M E M O R A N D U M. Adam Farlow, Liaison Officer; Ingrid Busson, Deputy Liaison Officer; Ted Carroll, International Projects Coordinator

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1 M E M O R A N D U M TO: FROM: Administration Committee Adam Farlow, Liaison Officer; Ingrid Busson, Deputy Liaison Officer; Ted Carroll, International Projects Coordinator DATE: Thursday, November 21, 2013 RE: Liaison Report General Section Matters: Agreements with Bar Associations and Outside Organizations: The initial Cooperating Agreement with the Consiglio Nazionale Forense (CNF) has been signed and finalized. The renewed Cooperating Agreement with AIJA was signed at a ceremony at the AIJA meeting in Buenos Aires. Liaison-related Matters at the Fall Meeting in London Over 30 Section Liaisons attended or called in for a meeting held at the Hilton on Park Lane during the Fall Meeting in London. Discussion topics included the role of a liaison, the importance of submitting quarterly reports, and the possibilities for additional collaboration and communication between Liaisons in the future. Quarterly conference calls highlighting developments and best practices will follow. Section leadership met with a number of bar associations at the Fall Meeting, including AIJA, the Bar Council of England and Wales and the Law Society of England and Wales. and the ABA Business Law Section. Updated Global Bar Associations World Map: The Section Staff and interns have updated the Global Bar Associations World Map with current contact and leadership information for over 100 bar associations. The map serves as a resource for ILEX and IBLD trips, joint programs, and coordination at our Seasonal Meetings. Throughout the coming months, Section staff will work to include events, leadership changes, and other useful information on as many bars as possible. You can view the new map at 1

2 r_associations.html Liaison Reports We received reports from over 15 of our liaisons last quarter. Highlights include: ABA Entities: ABA Judicial Division (Delissa Ridgway) Lisa reported that the Committee on International Judicial Affairs has discussed the possibility of a Spring 2014 teleconference or webcast on the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (targeting judges as well as lawyers). If such a program is presented, the Judicial Division would be an obvious potential co-sponsor. In addition, the Judicial Division Chair s two principal themes/priorities for include advocating increased funding for courts (in coordination with ABA President Jim Silkenat s presidential initiative) and enhancing perceptions of the fairness of the justice system in communities nationwide. Other key matters on the Judicial Division s agenda include membership development, judicial disqualification issues related to the U.S. Supreme Court s Caperton decision, and the feasibility of a judicial mentoring program. Intellectual Property Section (Alexandra Darraby) Alexandra reported that another program proposal from the Section has been accepted at the prestigious ABA-IPL's 29th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference, which will take place in April. The program is titled: Madrid Protocol or Not, That is the Question: Global Branding & Trademarks. " This program acceptance follows the inaugural program launched at the IPL Conference in April 2013 on China s IP laws, jointly initiated by then- IPL liaison to SIL, Fred Koenig, and Alexandra. It is equally rewarding and significant that SIL has been so embraced by IPL through our liaison outreach that the Madrid Protocol or Not, program proposal was supported by and within the IPL Committees. Like the inaugural China program, the 2014 Madrid one reprises a successful Madrid program held at the SIL Spring Meeting in Washington D.C. empaneled by WIPO, USPTO, the Director of AIPLA, and the former Chairs of SIL IIPR. Outside Entities: Association of International Petroleum Negotiations (AIPN) (Belle M. Toren) Belle reported there has been continued interest from various ABA members in encouraging more AIPN/ABA coordination regarding possible joint programs. One possibility is a day program based on the results of the 2013 AIPN Research Paper Grant on shale gas. After speaking with some AIPN executives in Amsterdam at the AIPN Model Contracts Workshop about a joint shale gas program once the AIPN research paper is released, Bellanne received positive interest and will follow up. 2

3 Consiglio Nazionale Forense (Patrick Del Duca) Patrick reported that the Consiglio Nazionale Forense desires to continue its practice of organizing a US jaunt (a one week CLE program) of interested Italian lawyers following the August ABA annual meeting. Conversations are in course through him about how SIL might be a cooperating entity for the 2014 jaunt. District Export Councils (DEC) (Jamie Joiner) Jamie reported that the 2013 National DEC Forum was in Washington, DC on November 7, 2013 at the Reagan Building. Jamie has reached out to the National DEC Chair regarding potential opportunities for involvement by the ABA-SIL perhaps in a joint program or legislative reception. Additionally, there is potential joint sponsorship of programs on Export Control Reform and the impact on the President s National Export Initiative (NEI) which the DECs support. Dubai International Financial Centre Courts (Eric Savage) Eric reported that they have asked for assistance in locating an American speaker for the International Association of Court Administrators conference which is being held in Dubai in December. They also asked for assistance in connection with their pro bono program and Chris Marshall has been placed in touch with them to work on a peer review of the pro bono program. As their first year as an organization with a liaison, DIFCC and William are continuing to work together and in partnership with SIL. Greek Bar (George S. Kounoupis) George reported that he is working to put together a Stand-Alone program in Athens, Greece, projected for 2016 if approved. He met with prominent Greek politicians, business leaders, and attorneys at the Athens Stock Exchange Show in June, who expressed support for the program. The Greek Bar Friendship Agreement is still in progress. Hong Kong Bar Association (William A. Wilson III) William reported that he met with Paul Shieh, President, and Selwyn Yu, Vice President, of the HKBA on 23 September They recommended he continue discussions with (Ms.) Kim Rooney, a member of the HKBA International Committee, with whom he met on 24 September During the meeting with Rooney, they discussed the following areas of cooperation: US lawyers as guest speakers on US/international law topics at Hong Kong universities; US lawyers to assist in the training of the pupils of Hong Kong barristers, specifically on issues of US corporate law and US tax law; collaboration on conferences. Conference subjects of interest include: money laundering; insolvency; cross border disputes; identity of parties; and comparative remedies in Hong Kong. 3

4 ICC International Court of Arbitration (Delissa Ridgway) Lisa reported that she is exploring upcoming meetings with John Beechey and Andrea Carlevaris (the President and the Secretary General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, respectively), in addition to discussions with representative(s) of the ICC s New York operations (i.e., the U.S. Council for International Business) ( USCIB ). She also noted that although there were several programs on international arbitration topics at the Section s Fall Meeting, none of the panels featured a representative of the ICC. They plan to confer with the Section s International Arbitration Committee to encourage the inclusion of ICC representatives as speakers for future programs to the greatest extent possible, and to volunteer her services as ICC Liaisons to identify and recruit ICC representatives as panelists. International Municipal Lawyers Association (Benjamin E. Griffith) Benjamin reported that IMLA s 2013 Annual Conference and Seminar was held in San Francisco September 29 October 2, 2013, featuring an Institute for Local Government Lawyers, workshops on telecommunications, personnel and municipal employment law. IMLA s International Committee meeting on October 1 featured a report on the Legislative Fellows Outbound Program in Kiev and Lviv, Ukraine, sponsored by the American Councils for International Education. The IMLA Canadian Department Program on September 30 focused on significant Canadian municipal issues and concerns, including term limits, transparency, accountability, managing a municipal law office, and how to fulfill municipalities human rights obligations. Law Society of Hong Kong (William A. Wilson III) William reported that he met with Huen Wong, former President of the LSHK on September 25, Wong is now on the External Affairs Committee of the LSHK and will become head of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association in They discussed mutual member benefits, the creation of a panel of small and solo law firms from each jurisdiction in order to exchange information and client leads similar to what LSHK has done with Korea and Japan, a blog or other forum where advice can be requested and given informally by lawyers from each jurisdiction, and some concrete output (a paper or practice guide) on how Hong Kong and US law differ or do not differ on basic commercial legal issues. London Court of International Arbitration ( LCIA ) (Delissa Ridgway) Lisa noted that although there were several programs on international arbitration topics presented at the Section s Fall Meeting, and although this year s meeting was held in London, only one of the Fall Meeting panels featured a representative of the LCIA. She plans to confer with the Section s International Arbitration Committee to encourage the inclusion of LCIA representatives as speakers for future programs to the greatest extent possible, and to volunteer her services as LCIA Liaison to identify and recruit LCIA representatives as speakers for Section programs. 4

5 National LGBT Bar Association (Shane T. Devins) Shane reported that topics are still being thrown around for doing a joint event based in Chicago during the upcoming 2014 ABA Midyear in Chicago. A list of potential speakers and contacts that may be of assistance is being developed. He will actively pursue and update SIL as things progress. He also noted that with recent developments in the international sphere with multiple countries passing legislation regarding marriage equality, it would be interesting do a joint publication between the LGBT Bar and SIL in which the progress of each country is detailed; will discuss further with LGBT bar. Uniform Law Commission (ULC) Study Committee on Drafting Uniform Legislation to Implement Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (David P. Stewart) David reported that the ULC has decided not to proceed with the proposed uniform law. The ULC Study Committee had voted to recommend to the ULC Committee on Scope and Program that a drafting committee be formed to prepare a uniform state law to promote state and local law enforcement compliance with the requirements of Art. 36 of the VCCR. The vote was divided, however, and the ULC s Committee on Scope and Program recommend against proceeding; the ULC Executive Committee followed that recommendation. Additionally, the current version of the FY13 foreign ops appropriation bill contains a revision of Sen. Leahy s recent proposal for federal legislation; its prospects remain uncertain. Union of Turkish Bar Associations (Eric Savage) Eric reported that he has sent a number of s to the Union, but has yet to receive any substantive information or communication. He will continue to reach out to determine the level of interest in working with the ABA. World Jurist Association (Benjamin E. Griffith) Benjamin reported that after meetings in Beijing, there is interest that WJA coordinate a conference in Beijing in 2014 in conjunction with the Supreme Court of China on issues relating to intellectual property. Also discussed were the potential for cooperative ventures including publications, conferences and internships, as well as plans for a WJA International Law Journal. Wuhan University Law School offered to participate on the editorial board of the ILJ as well as participate in the upcoming conferences in In addition, China University of Political Science and Beijing University have expressed interest in sending their students to intern with the WJA or U.S. law firms that are members of WJA, and that the WJA President has provided internship requirements and other relevant information through his office in Prague. 5