|
Winner from India
Conference 2006 visiting 4 European law firms:
The winner of ITechLaw’s Indian Traveling Fellowship
Award 2006, attorney Sunita Jagtiani has successfully
completed her travel program. She visited 4 different
law firms. The Award sponsors, the host firms, are all
ITechLaw members: Oosterbaan & Van Eeghen (Amsterdam),
Dr. Widmer & Partners (Berne), Lovells (Munich) and CMS
Hasche Sigle (Hamburg).
The International Visiting Association Program Committee
thanks theses sponsors for their great support.
Report by
Sunita Jagtiani
I would like to thank ITechLaw, the host firms (and
their staff) of the ITechLaw India Traveling Fellowship
Award program for the time, planning, effort and care
they have invested and their tremendous hospitality and
my boss Mrs Cj Ortega, and my team-mates from ACS for
their unstinted support in allowing me the time off to
attend this program.
With Oosterbahn & Van Eeghen in Amsterdam, The
Netherlands, I learnt about the way the EU and Dutch
courts work, the differences between Regulations and
Directives and I was given plenty of study material. I
drafted a panel decision for an ADR on a domain name
registration case which EURid had rejected under the
Sunrise rules. I read thru a complicated infringement
claim by a company including studying the law for
protection of computer software with particular emphasis
on the rights of the licensees to carry out error
corrections and whether third parties could provide
error correction and/or maintenance services and
studying private international laws. I also studied the
law of Data protection under Dutch law. I stayed with Mr
Dinant Oosterbahn and his wife, Marie-Anne in their
beautiful home. They took me to Haarlem, Eindhoven &
Noord and Hague and treated me to a Mahler recital.
With Dr. Widmer & Partners in Berne, Switzerland, I was
given an Indo-Swiss agreement to review and commented on
the steps to be taken to improve enforceability of a
contract in the Indian context. I re-drafted an OEM
agreement for integrating a customer’s software into
another software. I drafted an FAQ document on Escrow
Agreements for source code and the risks arising if a
party submitting a source code for escrow undergoes
liquidation. I also reviewed and re-drafted a Software
License agreement for and discussed the same with a
software vendor. Numerous outings were organized in Bern
including a multi language Mozart opera and a beautiful
trip to Mt. Schilthorn and the fascinating cities of
Lucerne, Thun and Gruyere.
With Lovells in Munich, Germany, I had the opportunity
of reviewing an acquisition thru purchase of shares of a
local software development company by a US based company
including reading thru the documents available in the
Data Room and the Due Diligence report and reviewing the
Share Purchase Agreement. I also reviewed a
sub-contracting agreement for hardware manufacture and
re-drafted a Master BPO agreement. The highlights of the
Munich stay were the visit to the Oktoberfest and the
traditional launch procession.
With CMS Hasche Sigle in Hamburg, Germany, I reviewed
and commented on an outsourcing agreement sent by the
outsourcer, read through a software development and
maintenance sub-contract and read the European block
exemptions on vertical agreements and technology
transfer agreements in connection with sale of a
technology company and a re-assessment of its reseller
agreements. I also read articles on hybrid open source
software, data protection laws in Germany and the
validity of Open source license. I took the opportunity
provided by a week-day holiday to visit Berlin and was
invited to spend the weekend at Luneburg where I
attended a Bach concert.
My bags and my heart are bursting at the seams with all
the wonderful memories of this trip. I would like to
sincerely thank ITechLaw and all the people who have
made this truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, above
all Dr. Ursula Widmer, member of ITechLaw’s Executive
Committee and chair of the TFA program India and Europe.
Winners from
Stockholm conference visiting 10 European law firms:
The winners of the ITechLaw’s Nordic European Traveling
Award, the Swedish attorneys Carl Näsholm and
Fredrik Roos, both from Setterwalls, and attorney Probir
Chowdhury from J. Sagar Associates, Bangalore, India,
have successfully completed their travel program. They
visited ten different law firms in Europe for a period
of five weeks. The Award sponsors, the host firms, are
all ITechLaw members: Batalla Abogados (Madrid), Bernard
Hertz Béjot (Paris), CMS Hasche Sigle (Stuttgart), Dr.
Widmer & Partners (Berne), Gassauer-Fleissner
Rechtsanwälte (Vienna), Kemp Little LLP (London), Lellos
P. Demetriades Law Office (Nicosia, Cyprus), Lovells
(Munich and Hamburg), Tamburrini Savi & Associati
(Milan) and Taylor Wessing (Munich).
The
International Visiting Associate Program Committee is
very grateful to these sponsors.
Report by Fredrik Roos, Sweden
First of all I would like to thank all the ITechLaw’s
sponsoring law firms which took care of all traveling
and living costs and offered an insight in their legal
work and national cultures. Especially, I appreciate the
effort Dr. Ursula Widmer and the International Visiting
Associate Program Committee have made to find the
sponsors, to evaluate the Award winners and to organize
the travel and to make these five weeks a unique
experience.
1. General Experience and Reflections
The
most valuable experience from the Nordic European
Traveling
Fellowship Award has been to learn about the different
cultures and the way of working at the host firms. It
has also been a great opportunity to meet people,
network and acquire valuable contacts. Regarding the
more knowledge based experiences it is quite difficult
to go far into a matter regulated by foreign law. A very
interesting knowledge exchange has been spontaneous
discussions during e.g. lunch regarding legal questions
of current interest, comparing the approach according to
Swedish and foreign law.
2. Lellos P. Demetriades Law Office, Nicosia, Cyprus
I
found it interesting to get an overview of the Cyprus
legal system, which is based on common law with civil
law modifications, and to visit the Competition
Authority as well as the Court and Supreme Court of
Cyprus. The University of Cyprus does not have a legal
education and consequently all the lawyers have studied
abroad, some in Greece but the majority in the U.K. The
Lellos P. Demetriades Law Office, a medium sized law
firm, works primarily with multi-national companies in
issues related to EC-law, IT and competition. During my
visit I studied the Cyprus Copyright Act, especially
with regard to the implementation of the enforcement
directive. Furthermore I studied cases regarding patent
law, parallel import and humanitarian law cases, which
represents also a major legal area in the Demetriades
firm.
3. Tamburrini, Savi & Associati, Milano, Italy
During my visit at the Tamburrini & Savi law firm in
Milan I assisted in research work on requirements in the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act with regard to Italian companies,
participated in client meetings and prepared a memo
regarding the European Legislation on Renewable Energy
Sources with special focus on the possibilities for
Italian companies to trade with green and white
certificates. I also learned about the structure and
organization of an Italian law firm, e.g. with regard to
legal responsibilities in relation to the clients, and
the education and graduation of lawyers.
Furthermore, I got the opportunity to learn the basic
principles of Italian procedural law from one of the
partners and also to attend a hearing at the court of
Milan. My visit at the court of Milan was an interesting
experience. I was impressed with the intense activity
and the large number of lawyers hurrying back and forth
and up and down the stairs of the courthouse. Especially
compared to the peaceful and reserved atmosphere of a
Swedish court this was surprising but I later learned
that the procedural rules force the Italian lawyers to
spend more time at the courthouse than it is the case in
Sweden. All in all I had a great time visiting the
Tamburrin & Savi firm having also interesting
discussions with almost every member of the firm.
4. CMS
Hasche Sigle, Stuttgart, Germany
The
Stuttgart office of CMS Hasche Sigle was established in
1962 under the name of Sigle Loose Schmidt-Diemitz and
merged with a Hamburg/Munich/Frankfurt firm to form CMS
Hasche Sigle in 1999. It is today a part of the European
CMS Association. The Stuttgart office is the largest of
the CMS offices in Germany. During my stay I had the
chance to get to know all of the lawyers of the
Technology department in this office.
I spent
most of the week helping one of the partners to prepare
a presentation regarding US law and IT-contracting in a
comparative perspective. In doing this work I had the
benefit of some assistance from a CMS associate
currently working in New York and I found it very
interesting to learn more about US contract law.
5.
Kemp Little, London, England
At Kemp
Little LLP I was fortunate to arrive the day before an
Open Source Business Conference was to take place in
London and I had the opportunity to join Mr. Kemp and
attended the conference for two days. At the conference
we discussed, among other things, the aspects of open
source software in M&A transactions. I also met a number
of in-house attorneys, foremost from US software
companies and had interesting discussions on this topic.
The rest
of the week I was working at the firm which has a strong
focus on the technology sector. It was interesting to
visit a specialist firm compared to a full service firm.
The office culture was also special as a result of that
the lawyers sharing rooms, with one senior lawyer and
one young associate in each room. The system is
definitely a benefit for the young lawyers’ education
and encourages a lot of interaction between the members
of the firm.
6. Taylor Wessing, München, Germany
My
last week
I
spent with Taylor Wessing in Munich, a large
international firm. The Munich office has a strong focus
on technology and intellectual property, with a large
entertainment law section. During the week I
reviewed,
among other things,
a
large dispute regarding a software project and learned
about the limitations of liability in German contract
law.
The
Taylor Wessing Munich office has grown rapidly over the
last years.
Despite of that, the
Munich office has still preserved the open atmosphere of
the smaller firms I worked for during my internship.
Report by Carl Näsholm, Sweden
1. General remarks
First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Ursula Widmer in
Berne, who is the founder of the Traveling Fellowship
Award, and the sponsoring law firms who gave me the
opportunity to visit their law firms. I also would like
to thank everyone who has contributed to making my
internship a fantastic experience; all the hosting law
firms and the responsible partners; Dr. Michael Wolner
at Gassauer-Fleissner in Vienna, Dr. Ursula Widmer at
Widmer & Partners
in Berne, Mr. Enrique Batalla at Batalla Abogados in
Madrid, Mr. Alexander Blumrosen at Bernard-Hertz-Béjot
in Paris and Dr. Volker Meinberg and Dr. Leopold von
Gerlach at Lovells in Hamburg. Last but not least I
would like to thank my employer, Setterwalls Advokatbyrå
in Stockholm for granting me the time off to attend this
program.
When
I was awarded the ITechLaw Nordic Traveling Fellowship
Award at the 2005 ITechLaw Conference in Stockholm, I
was very honoured that I had been chosen to attend
this program,
but to be honest, I did not know what to expect of it.
Nevertheless, I was very excited about the
program
and my expectations about the trip were high.
So
what happened? Did the reality meet my expectations? The
answer is simple. I have had five wonderful weeks and
the internship was a great experience for me, which by
far exceeded my expectations. The most interesting
experience have been the spontaneous discussions
regarding almost any issue ranging from the political
system in Switzerland to the differences between the
Swedish and Spanish Data Protection Authorities and the
way the Data Protection Directive has been implemented
and interpreted in the various EU countries.
2. Gassauer-Fleissner, Vienna, Austria
I
started my trip by visiting the law firm
Gassauer-Fleissner in Vienna. The law firm
is
located in the very city centre and is is a medium sized
firm in Vienna.
It
offers legal advice within various legal fields to
multinational and national companies, public
corporations and private individuals. Dr. Michael Wolner
is the partner responsible for technology law related
matters. During my time with the firm I assisted Dr.
Wolner in IT/IP matters and also assisted some of his
colleagues with non-technology law related issues, which
gave me an insight into the day to day work at an
Austrian law firm.
The
most interesting experience for me during my stay was
the possibility to discuss general legal issues with the
other lawyers at the firm such as the Austrian legal
system. I also got an overview of how the Bar
Association is organised, that the bar exam is quite
different from the one in Sweden and that the
preparation for the exam normally takes months and
sometimes requires that the associate takes some times
off before the exam in order to study for the exam.
My
visit to Vienna also included, besides all the cultural
sights and events this magnificent city has to offer, a
memorable trip to a traditional Austrian wine
restaurant, a Heuriger, which was located on one of the
hills surrounding Vienna. I will never forget the walk
up the hill and the beautiful view over the city.
3. Dr. Widmer & Partners,
Berne, Switzerland
My
visit at Dr. Widmer & Partners was a very memorable week
for me in many aspects. When I arrived at the hotel I
was introduced to Mr Probir Chowdhury from Bangalore,
India, who also had been awarded
an
ITechLaw Traveling Fellowship. Probir I and soon became
very good friends and the possibility to meet an Indian
lawyer added another dimension to my trip. It almost
felt that my trip had been extended to include six
different countries!
The
first day in Berne Probir and I were picked up at the
hotel for a trip to Schilthorn in the Swiss Alps. The
sceneries from the train window were indescribable and
to hike in the Swiss Alps and breath the fresh mountain
air is something I have sworn to soon do again.
The
week in Berne was full of interesting activities,
both culturally and legally.
Dr. Widmer invited us to a Rotary lunch, we visited the
Einstein exhibition, the Paul Klee museum, we had a
wonderful guided walking tour in the Old Town of Berne
and we had a delicious dinner at the terrace of the
Hotel Bellevue, just to mention some of the things Dr.
Widmer arranged for us.
Although we were given the opportunity to explore Berne
in a way that few tourist normally would do, we also had
the time to learn a lot about the Swiss legal and
political system, including the attendance at the
parliament when a new minister was elected. I reviewed,
among other files, a software license and support
agreement between a Swiss and a Swedish company and I
was also introduced to the .eu Domain Dispute Resolution
procedure. During my visit at Dr. Widmer & Partners I
got to know every member of the firm and had
very
interesting discussions about the
legal
work
in Switzerland, explained also – among others – by
two
German lawyers
working for
the
firm.
The
time in Berne was a fantastic experience for me.
4. Batalla Abogados, Madrid, Spain
From
sunny Bern my journey went on to the even sunnier and
hotter Madrid and the law office of Mr. Enrique Batalla.
I experienced that the working hours were not what I was
used to. Although it was a major challenge for me to
wait until 2 pm to have lunch (normal lunch hours in
Sweden is about noon) I soon adapted “the Spanish way”
and could easily understand why the Spanish people
prefer to work at nights when it is much cooler.
During my time with Mr. Batalla in Madrid I got the
opportunity to review and comment on an .eu dispute
according to the alternative procedure for solving
dispute with .eu domains administrated by the
Arbitration Court in the Czech Republic. I also prepared
a memo on transfer of personal data and had some very
interesting discussions with one of the lawyers
regarding data protection issues and in particular how
the Spanish Data Protection Authority handles
notifications of data processing by data controllers and
the regulations concerning cross-border data transfer
and the future use of binding corporate rules.
I
realized that Madrid never sleeps and of course I tried
to adapt to the Spanish way of living (which could mean
dinner at 11 pm). Mr Batalla offered
Probir and me
the opportunity to see the beautiful city of Madrid. We
visited the Prado Museum, the spectacular train station
with the tropical gardens, the Picasso Exhibition, the
Royal Castle and we caught a glimpse of the Santiago
Bernabeu Stadium, home for one of the best football
clubs in the world, Real Madrid.
5. Bernard-Hertz-Béjot, Paris, France
Hertz-Béjot is a mixture of different cultures and
nationalities, which enables the firm to advice foreign
clients not only in French law but also in US and German
law. There was even a special team of German lawyers
working with the firm. In Paris I got the opportunity to
work in the same office as seven other interns and to
exchange know-ledge with them.
The
opportunity to discuss the differences between the
French and the Swedish legal systems and also specific
legal issues, got me to realize that the similarities
between the two countries in this respect were striking.
I spent most of my time in Paris working with IP-related
issues.
I
believe that Mr. Blumrosen and his colleagues are very
fortunate to have the opportunity to live and work in
such an amazing city. Especially since the office was
something extraordinary with a huge balcony facing
towards the lovely green Monceau Park. My time in Paris
also included visits at the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and
other famous places in the city. One of the most
memorable moments was a visit to the legendary jazz club
New Morning where we watched Roseanne Cash perform songs
from her new album.
6. Lovells, Hamburg, Germany
My
last stop was Hamburg. The warm and sunny weather and
the friendly atmosphere in Hamburg made me feel most
welcome when I arrived. The atmosphere at the Lovells
office was as friendly as in the rest of Hamburg.
Although Lovells was the largest law firm I visited, I
could feel the close atmosphere of a much smaller
office. Based in the city with one of the highest
densities of publishing houses in Germany, the office
has a very strong tradition of highly skilled IP and
media law attorneys. Luckily for me one of the IP
attorneys had an appearance in the Court of Appeal in an
infringement matter and I was invited to attend the
hearing. The most noticeable circumstance for me was the
formal procedure, where the attorney wore black robes
and remained standing throughout the hearing.
During my stay at Lovells I also assisted one of the
lawyers with an
interesting matter concerning the introduction of a
whistle blowing hotline for non-financial matters for a
German subsidiary of an overseas company. The case law
in this respect is very limited, but the German
Labour
Court has made it clear that the questions of legitimacy
of whistle blowing hotlines does not only involve data
protection issues but also labour law concerns. I also
assisted in a trade mark matter that involved the
registration of a trade mark in Sweden and got the
chance to meet a Chinese-German lawyer working for
Lovells in Beijing.
Report by Probir Chowdhury, India
At
the outset I am extremely grateful to Dr. Ursula Widmer
for arranging and coordinating my entire internship with
the other host firms and also to my office (J. Sagar
Associates) and the partner in-charge, Mr. Sajai Singh
for assisting me in undertaking this internship
opportunity and more importantly granting me the
necessary time off from office.
1. Dr. Widmer & Partners – Berne, Switzerland
The
fact that struck me about my stay in Berne was the clock
work precision with which my stay was organized,
planned and executed.
There was a schedule that had laboriously been prepared
by Dr. Widmer and her team and each individual had been
assigned certain responsibilities which they undertook
with ease and made us (Carl Näsholm
and me) feel completely at home and at ease. Be it from
assigning work in the office, to excursions in the
Bernese Alps, guided city walks and exhibitions, lunches
and dinners at exotic locations etc.
–
there was always someone accompanying us and making sure
we were comfortable.
Dr.
Widmer has a concept, that if a person is traveling to a
new location on work, not only must the person learn
professionally but he must grasp the local flavour of
the country he is traveling to and enrich himself
culturally also. The entire week was divided into time
slots for work and for excursions into the city and
surrounding areas.
As a
result I was fortunate enough to travel all the way up
to Schilthorn and get the best view possible of the
Swiss Alps, I trekked in the famous Swiss mountains (and
yes, my legs ached for a long time!), I got a private
guided tour of the city of Berne and learnt of its rich
history, got an opportunity to visit the Einstein
exhibition (one of its kind in the world) and with the
help of our private guide learnt of the fascinating life
history of Albert Einstein, visited the Swiss Parliament
and
saw
an election in process, visited the famous Paul Klee
museum,
saw
the city of Zurich and
was invited by Dr. Widmer
to dine at some of the best restaurants and cafes in
Berne.
In
office, I was provided with software license agreements
that had been entered into by Indian and Swiss companies
and was able to understand the methodology that the
Swiss attorneys adopt while negotiating such contracts.
It was interesting to discuss methods of alternate
dispute resolutions and the possibility of utilizing these
in an agreement with an Indian party.
Switzerland is a beautiful and picturesque country with
very warm and friendly citizens who take pride in their
country and its rich cultural heritage. I was amazed to
know that German, French and Italian are all national
languages! The cross cultural integration that exists in
Switzerland
is very similar to
the diversity and integrity of India.
2. Batalla Abogados – Madrid, Spain
What
struck me most about Madrid were the beautiful buildings
and architecture. Being a royal state the remnants of
the royal era have been preserved and maintained. The
infusion of the modern and traditional architecture is
what makes Madrid so beautiful.
I
worked with a colleague of Mr. Batalla, Carmen deValle,
during my internship and she provided me with many
inputs on the Spanish Data Protection Act and it was
interesting to note that the Data Protection Agency has
stipulated very stringent provisions and guidelines for
the transfer of personal data. I researched on the
working paper being drafted by the EU on Binding
Corporate Rules and in fact Carl and I even made a short
note on it. It is interesting to note that though the
binding corporate rules seek to facilitate the easy
transfer of personal data among group corporations, it
does not cover the transfer of data to a group
corporation that is situated in a non EU region. I was
intrigued to learn that under Spanish law, the concept
of limitation of liability does not apply. Mr. Batalla
would take great efforts to advise us on how best to
spend
our leisure time.
Each day, we would walk to a different locality, sit at
the cafes and get a feel of the lifestyle of the people,
sample Tapas, go to different museums, visit the royal
palace, get a taste of the rather late night life of
Madrid. We even saw a match at the town square (Colon)
and were swept up in the world cup fever.
I
was truly privileged to be able to go and view the Pablo
Picasso exhibitions being displayed at the museums. I
viewed the famous ‘Guernica” painting by Picasso and it
stunned me into silence. I was also able to appreciate
the art styles of Goya, Velazquez and Picasso.
3. Lovells – Munich, Germany
I
arrived in Munich on a Saturday and went about exploring
the city on my own. I walked through the famous English
gardens, royal gardens, went to the Marienplatz (city
centre), Odeonplatz, Kings Square. I even managed to go
on a Third Reich tour of the city and went to the Dachau
Concentration Camp. It surprised me that 80% of the city
of Munich was destroyed by the war and was then
re-built. Munich has some very beautiful buildings and
it is a pleasure to walk through the city.
In
Lovells, I worked closely with Dr. Buchner’s co-partner
of the TMT Practice, Dr. Stephan Schuppert, and also
with Dr. Christian Greissinger. They provided me with
transactions on which they required India specific
comments as well as certain transactions relating to
service providers and sought my opinions from an Indian
perspective. It was interesting to discuss the
agreements with them and get an understanding of the
negotiation tactics used by them.
Munich was in the grip of soccer mania and I had the
opportunity to experience the general excitement and see
matches in cafes and pubs. I even visited the
Olympiazentrum (the place where the 1972 Olympics were
held) and spend
some
time in the vast gardens. Munich is a beautiful.
4. Conclusion
I
want to convey my sincere appreciation to all the host
firms for taking time out of their busy schedules and
making the efforts to provide me with an insight not
only in the different legal systems that they work in
but also concerning the culture, traditions and customs.
I believe it is essential to understand people, their
background and cultures when working with them and I do
believe my experience will help me to better interact
and work closely with people from Europe.
The International Visiting Associate Program Committeehas
provided me this opportunity and I am very grateful to
the association and its members.
Winner of the 2005 ITechLaw
India Traveling Fellowship Award
Report by
Latha R. Nair
The objectives of the ITechLaw India Traveling Fellowship
Award, I was told, are to expose the winner to the different
legal systems in the field of information and communication
technology (ICT) law and to provide an opportunity to the
winner to experience how this branch of law is practiced in
Europe.
When I was announced the winner of the ITechLaw India
Traveling Fellowship Award in February 2005, I was quite
skeptical about how much exposure the program was going to
offer me. After all, I was going to spend less than two
weeks in each of the four sponsor firms located in Paris,
Berne, Munich and London. Besides, the sponsors also
intended that I got an opportunity to do some leisure
activities during the internship. I was convinced that two
weeks was too brief a period to achieve the objectives of
the award.
Having completed the program, I must say that it is now time
to revise my opinion. The last two months (August 28 to
October 21, 2005) that I spent in Europe have been a perfect
mélange of work and cross-cultural experience, and during
the internship program at the four sponsor law firms I have
gained a sizeable insight into certain aspects of the
European ICT law, which have great relevance to India and
its legal systems at the moment. The following is a flavour
of my experiences during the last two months in Europe.
While in the beautiful city of Paris I had the occasion to
work on certain data protection and technology issues at
Kahn & Associés. The sponsors also ensured that I got to see
some of the most beautiful sights of Paris such as the
Eiffel Tower and the Notre Dame Cathedral. I also visited
some of the world famous museums in Paris including the
Louvre.
From Paris, I proceeded to Berne to intern with Dr. Widmer &
Partners, where I had the opportunity of co-authoring an
article on data protection in the specific context of data
exports from Europe and Switzerland to India. Dr. Widmer's
firm arranged a visit for me to the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva where I found myself
attending a special session of discussions organized
exclusively for the ITechLaw Traveling Fellowship Award
winner. The discussions were centered on the developments in
copyright law with special focus on the digital copyright
issues as well as a session on geographical indications and
patent law. The visit was extremely interesting and useful
and provided me with an opportunity to meet with some of the
senior officials of WIPO. Considering my interest in the
area of geographical indications, Dr. Widmer’s firm had also
arranged a trip for me to visit a Swiss chocolate factory
near Gruyère and also took me to see some of the most
beautiful places in Switzerland including a ride on a cable
car to a mountain top!
From Berne, I proceeded to Munich to be with CMS Hasche
Sigle. During my stay there, I worked on several Indian
related data protection cases and had the chance to review a
draft for a legal action in a technology related matter. I
also had the chance to accompany one partner of the firm to
a court hearing in Munich. Two partners of the firm took me
to the famous Oktoberfest, also known as the beer festival,
which was a remarkable cultural experience for me.
I also spent two days of my internship in Munich at Lovells,
Munich, before proceeding to Lovells, London. While working
at Lovells in London, I once again worked on several files
relating to issues regarding data protection in the UK and
Europe. I also saw some of the notable attractions of London
and visited the various museums and art galleries.
Briefly stated, the program was an endearing and memorable
experience of cultural exchanges, professional networking
and insightful learning. I wish to thank ITechLaw and in
particular, the four sponsors for their extreme
thoughtfulness in arranging and organizing the program and
taking good care of me in each of these cities. I also wish
to thank my law firm K&S Partners in India for enabling me
to experience this program by granting me leave for two
months. Personally, I have made several friends in these
four law firms and professionally, I intend to utilize this
exposure to expand the horizons of my practice areas as a
lawyer.
Lastly, I hope that ITechLaw will institute this award every
year providing an Indian lawyer this wonderful opportunity
and thereby strengthening its presence in India where
information technology and the related legal issues are
still evolving.
Latha R. Nair, New Delhi, October 21, 2005
Report by Stefan Schicker: ITechLaw’s first associate
exchange lawyer.
At the ITechLaw’s Washington
Conference in 2002 I met a Swiss lawyer, Dr. Ursula Widmer,
who is on the board of directors of ITechLaw and chairs its
International Associate Exchange Program Committee. She told
me about this Program for associates, which had just been
launched by ITechLaw. In due course I was fortunate enough
to be selected as the first exchange candidate.
The goal of ITechLaw International Associate Exchange
Program:
The goal explained to me, and which proved to be valid
during my personal exchange, is to provide incentive and
motivation for experienced IT and telecom lawyers (either
top associates or high-caliber in-house counsels) to
increase their professional skills by working abroad for a 4
to 6 week period. It is also a way of building and improving
relationships reciprocally between individual law firms, and
also between law firms and companies around the world.
The criteria for participation in the international
exchange program are:
· The hosting and the sending firm and also the exchange
associate are already, or will all become, members of
ITechLaw.
· The associate has at least two years’ professional
experience in IT, IP or telecom law and has a sound
knowledge of the language of the hosting firm’s country.
· The exchange period will be of 4 to 6 weeks’ duration.
· The hosting firm will offer a working position to the
exchange associate; if required by the sending firm, its
associate should also be able to continue to undertake work
on behalf of some of his/her home clients.
· The sending firm or the associate himself will cover the
cost of traveling and accommodation so that the hosting firm
does not incur any costs, but it must be prepared to
dedicate enough time during the period mentioned above.
· The associate must present a report on his exchange
experience to ITechLaw, as will both the hosting and the
sending firms.
· The alumni associates will meet once a year at the Meeting
of the International Associate Exchange Program Committee,
which takes place during the ITechLaw’s yearly spring
conference in Washington.
The application process for becoming an exchange fellow:
As a first step I provided Dr. Widmer with my curriculum
vitae, which details my employment as a professional
programmer. I therefore have substantial skills in
information technology, and after finishing my law studies,
specialized in IT and IP law. I accumulated practical
experience while working for different German law firms with
a strong focus in these areas. Today I work in a law firm
with lawyers and patent attorneys, 24IP Sonnenberg Fortmann,
in Munich, Germany, which specializes in IT and IP law.
With this background in mind, Dr. Widmer began to look for a
law firm which most closely matched my interests, so as to
make my stay and my hosting law firm’s investment of time in
my presence as rewarding as possible for both parties.
The hosting law firm:
Dr. Widmer’s suggestion was the law firm of Brown Raysman
Millstein Felder & Steiner (Brown Raysman), located in New
York, in midtown Manhattan. The firm was co-founded by Peter
Brown as a law practice specializing in IT and IP law. Today
the firm has enlarged its spectrum and employs more than 250
attorneys in most sectors of economic law. Peter Brown
offered to receive me as a candidate for the program. The
match promised to be excellent, and in reality it turned out
to be just about perfect.
Working as an exchange associate:
The first day at Brown Raysman seemed to arrive very
quickly. I received a warm welcome right from the outset,
and found that everything had been well prepared. For the
first few days I was guided by a mentor, who rapidly enabled
me to feel familiar and welcome. He was a great help
throughout my stay.
I was introduced to the head of the trademark department and
some other partners within the law firm who gave me an
overview of the firm’s philosophy and their respective areas
of responsibility.
I then started to work and was assigned real jobs for real
clients. This inspired me to do my very best, as I naturally
wanted to live up to the expectations of the law firm.
Luckily, I was prepared to a certain degree for working in
the US system by virtue of having taken some courses on
relevant subjects at university. Also, my studies for a
master’s degree at Nottingham Trent University in the UK
helped me to get along with the case law system much more
quickly.
In addition to working on interesting, real cases and being
involved in exciting communications with clients, one of the
highlights of the program was taking part in a court trial
which concerned a Y2K software implementation case. From the
election of the jury and the opening speeches right through
to the end of the case, this was a great experience.
After work in the evenings and at weekends I was able to
spend my free time with members of the law firm and many new
friends going on sight-seeing tours, city walks, out to
dinner, shopping, or sampling New York’s night life.
Conclusion:
I am very grateful, firstly to ITechLaw and Dr. Widmer for
having given me this fantastic opportunity, secondly to my
own law firm for releasing me from my day-to-day work in
their office in order to enjoy the privilege of benefiting
from this cross-cultural experience, and finally to the
hosting firm for their generosity. The International
Associate Exchange Program broadened my horizons
significantly. As a German lawyer, working for a US law firm
was a most rewarding adventure and an invaluable experience.
Especially in my areas of legal interest, international
understanding is an important precondition for success. In
addition to the knowledge I have gained, the program has
established contacts with Brown Raysman that will definitely
continue to exist, and hopefully grow, in future. My insight
into the US system is now helping me a lot with upcoming
projects and mandates.
Moreover, I would dare to suggest that the hosting law firm
might also have benefited from my stay. Many interesting
discussions and countless questions showed that there was a
strong interest on the part of the other US lawyers as well.
I had many challenging conversations with fellow attorneys
discussing legal topics from both the US and the European
perspective. I was invited to share some of my knowledge by
giving a talk for New York University in a CLE program that
the firm has set up.
My exchange period was a time of contacts, life-enriching
experience and memories. Thinking back to the period of the
exchange always evokes many fantastic memories in my mind. I
am sure that I will stay in contact – in both business and
private life – and will see many of my new friends from New
York again – either there, or in my office in Germany, or
somewhere else in the world.
For me it only remains to say a very warm thank you to
ITechLaw for initiating this program, to Dr. Widmer both for
selecting me and for her outstanding organizational work, to
Brown Raysman, especially Peter Brown and all the great
colleagues I met, for having me in their exceptional office,
and last but not least to my law firm, 24IP Sonnenberg
Fortmann, for allowing me to go to the US and for their
great support during the exchange program period.
Contact Information:
For further information please contact Stefan Schicker;
e-mail: schicker@24ip.com.
|
