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From the Chair
Chair's Picture
Dear Members,
Now, this may all sound a bit soppy. However, we have just returned from our International Legal Exchange (ILEX) briefing trip to the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the People's Republic of China, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Three countries, four systems, five cities in eleven days. And those in our delegation will know what I mean when I describe the excursion as, quite simply, the trip of a lifetime. We listened, we learned, we exchanged views, we felt enriched, we were extraordinarily well-received and well-hosted by lawyers and judges everywhere we went, and we climbed the Great Wall of China!
The journey began in South Korea, where ABA International had the opportunity to memorialize a friendship accord with the Korean Bar Association International Committee. Over the course of the remainder of our trip, we also held productive meetings and social events with, among others, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, the All China Lawyers Association and the China Law Society, all in furtherance of the Memoranda of Understanding that exist between each of these groups and the larger ABA. We also met for the first time with the Shanghai Bar Association and its new leadership, spending the better part of the day contemplating with them future collaboration and projects of mutual interest. Finally, at our last luncheon, hosted by the Law Society of Hong Kong, we were treated to remarks by Chief Justice Andrew Li of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, our keynote speaker. When the delegation sailed off into the sunset that evening, on a perfectly clear night in Hong Kong harbor aboard the Allen & Overy junk, it was an inspired, if somewhat exhausted, group.
There are so many people to thank for such an ambitious and successful venture. For a start, what a great delegation! And special thanks to Section staffer extraordinaire, Christina Heid, our International Projects Director, whose year of planning (and conference calls often at unsociable hours to link up with the Far East) in preparation for this visit paid huge dividends, as did Christina's "cat-herding" skills when getting the delegation on and off airplanes and in and out of our meetings.
Our ranks swelled a bit when we reached Japan, where those joining the delegation included our Chair-Elect Aaron Schildhaus and Vice-Chair Glenn Hendrix, both of whom had just learned, as Dave Barry once told us, that flying from the United States to Tokyo "takes about as long as law school", and by others who had participated in the World Justice Forum in Vienna, among them the Honorable Stephen G. Breyer, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and his wife, Joanna.
Not for the first time, Justice Breyer enhanced and transformed an ILEX trip by his active participation in it. He impressed upon us the importance of lawyers from around the world meeting in this way, and of our attempting to define issues and seeking to find or create answers. We want to thank Justice Breyer for the many conversations he shared with members of our delegation and those with whom we met. There is in fact an old Asian proverb which says that a single conversation with a wise man is better than 10 years of study. On that basis, we probably owe Justice Breyer the equivalent of enough study for a few more degrees — and without any student loans as part of the bargain!
I would also like to extend personal thanks to Steve Zack, our distinguished Council member and former Chair of the ABA House of Delegates, who did a spectacular job stepping in at the last moment for ABA President Bill Neukom when it turned out that Bill could not make the event. Steve is standing unopposed for the position of President-Elect of the ABA and will make a great(!) ABA President. My appreciation also extends to Akira Kawamura, Secretary General of the International Bar Association, for the stunning way in which he welcomed the leadership of the delegation. A good friend of the Section, it will be our privilege to support Akira in the run-up to, and during, his term as President of the IBA.
Click here for the full ILEX itinerary, including details of those participating as members of the delegation and a listing of those on the planning committees whose tireless efforts over the better part of a year ensured the unqualified success of this venture. And click here for the dates of upcoming ILEX trips to The Hague and to India.
Thus, another chapter is written, but it is an episode at best in a rich 130-year history (see below), and there is much more of the story of ABA International, this remarkable collective enterprise, still to write. So, grab a Section pen — we'll provide these — and join us, August 6–7, for the Section Leadership Advance (a.k.a. “the Retreat”) at Bally's, on the corner of Boardwalk and Park Place in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Click here for more information and to register for the Advance. An opportunity to plan, strategize and make a difference before we jump on the bus to the next big, and final, event on the Section calendar for this ABA year: the 2008 ABA Annual Meeting, August 7–12, in New York City. Think "World Class".
The Section will be headquartered for the Annual Meeting at the five-star Waldorf=Astoria Hotel. We’ll launch the weekend in the hotel’s Starlight Room with our traditional Friday night Welcome Reception from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Jointly sponsored with the Section of Intellectual Property and the Section of Science and Technology, this not-to-be-missed event will offer magnificent views of New York City and countless networking opportunities with the members of all three Sections. To learn more about our exciting slate of networking events, visit www.abanet.org/intlaw/annual08. The Section is also bringing a world-class slate of CLE programs to the Big Apple. Our CLE programs — and several that we’re co-sponsoring — will take place at the ABA CLE Center at the Sheraton New York August 8–10. We’ll host a Presidential Showcase Program at the Hilton New York entitled “Individual Rights, Terrorism and the Rule of Law: The World After 9/11,” on Friday, August 8, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and we’ll co-sponsor a second Showcase Program on Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. entitled “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 60: Advancing Human Rights in a Dangerous World.” Click here to learn more about our CLE lineup. In addition, as we saw at our Spring Meeting, there is no better place for world-class entertainment, restaurants, and sightseeing than New York City.
Temptation aplenty. However, and most importantly, plan to spend Saturday night, August 9, at an exceptional black tie (optional) reception and dinner at the New York Yacht Club from 7:00 to 10:30 p.m., when the Section will celebrate "130 Years Serving as the Gateway to International Law and Practice". At this Anniversary Dinner, we will present the Section’s Lifetime Achievement Award to Homer Moyer, who, as Section Chair in 1990-1991, was an inspirational leader in the formation of the ABA’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI), aimed at facilitating the law reform process in that part of the world, and who founded and today serves as President of the Board of Directors of the CEELI Institute, which provides world-class post-graduate skills training for lawyers, judges, and others committed to law reform in countries undergoing democratic transitions. All attendees at the Anniversary Dinner will receive a complimentary copy (retail price $125) of the Section's commemorative history book, which will launch that evening. Don't be disappointed. Buy your tickets for this special event through your Annual Meeting registration, and use ticket code SDI2.
Well, once again, if you made it this far, you are to be congratulated. The speeches will be shorter, I promise, in Atlantic City and New York. So, I hope to see you there. And remember, whether climbing the Great Wall or strolling the Boardwalk, when you think of the Section, think:
"International Law, World Class"
Jeffrey B. Golden, Chair, Section of International Law, 2007 - 2008
Click here to view a video greeting from the Chair: Windows Media (.wmv, 3.73 MB) RealMedia (.rm, 3.17 MB)
Past E-Update Issues
Section Event Calendar
Click on an entry for more details.
Co-sponsored program
Aug. 6-7 Leadership Retreat Atlantic City, NJ
2008 Leadership Retreat Homepage
Aug. 8-11 ABA International dates at the ABA Annual Meeting New York, NY
Click here for more information.
Aug. 10 2008 Recipients of ABA Award to be Honored at ABA Annual Meeting New York, NY
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Le Parker Meridien Hotel, Lorica Room, Second Floor
Honoring:
Daniel Barstow Magraw, Jr. (Individual Recipient)
Alliance for the Great Lakes (Organizational Recipient)
Click here to RSVP and view the flyer
Aug. 28 ABA International program at the 2008 AIJA Congress Paris, France
Click here for more information.
Sept. 23-27 2008 Fall Meeting Brussels, Belgium
2008 Fall Meeting Homepage
Registration
Oct. 16-18 International Law Weekend 2008 New York, NY
Association of the Bar of the City of New York
42 West 44th Street
The American Branch of the International Law Association will hold its annual International Law Weekend in New York, featuring numerous panels, receptions, and the Branch’s annual meeting.
Click here for more information.
Oct. 23 SAVE THE DATE: Ninth Annual "Live from the SEC" Teleconference
A review of recent developments in International Securities Regulation and Enforcement
Click here to register online
Click here for event flyer and print registration form
Nov. 6-7 The Next Big Wave of Cross-Border Litigation Miami, FL
Co-Sponsored with the International Bar Association
More information coming soon.
Nov. 13-14 Universal Declaration of Human Rights Celebration New York, NY
More information coming soon.
- Click here for other programs of interest.
Full Program Calendar and Further Information | Past Section Events
World Legal News From JURIST'S Paper Chase
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