The ABA President’s Journal – A Historic Week in China

In one recent historic week, the ABA forged an agreement to work more closely with China’s national bar, and then showed the promise of that cooperation in an exciting conference on youth-at-risk issues. We also had a chance to hold a rare meeting with ABA members based in Beijing.

Given your strong interest in the ABA’s international activities, we wanted to share with you a new online resource that outlines special trips and meetings like this one, and provides additional details for ABA members like you. It’s the “President’s Journal,” and it is found on the ABA web site at www.abanet.org/op/journal/china.shtml.

Your thoughts are welcome, and as always, thank you for your leadership and service within the ABA.

For updates on programming and events, visit our Section calendar on-line at www.abanet.org/intlaw/calendar.


Register today for the 2007 Spring Meeting — Early Bird Rates End April 10. Take advantage of our Early Bird rates, available until April 10, and our NEW reduced rates for government/NGO lawyers. For a complete agenda, list of ticketed events, and hotel information, please visit www.abanet.org/intlaw/spring07. We look forward to seeing you in May!

April 10, 2007
Breakfast at the Bar with John Veroneau – Deputy U.S. Trade Representative
Washington, D.C.
Ambassador John K. Veroneau serves as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate on September 29, 2006. His portfolio includes trade relations with Europe and Eurasia, the Middle East, and the Americas, as well as matters involving the World Trade Organization. He also oversees the USTR’s functional offices handling intellectual property, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, services, and market access. Registration forms can be found online at www.abanet.org/intlaw.

May 24-25, 2007
Class Actions at a Crossroads: Europe’s Choice between Its Own and the American Model
Rome, Italy
Topics include:

• The current status of class and collective actions in Europe
• What European legislators can learn from the U.S. and Canadian experience
• Problems incorporating U.S.-style class actions into Europe
• European legislative developments on collective actions
• A mock hearing on class certification and roundtable discussion

Visit www.ibanet.org/conferences/litigationconf2007/ for more information.

August 8-12, 2007
Leadership Retreat and ABA/Section Annual Meeting – San Francisco, California
Mark your calendar for the 2007 ABA/Section Retreat and Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California. A leadership retreat will take place August 8-9 at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa . The Annual Meeting will take place August 10-12, and the Section will be headquartered at San Francisco’s lovely and centrally located Westin St. Francis Hotel. Register for the meeting and be sure to make your hotel reservations at the St. Francis.

SAVE THE DATE for the 2007 Fall Meeting in London, England, October 3-6 at The Grosvenor House Hotel. Click here to see what this meeting will offer!

October 16, 2007
8th Annual American Bar Association Section of International Law Breakfast
Part of the International Bar Association Annual Meeting October 14-19
Singapore
Join the top leaders of the ABA and the Section of International Law as they discuss the ABA’s action plan to respond to rule of law challenges worldwide. The breakfast will feature leading experts, in-house counsel and practitioners who will discuss the rule of law in a global context, but with a special focus on Asia. For more information, visit www.ibanet.org.

ABA International hosts CLE teleconferences every month. We need your suggestions and ideas for future events. For more information about the Section’s CLE teleconference program, please contact Tally White at whitet@staff.abanet.org or by phone at +1 (202) 662-1672.

Register now for this month’s teleconference programs:

Wednesday, April 18, 2007
1:00 p.m. EST
Employment Discrimination Law Outside of the United States: An Overview of Anti-Discrimination Law in the European Workplace
This program will focus on EU-level anti-discrimination law.  The topics will include a review of the main equal treatment directives in EU law, the specific equality concepts within EU law such as indirect discrimination, objective justification, burden of proof, and related issues. Other topics to be covered are a high level review of the various protective grounds in each of the 25 EU member states and some trends in the area. We will also consider some leading decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that U.S. practitioners should be aware of and how a decision or ECJ referral from one member state can affect employers and employees in all other member states. Finally, the program will address the extraterritorial application of U.S. anti-discrimination laws to U.S. employers and employees operating in Europe.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007
1:00 p.m. EST
Live at Commerce
The ABA Section of International Law is pleased to announce the first broadcast live from the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.  Leading Commerce officials will speak to practitioners in the United States and overseas about current developments in export controls, trade remedies, textiles and apparel, and market access and compliance.

And Mark your calendars for this upcoming teleconference program:

Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Time TBA
Cross-Border Employment, Discrimination, Non- Competition, and Privacy: A Practical Look
With the growth in trade between the United States, Canada, and Latin America, there is an ever-increasing focus on labor and employment issues. Whether the issue involves sexual harassment, discrimination, or day-to-day hiring and firing, all of these have strong cultural overtones. This program will provide a practical discussion of key labor and employment law issues which face companies in cross-border environments.  The speakers will structure their remarks around a hypothetical scenario involving the cross-border transfer of a female executive.

The ABA International Nominating Committee is pleased to report that Milos Baructiski has accepted the Committee’s invitation to become the new Division Chair of the Legal Practice Division following the departure of Hernan Slemenson. Milos is a very active Section member, having served most recently as Co-Chair for the International Antitrust Law Committee. The Section would like to thank Hernan for his help and support over the years.


ABA INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE HOME PAGES
Check out all of our committee home pages — not only will you find more content, you’ll find updated leadership rosters have already been posted. Recently updated home pages of particular interest include:

International Tax Committee
Asia/Pacific Committee
International Employment Law Committee
International Trade Committee
China Committee

ABA INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE NEWSLETTERS
ABA International offers no less than 18 substantive newsletters. Links to the most recent edition of several newsletters are set forth below:

International Family Law Committee: March 2007 Newsletter
China Committee: China Law Reporter - March 2007
International Human Rights Committee: Weekly E-Briefs
Europe Committee: Weekly News Bulletin
Legal Developments in Latin America: March 2007 Newsletter

If you wish to join any other committees, you can do so on-line, as well.  To be active and get on the more limited steering group listserve, you will find the proper coordinates on-line.

In February, Andreea Vesa became the new Director of the ABA-UNDP International Legal Resource Center (ILRC). As the Director, Ms. Vesa is the principal legal advisor and leads the center’s efforts to make pro bono technical legal assistance available to the international development community. Prior to becoming the Director, she worked with another American Bar Association entity, the Rule of Law Initiative, as a Senior Legal Analyst and Coordinator of the Human Rights and Conflict Mitigation Focal Area. A U.S. citizen, Ms. Vesa was born in Romania before emigrating with her parents and speaks fluent Romanian. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Chicago and holds a J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law and an M.A. in International Relations from the American University School of International Service.

The ILRC was created in 1999 through a joint effort by ABA International and UNDP to enhance access to worldwide expertise for technical assistance and other legal development projects. The ILRC has worked with more than 80 UNDP country and regional offices to provide recommendation of experts, legislative assessments, and legal research in support of ongoing legal reform initiatives. Experts interested in working with the ILRC can register online at www.abanet.org/intlaw/intlproj/ilrc/registration.html. Please contact Andreea Vesa at (202) 662-1668 or Alan Budde, Project Coordinator, at (202) 662-1662 for more information about the program.