Invited by the “2011 Plan” China Collaborative Innovation Center of Judicial Civilization, the “111 Plan” Base for Evidence Science Innovation and Talent Recruitment and the Institute of Evidence Law and Forensic Science, Professor Thomas Yunlong Man from Peking University, as well as an adjunct professor of CUPL, successfully delivered an eight-day course about U.S. Constitution, legal profession and practices in CUPL from November 10 to 17, 2017.

        The topic of this course is “US Law-Constitution-Legal Profession and Practices”. Based on previous lectures in CUPL, this year's lecturing content added an introduction to the U.S. judicial system, and proceeding from the perspective of methodology in law study, and guiding students to learn legal thinking. Professor Man made reasonable arrangements for this course, mainly including the following four separate but intrinsically linked topics:

        i. The laws and judicial system of the United States. Professor Man analyzed the structure of the U.S. courts and its judicial procedure through a real case (House v. Bell).

        ii. Important elements of the U.S. Constitution, such as judicial review, separation of powers, federalism, due process and equal protection principles and so on.

        iii. The history and developing trend of American legal profession, emphasizing the cultivation of legal professionalism.

        iv. Some legal and practical issues involved in cross-border transactions. By moving the perspective from U.S. to China, professor Man introduced some basic legal knowledge and practical skills in business transactions between China and foreign countries.

        The first two major parts among them focused on the introduction to the U.S. Constitution and its laws and the American legal culture. In addition, professor Man illustrated five methods of legal argument: Text, Intent, Precedent, Tradition, and Policy. He then further introduced the implied jurisprudence, which rendered the students much help in improving their ability of legal analysis. The last two major parts centered on cross-border legal profession and practice. By introducing the knowledge of Joint Venture, Merger & Acquisition and the bilingual contracts, professor Man illustrated the work of lawyers in relevant fields. Also, professor Man used the real legal documents to elaborates the regulatory structure of relevant government departments in China, as well as other significant practical issues such as business contacts between enterprises and individuals, the foreign jurisdiction. Professor Man used the teaching mode of “think like a lawyer” which is advocated by the American law school, and greatly benefits the students to improve their thinking ability.

        Professor Thomas Yunlong Man, from Shandong Province of China, J.D. in Indiana University Maurer School of Law and Ph.D. at American Constitutional History in Johns Hopkins University. He has been a partner of several European and American international law firms, and joined the School of Transnational Law of Peking University (STL) in 2014. Before joining STL, professor Man has 17 years of law practice experiences in cross-border mergers & acquisitions and corporate transactions. Now, professor Man is a Professor from STL of Peking University and a adjunct Professor of CUPL. Professor Man’s teaching and academic interests including evidence law, constitution and comparative judicial system, bilingual contracts drafting and anti-bribery and ethics in cross-border business transactions.