Hi all,
Sorry it has been so long since I’ve had a chance to update on part two of my residency here in Vienna. The PACT office has been completely swamped with work, since, as the Director General has made his main focus Cancer Care and Control in the developing world, everyone wants to work with the IAEA’s umbrella programme for cancer.
This has left me with a lot to get done in my 4 month internship here. My first major accomplishment has been a PACT brochure that I authored and helped design on the IAEA/PACT in Africa. The 4 page document is on its way to the printers today and should be ready by the end of this week. That may not sound like a lot of work, but it took an entire month to get all the editing, designing and clearances for the document finished.
Outside of working on this publication I have started a second booklet on PACT in general. This document is going to be a complete overview of the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy and will be used as the main PACT brochure for the next year or so. This is going to be a lot of work, however, and it might not be finished in the month and a half I have left. But, all of the text has been written, so one of the harder parts is finished.
Other things I have completed have been web articles both for the PACT website and the IAEA website. One of the Articles on the PACT/BHGI partnership was written by me, although I’m not credited, and is currently one of the major articles on the IAEA website and is available on the BHGI site as well. I have two more articles that will be up on the IAEA website this week, and another one slated to be up next week after I attend the AGaRT meeting on the increae of access to Radiotherapy Technologies in the developing world.
It has been great working with the PACT programme as, since they are so busy, I have been treated as a normal staff member with important tasks rather than just an intern. I was at a meeting for the Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Applications and the director of my Department was introducing me as the communications officer, which makes you feel somewhat important!
Our main focus lately has been providing support for the Africa Day Celebration at the Vienna International Centre here this week. I have a meeting with the Ambassador of Zimbabwe tomorrow to get all the final preparations in place, and I just wrote a speech for the Director General Yukia Amano to be given at the commemoration.
That’s all for now.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Week Twenty One and Twenty Two-Medical Leave
June 7th, 2010-June 11th, 2010:
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
June 14th- June 18th, 2010:
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
June 14th- June 18th, 2010:
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
Friday, June 18, 2010
Last two weeks, au revoir Bruxelles!
And so it ends...today is in fact my last day at the AIA office, and thus far it has proven an anticlimactic end to a semester that was anything but calm. We have a new intern at the office, a law student from the US who will be here for the summer. I have spent most of the past week training her and trying to help her ease in to this extremely unorthodox working environment that I have grown so accustomed to.
Last week was spent primarily marketing. Because our mediation training program is just around the corner, it is important that in the final stretch we get as many late registration as possible. We called international law firms, bar associations in England (where the course is taking place), as well as mediation centers in the many countries recognizing our course. The easiest part is convincing them of the unique quality of the program, which incorporates the different mediation cultures and requirements in any jurisdictions into one two-week training scheme. Still, it is quite an expensive course and many people are turned off by this.
This is quite unfortunate given that we received a lot of inquiries by young law students or recent graduates. It seems that the young generation of legal professionals is increasingly intrigued by the field of alternative dispute resolution. This trend has actually been studied, and many law schools are trying to improve their programs to incorporate more mediation and conflict resolution classes that train students to not just be good litigators, but negotiators as well. I am inspired by this, for after having spent 6 months researching conflict analysis and mediation I really believe it can be a revolutionary field if applied in the right places.
While mediation is especially big today in commercial and civil matters (simply to avoid the high costs of court proceedings), the practical approach of mediation is transferable to conflicts across the board. I recall my interview with the head of the UN mediation office, and how he explained that he and his colleagues had succesfully trained a small group of childern (6-7 years old) to mediate disputes that took place amongst their classmates on the playground! It seems rather silly, but the implications are far reaching. If young children can learn techniques to handle conflicts in their surroundings, imagine how this can be multiplied in communities around the world.
Some mediation trainers devote themselves to establishing small community mediation centers in developing countries (in sub-saharan Africa, for example). By building a non-adversarial system of dealing with conflict--from family issues to land disputes--communities that lack the presence of a police force, proper access to justice and the rule of law can build a strong social fabric from the bottom-up. In this sense, neighborhoods look after themselves and become self-sustaining. The hope is that this will create sort of rippling out effect, where community mediation centers in places around the world can passify feelings of anger and mistrust before they build off one another and turn into civil unrest, and even violence.
This is just one of the many ways scholars of conflict analysis are trying to improve the global community with alternative dispute resolution. My point is, the ever-increasing interest in the field of conflict resolution is no longer limited to experienced lawyers seeking a career change. Students, even those in fields such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, hold a unnique niche in this field and should not be excluded from the pool of future mediators simply because they have not passed the LSAT. Mediation is one party legal, but is more about promoting understanding, cooperation, and yes...civic leadership!
(I'm glad I was able to bring that full circle).
Aside from marketing the mediation program, I have also taken it upon myself to add some structure to the future of AIA by creating an "Internship Handbook." Before, interns were expected to learn everything from their predecessor and hit the ground running when suddenly they were on their own. Having been here the longest out of any previous intern, I know that this is simply not possible (especially with all that we are involved in now). Therefore, I created the handbook which essentially guides newcomers through all the little adminstrative tasks, as well as offers advice on how they can make the best of their internship experience here. It is the kind of environment where you get what you put into it, and I tried to communicate that in the handbook. I also made turnover forms which I have advised my boss to make interns fill out before they leave. These forms outline all the projects each intern has had to work on but could not finish in their allotted time, and therefore must pass down. My hope is that this will permit interns to show up and immediately start contributing to AIA in a way that will improve the organization and bring it closer to its goals.
I have also been discussing with my boss how AIA may expand into the US. He and a partner of his have been talking a lot about opening up another office in NYC, and at the moment it is planned to happen next fall. During the discussion, I noticed I was giving many more suggestions that I imagined I would. It seems that I have developed a vested interest in the future of AIA and whether I mean to or not, I am concerned about the future of the organization. It was a great talk, and I felt as though my opinion really mattered. It even seems that there is a chance I will be involved in AIA in NYC sometime in the future, or rather it is an option should I choose to pursue it.
There is a variety of adminstrative tasks I've had to fulfill in my final days here, but that's neither here nor there. The truth is, the finale of my internship residency won't come until the beginning of August, when I fly out to the University of Warick in England to actually participate in the mediation course I have spent 6 months organizing. It is quite an amazing opportunity, as I will be taught by highly reputable mediators and my classmates will come from around the world. The course will not come easy however. This is first mediation training of it's kind. Most last 5 days and only deal with the practical aspects of mediation. This two-week intensive program covers theoretical conflict analysis, an overview of EU contract law, as well as new developments in mediation (such as online dispute resolution). I am very anxious, and a bit nervous. Having spend so much time in an office involved with research, I hope I can prove to myself that I can actually mediate. The course ends on August 14th and I fly home the 15th. Then, apparently my assistanship starts the 16th so I will fly to U of I directly the next day. (I will be a mess when I see you all next, and probably experiencing some uncomfortable reverse culture shock being back in the bubble of Champaign-Urbana).
I won't complain though. Tomorrow I leave for a mini-vacation: 3 days in Toulouse and 4 days in Barcelona. Then, I fly to Rio de Janeiro for the whole month of July where I will be the research assistant for one of my economics professors from U of I (I've spent the past month learning Portuguese to prepare).
And so with that, I thus conclude my final CLP residency blog entry. From here on out I will dedicate myself to supporting the Brazilian futbol team in the World Cup. If they win, I will be in Rio for the celebrations. Can you imagine?????
Ate logo!
Last week was spent primarily marketing. Because our mediation training program is just around the corner, it is important that in the final stretch we get as many late registration as possible. We called international law firms, bar associations in England (where the course is taking place), as well as mediation centers in the many countries recognizing our course. The easiest part is convincing them of the unique quality of the program, which incorporates the different mediation cultures and requirements in any jurisdictions into one two-week training scheme. Still, it is quite an expensive course and many people are turned off by this.
This is quite unfortunate given that we received a lot of inquiries by young law students or recent graduates. It seems that the young generation of legal professionals is increasingly intrigued by the field of alternative dispute resolution. This trend has actually been studied, and many law schools are trying to improve their programs to incorporate more mediation and conflict resolution classes that train students to not just be good litigators, but negotiators as well. I am inspired by this, for after having spent 6 months researching conflict analysis and mediation I really believe it can be a revolutionary field if applied in the right places.
While mediation is especially big today in commercial and civil matters (simply to avoid the high costs of court proceedings), the practical approach of mediation is transferable to conflicts across the board. I recall my interview with the head of the UN mediation office, and how he explained that he and his colleagues had succesfully trained a small group of childern (6-7 years old) to mediate disputes that took place amongst their classmates on the playground! It seems rather silly, but the implications are far reaching. If young children can learn techniques to handle conflicts in their surroundings, imagine how this can be multiplied in communities around the world.
Some mediation trainers devote themselves to establishing small community mediation centers in developing countries (in sub-saharan Africa, for example). By building a non-adversarial system of dealing with conflict--from family issues to land disputes--communities that lack the presence of a police force, proper access to justice and the rule of law can build a strong social fabric from the bottom-up. In this sense, neighborhoods look after themselves and become self-sustaining. The hope is that this will create sort of rippling out effect, where community mediation centers in places around the world can passify feelings of anger and mistrust before they build off one another and turn into civil unrest, and even violence.
This is just one of the many ways scholars of conflict analysis are trying to improve the global community with alternative dispute resolution. My point is, the ever-increasing interest in the field of conflict resolution is no longer limited to experienced lawyers seeking a career change. Students, even those in fields such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, hold a unnique niche in this field and should not be excluded from the pool of future mediators simply because they have not passed the LSAT. Mediation is one party legal, but is more about promoting understanding, cooperation, and yes...civic leadership!
(I'm glad I was able to bring that full circle).
Aside from marketing the mediation program, I have also taken it upon myself to add some structure to the future of AIA by creating an "Internship Handbook." Before, interns were expected to learn everything from their predecessor and hit the ground running when suddenly they were on their own. Having been here the longest out of any previous intern, I know that this is simply not possible (especially with all that we are involved in now). Therefore, I created the handbook which essentially guides newcomers through all the little adminstrative tasks, as well as offers advice on how they can make the best of their internship experience here. It is the kind of environment where you get what you put into it, and I tried to communicate that in the handbook. I also made turnover forms which I have advised my boss to make interns fill out before they leave. These forms outline all the projects each intern has had to work on but could not finish in their allotted time, and therefore must pass down. My hope is that this will permit interns to show up and immediately start contributing to AIA in a way that will improve the organization and bring it closer to its goals.
I have also been discussing with my boss how AIA may expand into the US. He and a partner of his have been talking a lot about opening up another office in NYC, and at the moment it is planned to happen next fall. During the discussion, I noticed I was giving many more suggestions that I imagined I would. It seems that I have developed a vested interest in the future of AIA and whether I mean to or not, I am concerned about the future of the organization. It was a great talk, and I felt as though my opinion really mattered. It even seems that there is a chance I will be involved in AIA in NYC sometime in the future, or rather it is an option should I choose to pursue it.
There is a variety of adminstrative tasks I've had to fulfill in my final days here, but that's neither here nor there. The truth is, the finale of my internship residency won't come until the beginning of August, when I fly out to the University of Warick in England to actually participate in the mediation course I have spent 6 months organizing. It is quite an amazing opportunity, as I will be taught by highly reputable mediators and my classmates will come from around the world. The course will not come easy however. This is first mediation training of it's kind. Most last 5 days and only deal with the practical aspects of mediation. This two-week intensive program covers theoretical conflict analysis, an overview of EU contract law, as well as new developments in mediation (such as online dispute resolution). I am very anxious, and a bit nervous. Having spend so much time in an office involved with research, I hope I can prove to myself that I can actually mediate. The course ends on August 14th and I fly home the 15th. Then, apparently my assistanship starts the 16th so I will fly to U of I directly the next day. (I will be a mess when I see you all next, and probably experiencing some uncomfortable reverse culture shock being back in the bubble of Champaign-Urbana).
I won't complain though. Tomorrow I leave for a mini-vacation: 3 days in Toulouse and 4 days in Barcelona. Then, I fly to Rio de Janeiro for the whole month of July where I will be the research assistant for one of my economics professors from U of I (I've spent the past month learning Portuguese to prepare).
And so with that, I thus conclude my final CLP residency blog entry. From here on out I will dedicate myself to supporting the Brazilian futbol team in the World Cup. If they win, I will be in Rio for the celebrations. Can you imagine?????
Ate logo!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Treasurer's Office- Late May and Early June
It is time for me to give my update about what has been going on the Treasurer's Office as of late. After the craziness of the first week of May (which was supposed to be the last weekend of session, but wasn't) the following couple of weeks were the exact opposite. The House adjourned on Friday the 7th until the call of the speaker because there were not enough votes to pass the biggest pieces of legislation remaining, those surrounding the budget. So everyone who works in some capacity with the Legislature had a two-week slowdown before the House returned the week of May 24th.
During those two weeks I remained semi-busy working on projects thrown my way by Colleen and John. (My boss and a legislative analyst in the office....It has been a while since I started blogging and I can't remember who I have all identified. And if I have before and I just don't remember, then consider this a refresher.) One of the things I was assigned was to write up an analysis on a propsed bill in the House that would allow the medical use of marijuana in the State. Regardless of one's feelings on the issue, it was an interesting bill to study. Because it is a bill with many components it took me a decent amount of time to initially go through it, write the analysis, and then revise the analysis after Colleen and John sent back thier comments and suggested changes.
I also created a spreadsheet tracking job numbers for all 50 states over various time periods. It was both interesting and a little scary at the same time. With few exceptions, states experienced a loss of jobs in all the time periods, some in the hundreds of thousands. For example, Illinois lost over 260,000 jobs in the period from January 2003 to March 2010 (The most current data available at the time). Not encouraging for someone who will be entering the job market in less than a year....
I also had to write another bill analysis, this time on a bill that has passed both chambers and is not just waiting for the Governor's signature to become law. The bill creates the African American Employment Plan which is designed to better facilitate the hiring and promotion of African Americans throughout state agencies. Another time consuming bill.
The House and Senate returned in the last week of May to attempt to finish a budget. The Capitol was busy once again after a quiet two weeks. The House came back first, on Monday, because they left with more unfinished business than the Senate. I spent the day going through various amendments that were being filed to the budget bills. One amendment cut the Treasurer's office for FY 2011 by 5% so I quickly sent the amendment for review to the rest of the legislative team to determine the best course of action. The Treasurer's office budget was already remaining the same as FY 2010 (which is viewed as taking a cut, as it is supposed to increase each year) and an additional 5% cut would be difficult.
On Tuesday I went to the House Revenue and Finance committee where all of the budget amendments were to be heard, including the one cutting the Treasurer's budget. I arrived in the hearing room very early, expecting a large crowd in what has to be the smallest hearing room in the building. Slowly representatives began to file in and right before the committee started, Illinois' Attorney General Lisa Madigan also walked in. It turned out she was there to testify in opposition to the same amendment I was there for as it also cut her office's budget (the one amendment cut all of the constitutional officers budget by 5%). Not long after the committee started, Speaker Madigan also walked in to the committee room. He rarely makes an appearance in committees, especially one where his daughter was about to testify. After the AG testified and the amendment died in the committee (it did not even recieve a motion to pass, so no vote was taken and it is considered dead) Secretary of State Jesse White walked into the room to testify about the same amendment. He was surprised to find that the amendment had already failed and then laughed and joked with the representatives, thanking them for their time even though he did not need to testify. One very star-studded (if you know Illinois politics) committee hearing!
Session finally began around 3:30 on Tuesday and went on for the next 6 hours. An extremely controversial bill that would allow the State to borrow up to $4 billion to may the payments to State pension systems took up a good amount of debate. Needing 71 votes to pass, it only recieved 70 on the first go around. The floor went quiet for some time until one of the two Democratic legislators voting no on the measure stood up to request a re-vote. The Republicans immediately went to caucus after this announcement for over an hour. After they returned, another long round of debate over the bill, the process that was occuring, etc, occured before another vote was taken. This time the required 71 votes were achieved and the bill passed. After that more pieces of budget legislation were brought up to be voted on but it was almost as if the Republicans had given up. Only a small amount of debate was held on each issue and everything passed. The House continued voting on bills until 9:30 that evening.
Wednesday turned out to be a very long day of listening to the House go through bill after bill. Listening to debate is usually interesting at first, but after 8-9 hours of it all I wanted was some quiet time. The Senate also returned to Springfield on Wednesday but did not take care of much, saving most for Thursday.
As had been rumored, Governor Quinn issued his amendatory veto of the bill to reform the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago. The House quickly over-rode this veto with the required vote and the Senate did the same not long after. The Senate then went through all of the other budget pieces the House had passed out (plus several other non-budget items) with the exception of the bill to allow borrowing for the pension systems, the one that caused so much trouble in the House on Wednesday. It was discovered that enough Democratic senators were opposed to the bill that it would not garner the required super-majority vote. Both the House and Senate adjourned until the call of the chair. For the House this likely means that they will not be back until veto session in November. The Senate may return at some point over the summer if enough Senators agree to vote for the borrowing bill.
It has been a very quiet beginning to June here. With the Legislature finished up (basically) for the summer, I have been helping out with a few end of session tasks like putting together binders that have all information pertinent to our office's bills. I also authored letters to the Governor asking for his signature on the bills our office worked on. There are several pieces of legislation that are in the works for possible action during veto session this fall so I have also written analyses of several bills in preparation for such action.
It is hard to believe that my residency will be over in a couple of weeks. The time I have spent here has gone by extremely quickly and it has been such an enjoyable experience. I will have one more post at the end of June to recap what my final weeks have been like.
During those two weeks I remained semi-busy working on projects thrown my way by Colleen and John. (My boss and a legislative analyst in the office....It has been a while since I started blogging and I can't remember who I have all identified. And if I have before and I just don't remember, then consider this a refresher.) One of the things I was assigned was to write up an analysis on a propsed bill in the House that would allow the medical use of marijuana in the State. Regardless of one's feelings on the issue, it was an interesting bill to study. Because it is a bill with many components it took me a decent amount of time to initially go through it, write the analysis, and then revise the analysis after Colleen and John sent back thier comments and suggested changes.
I also created a spreadsheet tracking job numbers for all 50 states over various time periods. It was both interesting and a little scary at the same time. With few exceptions, states experienced a loss of jobs in all the time periods, some in the hundreds of thousands. For example, Illinois lost over 260,000 jobs in the period from January 2003 to March 2010 (The most current data available at the time). Not encouraging for someone who will be entering the job market in less than a year....
I also had to write another bill analysis, this time on a bill that has passed both chambers and is not just waiting for the Governor's signature to become law. The bill creates the African American Employment Plan which is designed to better facilitate the hiring and promotion of African Americans throughout state agencies. Another time consuming bill.
The House and Senate returned in the last week of May to attempt to finish a budget. The Capitol was busy once again after a quiet two weeks. The House came back first, on Monday, because they left with more unfinished business than the Senate. I spent the day going through various amendments that were being filed to the budget bills. One amendment cut the Treasurer's office for FY 2011 by 5% so I quickly sent the amendment for review to the rest of the legislative team to determine the best course of action. The Treasurer's office budget was already remaining the same as FY 2010 (which is viewed as taking a cut, as it is supposed to increase each year) and an additional 5% cut would be difficult.
On Tuesday I went to the House Revenue and Finance committee where all of the budget amendments were to be heard, including the one cutting the Treasurer's budget. I arrived in the hearing room very early, expecting a large crowd in what has to be the smallest hearing room in the building. Slowly representatives began to file in and right before the committee started, Illinois' Attorney General Lisa Madigan also walked in. It turned out she was there to testify in opposition to the same amendment I was there for as it also cut her office's budget (the one amendment cut all of the constitutional officers budget by 5%). Not long after the committee started, Speaker Madigan also walked in to the committee room. He rarely makes an appearance in committees, especially one where his daughter was about to testify. After the AG testified and the amendment died in the committee (it did not even recieve a motion to pass, so no vote was taken and it is considered dead) Secretary of State Jesse White walked into the room to testify about the same amendment. He was surprised to find that the amendment had already failed and then laughed and joked with the representatives, thanking them for their time even though he did not need to testify. One very star-studded (if you know Illinois politics) committee hearing!
Session finally began around 3:30 on Tuesday and went on for the next 6 hours. An extremely controversial bill that would allow the State to borrow up to $4 billion to may the payments to State pension systems took up a good amount of debate. Needing 71 votes to pass, it only recieved 70 on the first go around. The floor went quiet for some time until one of the two Democratic legislators voting no on the measure stood up to request a re-vote. The Republicans immediately went to caucus after this announcement for over an hour. After they returned, another long round of debate over the bill, the process that was occuring, etc, occured before another vote was taken. This time the required 71 votes were achieved and the bill passed. After that more pieces of budget legislation were brought up to be voted on but it was almost as if the Republicans had given up. Only a small amount of debate was held on each issue and everything passed. The House continued voting on bills until 9:30 that evening.
Wednesday turned out to be a very long day of listening to the House go through bill after bill. Listening to debate is usually interesting at first, but after 8-9 hours of it all I wanted was some quiet time. The Senate also returned to Springfield on Wednesday but did not take care of much, saving most for Thursday.
As had been rumored, Governor Quinn issued his amendatory veto of the bill to reform the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago. The House quickly over-rode this veto with the required vote and the Senate did the same not long after. The Senate then went through all of the other budget pieces the House had passed out (plus several other non-budget items) with the exception of the bill to allow borrowing for the pension systems, the one that caused so much trouble in the House on Wednesday. It was discovered that enough Democratic senators were opposed to the bill that it would not garner the required super-majority vote. Both the House and Senate adjourned until the call of the chair. For the House this likely means that they will not be back until veto session in November. The Senate may return at some point over the summer if enough Senators agree to vote for the borrowing bill.
It has been a very quiet beginning to June here. With the Legislature finished up (basically) for the summer, I have been helping out with a few end of session tasks like putting together binders that have all information pertinent to our office's bills. I also authored letters to the Governor asking for his signature on the bills our office worked on. There are several pieces of legislation that are in the works for possible action during veto session this fall so I have also written analyses of several bills in preparation for such action.
It is hard to believe that my residency will be over in a couple of weeks. The time I have spent here has gone by extremely quickly and it has been such an enjoyable experience. I will have one more post at the end of June to recap what my final weeks have been like.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Brady in Brussels, two weeks left
The biggest event to report from my last two weeks at work is that our international conference on the UNCITRAL Model Law took place last Friday. I have spent my entire 6 months here gradually planning for this event. In the last couple weeks before the event it grew especially hectic, for I was responsible for every task, large or small. We had a list of 11 speakers and two moderators for the events. Each speaker then sent me their text, which I had to carefully edit and scrutinize for even the smallest mistakes. All in all, this was almost 200 pages of heavy, legal research papers. Then, I wrote the introduction for the conference and sent it to our editor. This took a lot of coordination, rapid fire emailing and follow ups, and most importantly patience. It was a long process because our speakers were corresponding with me from diverse time zones, from China to Ukraine to Florida. After the conference publication was made, I had to receive a power point organization from each speaker and organize it onto the AIA computer, formatting them all the same.
As for the conference attendees, I had to make sure they had certificates of participation (a requirement for legal professionals in Belgium), conference publications, as well as a list of all attendees to allow them to prepare for any potential networking. The conference, being a largely academic topic, was mostly used for this purpose. With coffee breaks throughout the day and a cocktail reception afterward, it essentially proved to be a networking opportunity for arbitrators, lawyers, and investors to meet wand learn about the different rules and regulations in varying jurisdictions so they can better advise their clients in the future where to conduct business. This is not to say that the panel discussions were dull. In fact, the discussions turned out to be quite interactive. The best part was how global our audience was, even if it was only 40 or 50 people. While I did not understand the topics all of the time, it was an fascinating conference nonetheless.
Having been running around all day preparing and seeing to the needs of anyone and everyone, by the end of the conference I had sweat completely though my suit. Still, I was pleased to see my boss and the conference moderators personally thank me in the closing speech of the conference. I think everyone was impressed with the result and it definitely improved AIA's name.
Since the end of the conference, I have spent the past week writing articles for our latest newsletter which I just sent today. I wrote an article on how lawyers can actually use mediation processes to their advantage. The article talked about several negotiation strategies, as well as how lawyers can better familiarize themselves with the unique procedural rules of a mediation process. The article was a great way to publicize our upcoming mediation training, because lawyers can use it as an opportunity to learn first hand how mediations are conducted so they can increase their bargaining power when engaged in a mediation on behalf of their future clients. I also wrote a report of the UNCITRAL conference.
We have received a new intern from the US also, so I have spent the past several days training her. Since I am the first intern to have been here for a period over 6 months, I really feel that I know the ropes of the organization's administration, of which I oversaw largely on my own. This makes it a little difficult to hand down all of the responsibilities, or perhaps I am just oddly attached to my job. I also wrote some notes for my boss on Investment Dispute Resolution because he will be acting as the head of a conference panel this Friday on Asian-European economic relations, called the ASEFUAN/IGIR Dialogues.
Finally, AIA has recently decided to try to expand to the US next Fall and open up an additional office in New York City. This branch of the association will be specifically targeted to alternative dispute resolution in the US. This is a great opportunity for AIA because the US is a hub for arbitration and mediation and there are many legal professionals interested in the subjects. We are in the process of discussing whether we should hold a conference there in October to help promote to new office and gain additional contacts from an early stage. It is weird to help set up an event when I will not be here for it, but it is nice to remain involved in the future of an organization I now know so well. My boss keeps telling me he wants me to "assist" him in NYC in the future. What this means exactly, is hard to say now.
My final post will likely show up at the end of June as a sort of end-all conclusion, in case you are interested!
As for the conference attendees, I had to make sure they had certificates of participation (a requirement for legal professionals in Belgium), conference publications, as well as a list of all attendees to allow them to prepare for any potential networking. The conference, being a largely academic topic, was mostly used for this purpose. With coffee breaks throughout the day and a cocktail reception afterward, it essentially proved to be a networking opportunity for arbitrators, lawyers, and investors to meet wand learn about the different rules and regulations in varying jurisdictions so they can better advise their clients in the future where to conduct business. This is not to say that the panel discussions were dull. In fact, the discussions turned out to be quite interactive. The best part was how global our audience was, even if it was only 40 or 50 people. While I did not understand the topics all of the time, it was an fascinating conference nonetheless.
Having been running around all day preparing and seeing to the needs of anyone and everyone, by the end of the conference I had sweat completely though my suit. Still, I was pleased to see my boss and the conference moderators personally thank me in the closing speech of the conference. I think everyone was impressed with the result and it definitely improved AIA's name.
Since the end of the conference, I have spent the past week writing articles for our latest newsletter which I just sent today. I wrote an article on how lawyers can actually use mediation processes to their advantage. The article talked about several negotiation strategies, as well as how lawyers can better familiarize themselves with the unique procedural rules of a mediation process. The article was a great way to publicize our upcoming mediation training, because lawyers can use it as an opportunity to learn first hand how mediations are conducted so they can increase their bargaining power when engaged in a mediation on behalf of their future clients. I also wrote a report of the UNCITRAL conference.
We have received a new intern from the US also, so I have spent the past several days training her. Since I am the first intern to have been here for a period over 6 months, I really feel that I know the ropes of the organization's administration, of which I oversaw largely on my own. This makes it a little difficult to hand down all of the responsibilities, or perhaps I am just oddly attached to my job. I also wrote some notes for my boss on Investment Dispute Resolution because he will be acting as the head of a conference panel this Friday on Asian-European economic relations, called the ASEFUAN/IGIR Dialogues.
Finally, AIA has recently decided to try to expand to the US next Fall and open up an additional office in New York City. This branch of the association will be specifically targeted to alternative dispute resolution in the US. This is a great opportunity for AIA because the US is a hub for arbitration and mediation and there are many legal professionals interested in the subjects. We are in the process of discussing whether we should hold a conference there in October to help promote to new office and gain additional contacts from an early stage. It is weird to help set up an event when I will not be here for it, but it is nice to remain involved in the future of an organization I now know so well. My boss keeps telling me he wants me to "assist" him in NYC in the future. What this means exactly, is hard to say now.
My final post will likely show up at the end of June as a sort of end-all conclusion, in case you are interested!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Senator Michael Frerichs Office Week Twenty
Monday May 31st, 2010:
Office Closed: Observance of Memorial Day
Tuesday June 1st, 2010:
Today served as my last day in the office until June 21st. On Wednesday, June 3rd, I will undergo a minor surgery on my Achilles tendon of my left leg. I am cleared by the office to remain on medical leave until the 21st of June.
Last week, the office was environment was a bit hectic. Our new summer intern, Sarah, had to leave early in the week due to a death in the family. I finished my workweek on Tuesday as I was attending a charity event in Chicago for the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. I returned to Champaign on Thursday evening with the belief that I would be working on Friday in the office. However, at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday night just shortly after I had arrived back in Champaign I received a text from our Chief of Staff Laurie that the office would be closed on Friday/Monday in observance of Memorial Day.
Since I knew I would be leaving the office early next week for medical leave I decided to go into the office briefly throughout the weekend to work on minimal projects: newspaper clippings, emails etc. to ensure that the office would not fall behind in my absence.
However, much work still remained upon return to the office on Tuesday morning. The majority of the day in the office was spent working tirelessly on newspaper clippings, emails, and constituent correspondence, which needed to be completed before I left. Although I had not completed all that needed to be done prior to my departure on Tuesday, I made sure that those in the office knew of the status of all of my open cases etc. that may receive correspondence during my absence.
June 1st, 2010- June 4th, 2010:
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
Office Closed: Observance of Memorial Day
Tuesday June 1st, 2010:
Today served as my last day in the office until June 21st. On Wednesday, June 3rd, I will undergo a minor surgery on my Achilles tendon of my left leg. I am cleared by the office to remain on medical leave until the 21st of June.
Last week, the office was environment was a bit hectic. Our new summer intern, Sarah, had to leave early in the week due to a death in the family. I finished my workweek on Tuesday as I was attending a charity event in Chicago for the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. I returned to Champaign on Thursday evening with the belief that I would be working on Friday in the office. However, at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday night just shortly after I had arrived back in Champaign I received a text from our Chief of Staff Laurie that the office would be closed on Friday/Monday in observance of Memorial Day.
Since I knew I would be leaving the office early next week for medical leave I decided to go into the office briefly throughout the weekend to work on minimal projects: newspaper clippings, emails etc. to ensure that the office would not fall behind in my absence.
However, much work still remained upon return to the office on Tuesday morning. The majority of the day in the office was spent working tirelessly on newspaper clippings, emails, and constituent correspondence, which needed to be completed before I left. Although I had not completed all that needed to be done prior to my departure on Tuesday, I made sure that those in the office knew of the status of all of my open cases etc. that may receive correspondence during my absence.
June 1st, 2010- June 4th, 2010:
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
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