ABA International - Calendar of Events

Section Monthly Newsletter

Welcome to the Section Update, a monthly electronic newsletter bringing
you the latest on Section of International Law activities.

CHAIR'S MESSAGE

I am pleased to report that the 2006 Spring Meeting, held in New York City from April 4-8, was a rousing success with some 1,350 attendees (300 more than the highs set at our very successful 2004 and 2005 Spring Meetings) from 48 countries. In addition to the more than 70 CLE programs featured in seven substantive tracks, we had the honor of being addressed by a number of prominent figures including luncheon speakers

Judge Thomas Buergenthal of the International Court of Justice, former U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti and radio/TV personality Charles Osgood. Particularly noteworthy programs included a discussion with world-renowned primatologist Jane Goodall and the first-time ever appearance of all of the members of the WTO Appellate Body in a single program. The superb networking events were very well attended including the WIN/WING pre-opening reception, the international buffet and wine tasting reception at the Waldorf=Astoria, the reception at the headquarters of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York following a top notch panel on combating international terrorism (including former Illinois Governor and 9/11 Commissioner James Thompson) and the closing reception at New York University School of Law.

During the conference, I was constantly greeted by participants who made a point of stating that this was the best conference they had ever attended, the programs were very strong substantively (and well attended) and the networking events were highly enjoyable and professionally rewarding. I was tremendously gratified to receive the repeated and uniformly positive reactions.

On behalf of ABA International, I want express our special thanks for an extraordinary job well done to the following individuals in connection with the 2006 Spring Meeting:

2006 Spring Meeting Co-Chairs Soraya E. Bosi, David A. Schwartz, and Victor Xercavins;

the members of the steering committee (Janet Belkin, Lorraine Brennan, Glenn Hendrix, Heather Kight, Nina Kulmala and Charles Schmerler);

the members of the planning committee (click here to view the many participants of this committee)

and (most of all) ABA International's staff who worked so tirelessly, most notably meetings staff consisting of Kathleen Ebner, Jessica Elliot and Lauren Newman, who received invaluable assistance from their colleagues Rachel Bowen Pittman, Christina Heid, Tally White, Emily Rath, and Liam O’Malley, all with the supervision and active involvement of Section Director Leanne Pfautz.

To access the 2006 Spring Meeting program materials online, click here. In addition, you may view additional photos from the meeting on the same page.

Two highlights of the Spring Meeting have been or will be disseminated publicly after the meeting. First, our presentation of the Louis B. Sohn Award for Public International Law to Judge Buergenthal, and his remarks in accepting the Award, were broadcast on CSPAN on Saturday, April 15, and will be repeated (we will provide dates and times for future airings when they become available). We are in the process of making available an audio recording of the program featuring Dr. Jane Goodall and will provide information about where you may access this shortly.

On the heels of the 2006 Spring Meeting, our best seasonal meeting ever, I encourage you to register now for our Annual Meeting programming in Honolulu, Hawaii August 4-6 in connection with the American Bar Association's Annual Meeting. We are offering a full slate of CLE sessions you won’t want to miss, including:

Hot Topics in Doing Business in Asia
Migration in the Interdependent World
Investment Treaty Discipline: Is China Ready for It?
Hot Issues on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
Asian-Pacific Mediation Styles: Lessons and Implications
Offshoring and Outsourcing
Litigation and Resolution of Cross-Border Labor and Employment Disputes
Counterfeiting: How Globalization, Technology and the Internet have Created a Worldwide Crisis and How to Combat It
Corporate Social Responsibility: Business Judgment or Legal Mandate
Investment Treaty Discipline: Is China Ready for It?
Crossing Borders to Associate – What NGOs and Not for Profits Need to Know
Strategic Options Impacting International Assignments
Doing Business in China: The Latest Challenges
Arbitration-Mediation Process Design in Comparative Perspective
Solutions to Corruption in International Trade

To review the full programming schedule, click here. A number of family-friendly social events are also planned, including an international reception at the Army Museum of Hawaii on Friday evening, August 4, a dinner at The Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Saturday night, August 5, and a reception honoring the distinguished visitors and foreign bar leaders on Sunday, August 6, poolside at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Section and Committee leaders and those aspiring to such posts will attend a leadership retreat in Maui from August 1-3.

I look forward to welcoming you to Hawaii in August.

Michael H. Byowitz, Section Chair

AWARDS PRESENTED

In addition to the Louis B. Sohn Award, two other Section awards were presented at the 2006 Spring Meeting, namely:

The Mayre Rasmussen Award was presented to Aaron Schildhaus, the first male recipient, at the WIN/WING Reception on Tuesday, April 5. The Section presents this award periodically to individuals who have achieved professional excellence in international law, encouraged women to engage in international law careers, enabled women lawyers to attain international law job positions from which they were excluded historically, or advanced opportunities for women in international law. Aaron was recognized for his longstanding membership in WIN and his selfless efforts in mentoring, assisting and guiding female attorneys to advancement in ABA International and the profession.

The International Human Rights Lawyer Award was presented to Soraya Guittierez Augello during the Council Meeting on Saturday, April 8. This award is given to distinguished foreign human rights lawyers who have suffered persecution as a result of their professional activities. In the recommendation to present this award to Ms. Guittierez, the award committee stated that the award "in addition to being an important recognition for those who defend human rights" in Colombia, the presentation "would also send a strong message concerning the lack of public protection for lawyers in Colombia, as well as impunity for human rights violations and the criminalization of dissent. Today, many lawyers are unable to practice their profession in conditions of security and dignity without being identified with the causes of their defendants. The ABA’s recognition of this important work would go far in promoting the work of the defenders of human rights in Colombia and giving them the recognition that could assist in protecting them from further persecution in Colombia." Ms. Guittierez’s acceptance speech referenced an article she wrote entitled “Being a Human Rights Lawyer in Colombia." To read more, click here.

LEADERSHIP ACTIVITIES

ABA Day at the UN
Immediately prior to the 2006 Spring Meeting, a delegation of 45 ABA and Section leaders participated in our annual ABA Day at the United Nations. I had the privilege of co-chairing the delegation with ABA President Michael Greco. The agenda included substantive meetings at the UN in the morning, where we met with Nicolas Michel, UN Legal Counsel and Under-Secretary-General of the Office of Legal Affairs; Christopher Burnham, Under-Secretary-General, Department of Management; Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary-General, Department of Public Information; and David Harland, Chief, Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit, Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Our luncheon speaker was Mark Malloch Brown, the new UN Deputy Secretary-General. In the afternoon, we met with officials at the U.S. Mission to the UN, including Deputy Ambassador Alex Wolff, where we discussed the ABA’s policy on U.S. involvement in the new UN Human Rights Council. President Greco recently re-emphasized this policy, which the Section formulated, and encouraged the U.S. to re-think its decision not to serve on the UN Human Rights Council. (http://www.abanet.org/op/greco/memos/UNHRC/)

POLICY

The Section Council met at the conclusion of the Spring Meeting to consider a number of important policy initiatives. These included three recommendations (1, 2, and 3) that were approved for submission to the ABA House of Delegates at the ABA Annual Meeting in August.

1. The Council approved a recommendation submitted by Peter Ehrenhaft, Peter Haver, and Scott Bain on behalf of the International Intellectual Property Committee and the Transnational Legal Practice Committee that urges the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to amend its rules to permit certain non-U.S. lawyers to be registered as practitioners before USPTO without regard to their citizenship, residence or visa status if they (a) may lawfully practice in the United States as fully admitted lawyers, “foreign legal consultants” or as foreign lawyers temporarily within the United States, and (b) who otherwise meet the significant, technical, character and language qualifications of the USPTO. The recommendation will be presented for consideration to other interested ABA Sections and will then by the ABA House of Delegates.

2. The Council approved a recommendation submitted by Louise Ellen Teitz and Steve Richmond on behalf of the Private International Law Coordinating Committee that supports the prompt signature, ratification, and implementation of The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements by the United States.

3. The Council approved a recommendation presented by Ellen Yost and Gabrielle Buckley on behalf of the Immigration and Naturalization Committee supporting the Global Commission on International Migration’s call for expanded government to government dialogue on migration issues.

In addition to the foregoing recommendations initiated by various Committees within the Section, the Council approved co-sponsorship of a recommendation by the ABA President’s Advisory Council on Diversity in the Profession that urges the American Bar Association and all state, territorial and local bar associations to work with national, state and territorial bar examiners, law schools, universities and elementary and secondary schools to address significant problems facing minorities within the pipeline to the profession.

Minutes of the Council meeting will be made available in the next issue of this monthly e-update.

Also on the policy front, the Section has sent comments on a number of international proposals including:

ABA INTERNATIONAL READING

NEW BOOKS!

Trade Remedies for Global Companies. (Available in May!) T his book discusses the most common forms of trade remedies law in the United States or in foreign companies (antidumping, countervailing duty, and safeguards) and provides guidance to corporate counsel on when and how to use such laws.

The intent is to provide critical information such as the relevant agencies, contact information, general timing issues, and to focus attention on some of the key legal/economic points raised by the different types of proceedings.

This volume provides practical advice from a wide range of perspectives, gained both in private practice and government service. The volume carefully addresses issues from the standpoint of both petitioners and respondents, and therefore will be an invaluable source of practical advice to a wide range of corporate counsel.

Trade Remedies for Global Companies is the seventh book in The International Practitioner's Deskbook Series, which is comprised of practical guides to subject matters frequently encountered by international practitioners.

To pre-purchase Trade Remedies for Global Companies, click here.

International Labor and Employment Law.(Available Mid-May!) The field of international labor and employment law is developing rapidly and changing to fit the needs of increasingly global businesses. This book examines topics including employment contracts, hiring, wages and benefits, labor unions, workforce issues, discrimination issues, and dismissal from the following 13 countries: Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, and France.

The book provides helpful, practical guidance to international corporate lawyers who confront labor and employment problems in structuring corporate transactions. The focus of the book is on practical issues and the contributors are leading labor lawyers in numerous important jurisdictions.

International and Employment Law, is the eighth book in The International Practitioner's Deskbook Series, which is comprised of practical guides to subject matters frequently encountered by international practitioners.

To pre-purchase International Labor and Employment Law, click here.

2005 Antitrust Year in Review. The 2005 Antitrust Year in Review is a monograph of antitrust/competition related developments in the global arena, covering jurisdictions in Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa. It is a unique publication in the antitrust field, analyzing significant recent developments in 2005 in 22 jurisdictions, some with mature antitrust laws, and others, such as China, which are just in the process of implementing antitrust legislation. This monograph provides a detailed guide to antitrust/competition law developments in the jurisdictions covered, ranging from new legislation and regulatory reforms, criminal investigations, merger review, and single/dominant firm and concerted conduct. The 2005 Antitrust Year in Review is available on the Committee's website and hard copies will be made available for purchase on the Committee’s website in the near future.

Transnational Legal Practice Committee’s collaboration with the ABA Task Force on GATS to work with state bar representatives to encourage them to permit foreign legal consultants to practice in their states was mentioned in the March 2006 Issue of YourABA. Read more…

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

Do you agree or disagree with using foreign precedents in the U.S. Courts?

Click here to answer.

Results from March question:

How many languages do you speak?

One: 6.9%	Four: 8.6%
Two: 39.7%	Five: 12.1%
Three: 31%	Six or more: 1.7%

ABA INTERNATIONAL MEMBER NEWS AND ACTIVITIES

Task Force Members Needed Regarding PRC Patent Law . China is drafting amendments to its Patent Law and Implementing Regulations, as well as finalizing a policy towards mandatory standards that require IP. It recently issued its "Plan on IPR Protection Action 2006".

ABA International , through its International Intellectual Property and China Committees, is working to create a joint task force with the Section of Intellectual Property, to monitor developments in this area and to draft comments and provide input on behalf of the Sections where appropriate to the Chinese authorities on proposed amendments to the Patent Law and policies regarding IPR generally, and specifically with respect to standards and to IP abuse.

Those interested in participating in this joint task force should contact Yee Wah Chin, at ywchin@mintz.com

COMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

Featured Newsletters.

Mexico Committee released its Winter/Spring 2006 issue, which includes several articles dealing with the new Securities Market Law in Mexico. Read more…

Other noteworthy recently-published committee newsletters include the following, which can be located in the “Newsletters and Publications” section on the committee websites:

The Russia/Eurasia March 2006 Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 2
The Russia/Eurasia Committe

The Accounting Standards March 2006 Newsletter
The International Accounting Standards Subcommittee

The Europe March 2006 Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 1
The Europe Committee

The Health Law April 2006 Newsletter
The International Health Law Committee

Committee Programs This Past Month

Thanks to the following committees that coordinated programs, meetings, and dinners during the 2006 Spring Meeting:

Aerospace & Defense Industries Committee	International Human Rights Committee
Africa Committee	International Intellectual Property Rights Committee
Anti-Corruption Initiatives & Compliance Issues Committee	International Investment & Development Committee
Asia/Pacific Committee	International Litigation Committee
Canada Committee	International M&A and Joint Venture Committee
China Committee	International Procurement Committee
Customs Law Committee	International Secured Transactions and Insolvency Committee
Energy and Natural Resources Committee	International Securities and Capital Markets Committee
Export Controls and Economic Sanctions Committee	International Tax Committee International
Financial Products and Services Committee	International Trade Law Committee
Foreign Legal Consultant Committee	Latin America and Caribbean Committee
Information Services/Technology & Data Protection Committee	Law Student LLM and New Lawyer Outreach Committee
Intellectual Property Committee	Membership Committee
International Accounting Standards Subcommittee	Mexico Committee
International Anti-Money Laundering and Professional Ethics Committee	Middle East Committee
International Antitrust Law Committee	National Security Committee
International Commercial Dispute Resolution Committee	NGO and Not-for-Profit Organizations Committee
International Commercial Transaction, Franchising and Distribution Committee	Private International Law Coordinating Committee
International Corporate Counsel Forum	Russia/Eurasia Committee
International Courts Committee	Senior Interest Network (SIN)
International Criminal Law Committee	Subcommittee on Human Rights and Corporate Responsibility
International Cultural Property Committee	Transnational Legal Practice Committee
International Employment Law Committee	U.N. and International Institutions Coordinating Committee
International Environmental Law Committee	U.S. Lawyers Abroad Committee
International Family Law Committee	Women’s Interest Network (WIN)
International Financial Products and Services Committee	Working Group on Corporate Social Responsibility
International Health Law Committee	Young Lawyers Interest Network (YIN)

Additional activities previously noticed that took place during this period include:

Law Student, LL.M., and New Lawyer Outreach Committee hosted Pathways to Employment in International Law programs, which are aimed at bringing to the attention of law students and new lawyers possible avenues for employment in international practice, at Howard University on March 23 rdand the International Law Student Association’s 2006 Spring Meeting on March 30th, both in Washington, DC, and at the 2006 Spring Meeting in New York.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

May 16, 2006
CLE Teleconference - International Technology Licensing
More Information to come, please check the Section website at a later date. Pre-registration is now available

May 23, 2006
CLE Teleconference - Update on Hague Service Convention
More Information to come, please check the Section website at a later date. Pre-registration is now available

Past Monthly Newsletters

This is a meeting you won’t want to miss, so please register soon.
Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, HI

October 5, 2006
Live from the SEC
For the eighth year, ABA International will present this prominent and critically acclaimed program hosting the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission discussing developments of importance of international practitioners and non-US. Issuers. See future newsletters and emails for the particulars.

November 8-11, 2006
Fall Meeting – Miami, Florida
ABA International is planning for its largest ever Fall Meeting in Miami in 2006. Details to be provided in future newsletters and emails.

May 2-5, 2007
Spring Meeting – Washington, DC
The Co-Chairs for the 2007 Spring Meeting are planning to surpass the unparalleled success of the 2006 Spring Meeting. Save the dates now and watch for details on this conference early next year.