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Raj Bhala, Rice Distinguished Professor

One cannot solve a problem one does not understand. In a legal sense, an attorney will not effectively be able to resolve a conflict unless he or she can stand in the place of the other party in the conflict.

In a new KU YouTube video, Raj Bhala, Rice Distinguished Professor, discusses the importance of empathy in attorneys, the value of international perspectives and the foundation of Islamic law and its relation to modern law.

“The lawyer’s fundamental job is to solve problems,” Bhala said. “How do you solve problems if you can’t empathize with the person or party with whom or with which you disagree? How can you empathize unless you have actually been schooled in the way the other side thinks? Only if we can generate graduates from KU Law School who can empathize to that degree, are we contributing to lawyers who can solve problems rather than exacerbate them. That’s our mission.”

In today’s global economy, understanding varying cultures and backgrounds is more important than ever. Bhala, who teaches courses on international trade law and Islamic law, sees students with a broad variety of backgrounds. A recent class had students from countries such as Bosnia, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, France, Colombia, China and South Korea as well as from all corners of Kansas and several other states.

“When you get that kind of diversity in the classroom and that kind of experience, then every trade issue you discuss is something they’re going to know something about and teach all of us, including me,” he said.

Regardless of the nations involved, trade has always been based on morality, Bhala said. Islamic law, in particular, is based on ethical and religious ideas, so to simply discuss the law itself would in effect be shortchanging students.

While the cultures may have their differences, Western law and Islamic law have more in common than some might think. Central concepts in western law such as property rights and encumbrances such as easements are just a few examples of legal concepts that date back to ancient legal codes such as the Sharia.