.
Gaughan, who is also the first U.S. Fulbright scholar among Akron Law faculty, was notified of his acceptance in March.
“I am extremely excited about the opportunity,” said Gaughan, associate professor of law and assistant dean for global engagement at Akron Law. “It was a very competitive process and I am very pleased that I was chosen.
“The country has evolved greatly since the war and continues to grow,” he said. “I look forward to working with the students in a university located in one of the most successful emerging markets in the world.”
In a recent email, Nguyen Van Quang Ph.D., associate professor of law and head of the International Cooperation Department at Hanoi Law University stated, “We are very excited to have Pat as a Fulbright scholar next year and look forward to closely working with him in Hanoi.”
“It’s a great honor for Pat, who has been developing a relationship with educators at Hanoi Law for several years now,” said Akron Law Dean Christopher J. (C.J.) Peters. “It’s also a real feather in our cap.
“Professor Gaughan has both a law degree and a doctorate in international business, and he will use his time in Vietnam to do a comparative study of the legal frameworks for public-private partnerships,” said Peters. “He also will teach several courses to Hanoi Law students on American law and research methods and will lead a faculty workshop there. The Fulbright will advance his scholarship and teaching by exposing him directly to Vietnamese legal, business and educational frameworks.
“Pat’s Fulbright also will create opportunities for future partnerships that will benefit Akron Law students and faculty.”
Gaughan will start at Hanoi Law University in January 2020, teaching LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws), LL.M. and Ph.D. students, while working on his research topic, BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) contracts.
“Many emerging markets such as Vietnam use these contracts,” said Gaughan. “When an emerging market needs to build a large infrastructure project, the government will grant a concession to a private company in exchange for the company financing, building and operating the project.
“Under the contract, the company will receive revenue for a specific period of years in order to recoup its investment and then transfer the control back to the government.
“My research will explore the different types of contracts and the protections that can be guaranteed,” said Gaughan, who received his juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law and his DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) from Cleveland State University.
He said he also hopes to expand upon the existing relationship between Akron Law and Hanoi Law University, which he helped to initiate back in 2016 when he met with educators at Hanoi Law.
Gaughan returned to Vietnam in January 2017, along with Matthew Wilson, then-president of The University of Akron to sign memorandums of understanding with Hanoi Law, the National Economics University in Hanoi and the University of Economics – The University of Danang, establishing a foundation for future collaborative relationships, primarily in the areas of law, economics, business and social sciences.
“Professor Gaughan has been instrumental in cultivating a relationship with the premier institutions of higher education in Vietnam, which is an emerging economic force in Southeast Asia,” said Peters.
His current objectives include developing a pathway for Hanoi Law graduates to pursue American law degrees at Akron Law as well as exploring faculty and student exchange and study abroad programs in Vietnam.
“There is currently a proposal before Hanoi Law to create a reciprocal program with Akron Law for LL.M. students,” said Gaughan. “For the past two years, LL.B. students from Hanoi have been able to do a semester at The University of Akron. Until this past fall, there has been an undergraduate scholarship available for those who qualify.”
Educators at Akron Law recently proposed replacing the undergraduate scholarship with a partial graduate scholarship for Hanoi Law graduates who pursue a juris doctor at Akron Law.
“So far, three HLU students have successfully completed one-semester exchange programs at Akron University where they received great support from Pat during their stay in the U.S.,” said Nguyen. “Pat has proposed an excellent plan to design a summer school at HLU for students of Akron University Law School, HLU and other partner schools in Asia, where courses such as Introduction to the U.S. Legal System or Introduction to the Vietnamese Legal System will be taught by professors of HLU and Akron University Law School.
“During several visits to HLU, Pat also discussed the possibility to collaborate with colleagues of HLU in conducting research works on some topics of current interests of Vietnam.”
Akron Law already features a unique dual-country, tri-city Asia study abroad program, allowing students to take courses during the summer semester in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan in conjunction with Nagoya University and at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea.
On Aug. 9 Gaughan will travel to Hanoi, where he will spend about nine days meeting with educators and U.S. law firms with offices in Vietnam to lay the foundation for his research and instruction.
“Understandably, it usually takes time to develop meaningful international relationships,” said Gaughan. “Fortunately, over the last several years, the people at Hanoi Law University have made this task both enjoyable and easy.
“The sustained support of The University of Akron has also made a meaningful contribution. I look forward to what we can all achieve during August, during the Fulbright and beyond.”
In addition to the expanding relationship with Hanoi Law University, Peters said he was very pleased by the results from the February 2019 Ohio Bar Exam.
Statewide 378 aspiring attorneys sat for the exam and 200 passed.
Peters said Akron Law graduates boasted the highest passage rate of any public law school in Ohio, with 81% of first-time test takers (25 of 31) making the grade and an overall 69% (37 of 54) passage rate.
Akron Law test-takers placed second in the state in both categories among public and private law schools, with Case Western Reserve University School of Law taking the number one spot.
“We had 31 first-time test takers, by far the largest number of any public or private institution,” said Peters. “Many schools had fewer than ten first-time test takers so we believe the results from our cohort are a good overall indicator.
“First and foremost, we attribute the positive results to the hard work of our graduates who took the bar,” said Peters. “However, we do provide a lot of bar study support, which many students took advantage of by working with staff and faculty to prepare. I believe that support probably helped supplement our graduates’ hard work.
“And of course our current students and May 2019 graduates can take advantage of our new partnership with the leading bar review company BARBRI, which provides valuable bar prep and law school study tools to each JD student during their time at Akron Law.”