Regaining My Passion for Teaching in Viet Nam

Touching down on a Friday evening in an unseasonably chilly Hanoi this past December, I was unsure of what lay ahead during the upcoming weekend of teaching various ethics and professional responsibility modules to students and faculty at the Foreign Trade University.  Recalling my former life as a teacher as well as my university days, I figured that the weekend schedule, drab weather and widely considered dry content would bring out only the legal diehards, if that.  A turnout of fifteen was probably overly optimistic, ten was reasonably expected, and five or less within the realm of possible.  Ten minutes before the first lecture started, there was not an empty seat in the room.

I came to Hanoi as one of the representatives of DLA Piper to teach three modules in conjunction with Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia Community Legal Education Initiative (BABSEA CLE).  This initiative seeks to develop modules to provide a framework for universities to deliver interactive teaching of legal ethics and professional responsibilities, and specifically in Southeast Asia's frontier markets where such legal concepts are underdeveloped (read more about the project here).   With the enthusiasm that welcomed me, this teaching came easy.

From the moment I first took the podium,  the energy of the audience was palpable.  Whether it was my module of Confidentiality, Duties of a Lawyer to Client, or Conflicts of Interest, there was never a lack of audience participation and interest in the subject matter.  The course material for each hour and forty-five minute module involved role plays, hypotheticals, lectures and stories of practical experience; when the time for each module was up, I felt as if the audience would have happily allowed me to continue for another hour and forty-five minutes.

There were a lot of great aspects to this teaching experience, including the city of Hanoi itself, my regained passion for teaching and the hospitality that I was shown.  But it was the enthusiasm of the students and faculty who attended the workshop that stands out the most. Viet Nam is a frontier market where the rule of law is quickly developing, but where legal ethics and professional responsibility is lagging behind.  As the next generation of legal professionals, the audience demonstrated such a keen interest in these concepts that I have little doubt this gap is closing quickly.