INTERNATIONAL

The increasing globalization of markets has brought many opportunities for businesses, but also many challenges. Fortunately the advent of the internet and of e-government has dramatically increased access to the laws and courts decisions of many jurisdictions. This has facilitated the co-ordination and provision of legal advice in international matters.

The basic requirements for the practice of international law for businesses have remained the same. It is an advantage to an international lawyer to be able to read law in other languages.

It is an advantage to have a good understanding of the principles of both the common law and civil law systems of jurisprudence, and how to assess them comparatively. To gain this knowledge the lawyer must be able to read law in the local language.

Finally it is an advantage to have a good understanding of the options for resolving disputes internationally, and how different countries and legal systems handle domestic and international disputes and enforcement.

We read law in eight languages, including the four most commonly spoken languages in the world, Chinese, English, Spanish and Russian. We have training and experience in practicing law in both common law and civil law jurisdictions.

Our practice is also becoming increasingly international and now the majority of our matters involve international or cross-border work. Assessments as to which law will apply or should apply to a legal matter are something we make regularly.

We have successfully applied our assessments of the correct jurisdiction in trade-mark disputes and our language skills are a specific advantage in certain trade-mark applications, such as for Chinese character marks and advising on trade-mark protection in China. They are also an advantage in e-commerce and international privacy matters. We have assisted a client in conducting marketing surveys regarding medical devices in 10 countries around the world.

Our expertise in international matters has been recognized by others. We have been invited to speak on the development of Chinese law at a conference in China. This paper is now used for teaching purposes at an American university. An earlier publication on the protection of Chinese character trade-marks is also used by the Intellectual Property Office in Taiwan for teaching purposes.

Our Publications and Updates in this Area are available as Resources.