LEGAL AREA Learning Law for a globalised world THE GLOBAL SOCIETY POSES CHALLENGES FOR PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY IN NUMEROUS FIELDS AND THE LAW IS NO EXCEPTION. THE CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBALISATION SHAPE CONTEMPORARY LEGAL PRACTISE AND THIS MEANS THAT LAWYERS HAVE TO WORK IN AREAS DIFFERENT FROM THE ONES THEY WERE TRAINED IN. (Lic&MD99) cesar.arjona @ esade.edu PhD in Law from Cornell University in the United States, he is currently Professor of Public Law at ESADE and has represented the Faculty of Law at the Center for Transnational Legal Studies, where he has taught the Professional Ethics in Business and Law course. CÉSAR ARJONA British national is named Vice-President for corpo- A rate responsibility of a mul- tinational domiciled in the Cay- man Islands and headquartered in the United States. His job is to ensure compliance with ethi- cal codes that the company has created or supported, as well as existing laws in the various countries where it operates. This leads him to perform his duties to begin arbitration proceedings the various procedural steps in throughout the world, opening through which he seeks to get the confrontation between the permanent offi ces in Chicago, the compensation specifi ed in company and its Vice-President. São Paulo, Lyon, London, Accra his employment agreement. This The case is a good refl ection of and Hong Kong. After verifying agreement, signed in the United the spirit of a centre that was set that what the company actually States, expressly provides for up to meet the challenge of giv- does in several of these places arbitration in case of disputes. ing a response in terms of legal has little to do with what it says education to globalisation and its it does, and after unsuccessfully CENTER FOR consequences. These conse- trying to resolve the issue be- TRANSNATIONAL LEGAL quences are absolutely crucial hind closed doors, he decides to STUDIES (CTLS) in contemporary legal practice call a press conference in which This imaginary ‘real life’ event and require lawyers to work in he exposes the multinational’s was used to begin the academic environments different to the one dirty laundry to public gaze. The year at the Center for Transna- in which they received the bulk of company immediately fi res him, tional Legal Studies (CTLS). For their legal training. after which he goes to the Inter- three days the students and Working in these environments, 50 national Chamber of Commerce teachers at the centre simulated and with rules that a priori 050-052 Espacio juridico_ING.indd 50 7/4/10 18:24:03 LEGAL AREA Practising in a globalised world ALEXANDRE IBÁÑEZ (AGT 06) Shanghai Offi ce Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira (China) “China still can- not be regarded as a state run according to the rule of law, but instead it is a state governed by law. It has made great strides over recent years, but it still needs to improve its legal system. “In addition, the law in China was part of the bureaucratic framework of government until 1992; since then fi rms have been privatised. Their legislative framework has been rolled out gradually as it has to adapt to modern international law. “Finally, international fi rms like ours are under some restric- tions in our operations, so we need to know and work with local offi ces, identifying how they work, as this is the only way to ensure that our clients are getting quality advice.” DANIEL LANDALUCE (Lic&MD 99) Lawyer and Director of the Spanish Desk at Landwell- PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York (United States) “Lawyers in the United States share are unfamiliar, entails a lot of It is also essential to be able to many of the techniques and skills things. In addition to being fl u- integrate the systems into their of an entrepreneur. Networking here ent in the language (which for social environment, the impor- becomes a real science. the present in global practise tance of which extends from the “Moreover, the U.S. market, es- means English), it is of course way of interacting with the parties pecially in New York, is extremely necessary either to know the to the inculturated interpreta- demanding in terms of both quality fundamental principles of tion of the rules. For example, and immediacy of service. In the the system in which you are in the case described above it area of taxation American clients operating or be able to acquire was crucial to understand that will not accept any kind of ambigui- this knowledge. It should be the possibility of submitting an ty and try to determine the odds of borne in mind that the differ- employment agreement to private success or failure almost mathe- ences between systems are not arbitration is consistent with the matically. In return, lawyer fees are merely, or indeed mainly, about particular conception of indi- much higher.” the content of the laws that vidual freedom that defi nes the make them up, but rather are American legal culture, when by concerned with questions of contrast it would not be accepted structure and functioning. in many European countries. 51 050-052 Espacio juridico_ING.indd 51 8/4/10 18:11:40 LEGAL AREA PATRICIA SAIZ (Lic&MD 01) Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. New York (United States) Plus to all of the foregoing you and nobody was helped by getting “In my experience, the things have to add the need to be ready down tomes on laws and codes the American market most val- to move in the dense network of that they “knew”. The person ues in a lawyer are technical national, sub-national, regional, who did best was the one who knowledge, business profi le international and informal or soft best understood the logic of and availability. Technical law and legislation, which make the applicable laws, precedents knowledge is a prerequisite up the usual setting for interna- and doctrines, who thought the for any lawyer regardless of tional legal practice. process through strategically, the jurisdiction in which they All these things are covered at who was able to navigate the practice, but it is especially the CTLS, a centre led by George- interaction between formal and relevant in a market charac- town Law together with a dozen informal rules, who was sensi- terised by specialisation. As other founder law schools, among tive to the facts of the case, who for the business profi le, it is them ESADE. Teachers and captured the social and cultural essential that the lawyer has students of different nationali- foundations of the laws, and a practical approach, that ties, languages, legal systems who expressed all of the above they are creative in solv- and cultures, religions, races, through persuasive argument ing problems and that they etc. come together in this centre and language. understand and prioritise the to work on extremely varied top- These are the skills that teaching business needs of their client. ics, ranging from terrorism laws should emphasize if it wants Finally, I’d stress the impor- to securities market regulations, to turn out good and global tance of availability and ac- from international banking to lawyers, whether to advise large cessibility, twenty-four hours a professional ethics. companies or environmental day, seven days a week.” organizations, whether to defend What is common to the CTLS’s executives or victims of human ALEJANDRO GENÉ activities is the comparative or rights violations, whether to suc- (DIN 05) transnational perspective ceed in world trade or to fi ght for Legal Advisor. Cel- world justice. gene International. The great advantage of globalisa- Boudry (Switzerland) What is common to the different tion for legal education is that “Although it is modules and activities at CTLS is it now makes evident what was located in Switzerland, the area not the subject matter itself but already true before. That is to of responsibility of lawyers at the perspective, which is neces- say, for a lawyer the most im- my company is global. In this sarily comparative or transna- portant thing is not knowing the context, it is essential to be tional. This perspective makes it laws. It is knowing how to think fl uent in English (since it is the possible to overcome the dogmas about them. working language). Apart from of traditional legal education that this, what’s required is a lawyer is unfortunately still too rooted who is capable of working in a in the 19th century idea that the multinational environment and best lawyer is the one who best can therefore successfully inter- “knows” the laws of his country act with people from different and, if possible, by heart. countries and cultures, someone So the centre is important and who has a solid understanding hence it is also important that of international law, knows the ESADE is involved in this and business environment and is other similar projects. solutions oriented. As for the dif- Take for example the case at the ferences between working in one start of this article. Mere memory place as opposed to another, was of little assistance to those there’s no doubt that the biggest of us who as students and teach- one is the timetable and the ers took part in the simulation, option of working from home. Generally speaking, people get to work earlier, take less time for lunch and leave work earlier than is the norm in Spain. Further- more, it is not at all unusual for people to work from home one or 52 two days a week.” 050-052 Espacio juridico_ING.indd 52 7/4/10 18:24:09 LEGAL AREA Eugeni Gay, Constitutional Court judge “Regulating access to the profession is essential” CONSTITUTIONAL COURT JUDGE EUGENI GAY CLOSED THE ESADE LAW FACULTY CAREER FORUM, AN EVENT AT WHICH STUDENTS FINISHING THEIR DEGREES OR DOING MASTER’S AND OTHER POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES IN LAW CAN MEET WITH LAW FIRMS.