Law of Another Land

Villanova Law’s International Entrepreneurship Program immerses students in South African culture and legal systems

By Kristin Baird Rattini

As he began his four-month externship at South African law firm Webber Wentzel, Dillon Payne ’24 JD found himself in perfect company for navigating a new legal system in a new country. Several local “candidate attorneys” were starting the two years of hands-on legal practice required after law school before taking South Africa’s equivalent of the bar exam. “It was perfect timing for me to start with them as we all learned the basics together,” he says.

Payne was among four third-year Villanova Law students in the inaugural cohort of the Charles Widger School of Law’s International Entrepreneurship Program, which provides not only invaluable international legal experience, but also an insightful cultural immersion in Cape Town, South Africa.

The program was launched by Professor of Law Won Kidane, JD, SJD, who joined the Villanova Law faculty last fall and has more than 20 years of experience in international commercial and investment law and arbitration, particularly in Africa. “The law is a lived experience,” Professor Kidane says. “When students are exposed to legal thinking that’s different from our own traditions, they can gain cultural humility and become better lawyers.”

The program offers a Comparative Law seminar with Professor Kidane during the fall semester at Villanova. The spring semester in Cape Town includes two components. The first is a seminar on Comparative Business Law in Africa at the University of Cape Town, which features guest lecturers from across the legal profession. The seminar also included trips to Johannesburg and Pretoria to visit the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“South Africa is a fascinating place because of its history and maturing legal institutions,” Professor Kidane says. “They have a constitution that is evolving and a mix of legal traditions, from common law to civil law to Indigenous law. They’ve managed to create this highly sophisticated legal system that blends everything.”

For the second component, the students spend most of their time in extensive externships at two of Africa’s largest law firms, ENS and Webber Wentzel, and at centers affiliated with the University of Cape Town. With mentorship from a supervising attorney, they gain experience in a range of practice areas.

Payne joined an alternative dispute resolution and litigation team and had a few “crash courses” in the differences in South African civil procedure. “The most exciting aspects were meeting people who think differently than I do, exploring new and different ways to solve legal issues, building an international network of peers for myself and advancing my professional goals,” he says.