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!