LAW Newsletter: Volume 3, Number 5

Chairman’s Corner
The Value of Regional Meetings

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

It has been another active spring season (fall season if you reside in the southern hemisphere), with LAW regional meetings crisscrossing the globe, from Buenos Aires, Argentina (Americas), to Xiamen, PRC (Asia Pacific), to Porto, Portugal (Europe, Africa and Middle East). In each case, our LAW member host firm worked with our Executive Director and a planning team to prepare all of the meeting details. The host firms used these meetings and surrounding activities as opportunities to introduce Lawyers Associated Worldwide to the lawyers in their firms who were not already familiar with LAW and to clients and media in their respective jurisdictions. They also showcased their local histories and cultures and made the “regional meeting” experience a memorable one for all who attended. (See the other articles in this e-newsletter for additional meeting details.)

The value of LAW's regional meetings each year has been demonstrated time and time again. Delegates are more relaxed than at an Annual General Meeting, and there are fewer of them. They have more time and better opportunities to get to know other delegates and firms in their own regions, who are often the sources of regular, ongoing exchanges of business. As the delegates learn more about practice developments and new and emerging areas of expertise at other firms in the region, they are able to expand the description of legal services which they can offer to their own clients, by using the LAW network as an extension of their own firms. more...

Executive Director

It is a privilege and a delight for me to see so many of our members at the three regional meetings: Americas Regional Meeting in Buenos Aires (10-12 April, 2008); Asia Pacific Regional Meeting in Xiamen, China (24 -26 April, 2008) and the Europe, Africa and Middle East Regional Meeting in Porto, Portugal (22-24 May, 2008). Each host firm did a wonderful job of showcasing their firms and their beautiful cities! Thanks again to Estudio Jurídico Strunz Abogados, Sphere Logic Partners and Aport Advogados Portugueses em Consórcio for all their hard work in planning the meetings.

We were pleased to have Bank Julius Baer again sponsor one of our meetings, the Europe, Africa and Middle East Regional Meeting in Porto, Portugal. The meeting was attended by Steve Adcock and Steve Bougourd from Julius Baer in the Channel Islands. Many of you will also remember Janwillem Acket, the chief economist who spoke in Zurich at the Julius Baer headquarters. He gave an updated presentation on “Financial markets and secular trends: A macroeconomic analysis”. If you would like to receive a copy of his PowerPoint presentation, please contact Nancy Eiler at nancyeiler@lawyersworldwide.com.

We are busy with the preparation for the 2008 Annual General Meeting in Washington D.C. on 17 – 20 September, 2008 which will be held at the Fairmont Hotel in Georgetown.

The Fairmont Hotel Reservation Forms have just been circulated at the end of June. The meeting will start with a reception and dinner on Wednesday, September 17^th. There will be all day meetings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 17^th through the 20^th for the delegates. The accompanying persons will have a variety of tours to choose from on the 17^th through the 20^th. There will be dinners for the delegates and accompanying persons each evening (including a moonlight tour of the monuments), culminating with the Gala dinner on Saturday night. On Sunday there will be an optional tour for delegates and accompanying persons. More information about the meeting will be included in the LAW Registration Forms to be sent out in July. Our host firm, Cohen Mohr LLP is very excited to greet everyone in Washington.

If you need a Letter of Invitation to obtain your visa for your travel to the United States, please contact Nancy Eiler or me.

I look forward to seeing all of you in a few months at the 2008 AGM.

Kind regards,
Hallie

Regional Meetings

Asia Pacific

The Asia Pacific Regional Meeting was held in Xiamen, China on 24-26 April, 2008 at the Sofitel Plaza Xiamen Hotel. It was hosted by Sphere Logic Partners. This was the largest Asia Pacific Regional Meeting ever held with 23 member delegates and 3 individuals from two observer firms from Vietnam and Qingdao, China. It is exciting to see the growth of the region over the past few years.

There was recognition of Anzac Day (Australia/New Zealand Remembrance Day) prior to the start of the meeting. Small group networking sessions were used to facilitate further understanding of member firms and their capabilities. more...

Americas

The Americas Meeting was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 8-10 April, 2008 at the Caesar Park Hotel and was hosted by Estudio Jurídico Strunz Abogados. The meeting was attended by 38 delegates and one observer firm from Montevideo, Uruguay. .

The agenda included networking sessions to deepen members' knowledge of their colleagues' expertise and firm specialties. There was an extensive discussion of marketing activities by LAW and a panel of LAW members, which included: Bob Wilson, Denver, Colorado; Harty Brown, San Diego; Roger Gripp, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; and Rodger Wheaton, New Orleans, Louisiana. more...

Europe, Africa & Middle East

Porto, Portugal was the site of the 2008 Europe, Africa & Middle East Regional Meeting. Aport Advogados Portugueses em Consórcio, Algarve, Portugal, was the host of the meeting 22-24 May, 2008 at the Tiara Park Atlantic Porto Hotel. The meeting was attended by 58 delegates, two observer firms from Croatia and Romania, and three representatives from the meetings sponsor, Bank Julius Baer.

In addition to an extensive networking session, there were several presentations. Janwillem Acket, economist for Bank Julius Baer gave an overview of the state of the world economy, with emphasis on emerging markets, and the potential opportunities in various industry sectors. Dr. Renato Homem, Executive Director of AICEP ( Portuguese government trade delegation and marketing body) spoke to the delegates regarding the Portuguese economy and the opportunities for investment in Portugal . There was also a roundtable discussion led by Isabel de Pina regarding evaluation & retention of young lawyers. Two regional representatives were elected. Jörg Heyer, Cologne, Germany was elected to a two-year term and Marc Grüninger, Zurich, Switzerland, to a one-year term. more...

Upcoming Meetings

Annual General Meeting – 17-20 September, 2008 at the Fairmont Hotel, Washington DC, USA

Fidelity / Global Solutions - Sponsors of AGM

Global Solutions is the international title insurance operation for Fidelity National Title Group. Their underwriters' expertise in global real estate transactions, customized title policies tailored to local markets, and industry-leading financial reserves offer the service, solutions, and strength needed for a successful real estate transaction.

The real estate closing process in many countries can be cumbersome and perplexing. At Global Solutions' experience with property conveyances in global markets can help you expertly navigate unfamiliar customs or practices. You can count on FNTG's network of thousands of experienced real estate professionals to support your commercial, industrial and residential transactions throughout the world.

The five leading title insurance underwriters that support Global Solutions have a long and distinguished history of protecting real estate investors. For your peace of mind, the title policies issued by Global Solutions underwriters are governed by U.S. law, and the escrow services are bonded and secure.

Sub-regional Meetings

Latin American Sub-regional

The Latin American sub-region held its first meeting on February 8th at the offices of Broad and Cassel in Miami, Florida. Kathy Deutsch and Patricia Lebow, both partners in the West Palm Beach office of Broad and Cassel, hosted the group. Kathy also chaired the meeting. Lawyers from LAW member firms in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica attended the meeting as did LAW members from firms in the United States including Colorado, Louisiana and Massachusetts. Also in attendance were attorneys from Broad and Cassel's Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach offices whose practices include representation of Central and/or South American clients or whose American-based clients do business in Central and South America.

The focus of the agenda was regional business development and marketing. John Adams, the president of Enterprise Florida, addressed the group regarding Florida's initiatives to develop business for Floridian companies in Latin America. Ben Moody, the managing partner of PAF Securities, discussed raising capital in Latin America. Marco Rubio, speaker of Florida's House of Representatives and of counsel to Broad and Cassel, presented an overview of Florida legislative updates and economic development opportunities for both domestic and foreign companies. In addition to the substantive discussions on cross-border transactions and regional marketing, topics included the possibility of developing an attorney exchange program with other LAW Latin American firms to establish stronger relationships and the factors to consider with respect to arbitration and choice of law clauses within agreements. The day concluded with a cocktail party and dinner.

Australian Sub-regional

In March 2008, Ward Keller hosted a sub-regional meeting of the Australian/New Zealand firms in Darwin, Northern Territory Australia. Members in attendance were Koffels, Solicitors & Barristers from Sydney, Kenyons Lawyers from Melbourne, Queensland Law Group (QLD) from Brisbane, Clelands from Adelaide and Duthie Whyte from Auckland, New Zealand.

The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the other Australian and New Zealand members to the “top end” of “down under,” including the office and operations of Ward Keller as well as to discuss several regional-specific issues, including referral initiatives within the sub-region. The group also attended a lunch hosted by Osborne Family Holdings, a lifestyle property developer and client of Ward Keller, which included a talk on the Northern Territory economy and recent property boom. The final afternoon on Saturday was spent at the Fannie Bay Racecourse, where Steven Johnson backed several winners. Leon Loganathan of Ward Keller was honoured by the presence of all the members from the sub-region especially Executive Board member elect, Brian Everett, who flew in all the way from New Zealand.

Following the meeting, Leon reports an increase in cross referrals as members are more aware of the capabilities of other member firms within the sub-region. Also noteworthy was discussion on recruitment within Australia, particularly Perth in Western Australia, and some initiatives have been implemented to secure a quality law firm in that city.

International Law Articles

"Death and Taxes around the World"

Seymour Mansfield and Jean B. Roth

“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes .”

Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy (1789).

The quintessential American tax deadline of April 15 may have come and gone for 2008, but with the certainty that Benjamin Franklin recognize, April 2009 will bring with it the deadline to file your taxes for 2008. Today, in Thomas Friedman's Flat Earth, or IBM's Small Planet, an increasing number of individual Americans will have earned income from sources outside the United States, which most of us would think of as “foreign income.” There are a few things, however, to keep in mind, when making money around the world.* more...

*Our focus here is individual U.S. citizens. We do not deal here with domestic, multinational, or so-called offshore companies, trusts or other entities..

"Work Permit Exemptions in Singapore"

Jason Lim Chen Thor

Singapore is recognized as a leading centre for international arbitration work, with a reputation for reliability, efficiency and neutrality. Our laws are arbitration-friendly and the judiciary understands and is highly supportive of arbitration. Singapore is also well-connected by air and is extremely business friendly. All this has helped to establish Singapore as a key international arbitration location. more...

New Firm Spotlight

De Souza Lim & Goh LLP - Singapore

LAW is proud to have De Souza Lim & Goh LLP join as a new member from Singapore . Although the firm name is new to us, partner Jason Lim Chen Thor is not. The firm is a solid addition to the Asia Pacific region and to all of LAW.

De Souza Lim & Goh LLP was registered on 1 April, 2008. It is the successor to De Souza Tay & Goh, which was established more than 20 years ago. The firm has seven lawyers, namely four partners, one legal associate and two consultants. There are 14 support staff, several of whom have worked with the firm's lawyers for over 20 years.

The firm has extensive experience in advising and handling banking and commercial work, property transactions, tax, trusts and estate duty planning. They are experienced in negotiating and drafting intellectual property contracts and research and collaborative agreements. The firm has extensive arbitration experience with specialty in civil and commercial litigation and arbitration, and it arbitrates under the International Chamber of Commerce Rules of Arbitration and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre's Rules. They have regularly acted as counsel in mediation cases at the Singapore Mediation Centre.

De Souza Lim & Goh LLP has acted in many residential development projects and land sales and purchases. It acts for developers in the sale of units in large development projects. The firm has significant experience in collective sales for properties and has also acted for hotel owners in negotiation and drafting of hotel operating agreements. Also, the firm, acting as counsel or co-counsel, has successfully litigated a number of cases before the Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal.

Success Stories

Steve Johnson, partner in the QLD Law Group in Brisbane, Australia reports that a US member firm referred some business involving the business development manager of an Australian public company, holding the right in Australia of a number of leading businesses with the US LAW member and his client. The client wants to explore the possibility of entering the Australian market using the Australian public company as the brand manager in Australia. The two companies struck an accord with each other on many levels, and when time permits the business development manager and Steve will travel to California for more dialogue.
www.qldlawgroup.com.au