The law, and dispute resolution, has changed quite a bit globally over the last decade. We wanted to get some thoughts on this topic from Dr. Paul Vout, who practices equity and commercial law in Australia. He’s also a contributor to the ALR International series recently published by West and a member of the editorial advisory board for the series.
Vout said one of the biggest changes has been the capacity for disputes to arise quickly across a wide range of jurisdictions.
“Those disputes are being pursued in the courts and other tribunals of one or more of those jurisdictions,” Vout said. “This has occurred because of the expansion of the Internet and globalization. For example, a defamatory statement may be publicized in numerous jurisdictions through an online newspaper, whilst issues of product liability may involve manufacture of components in places all over the world.”
I also asked him if there is a particular area of the law that he’s noticed more of a need for international standards.
“Defamation is one area which is in need of international standards,” he said. “What is defamatory in one place may not be so in another, yet single source publications such as an online newspaper will be accessible in both. Whether such standardization can be achieved is doubtful, though. Australia only recently managed to unify its various state defamation laws. In addition to that issue, uniform adoption laws are also increasingly necessary as recent events in Haiti have shown.”
No doubt the practice of law, when many countries and systems of justice are involved, is challenging in itself. But Vout says the greatest challenge in international law concerns finding ways to advise clients that are more efficient for them.
“We’ve got to advise and assist clients with international legal disputes and issues without sending them broke,” he says. “Once it was just large companies and import/export companies that needed, and could afford, advice on the law of foreign jurisdictions. Today, even small businesses may have their goods made in one or more countries for sale in others. Yet they will not be able to pay for teams of experts from large multinational law firms.”
Thankfully, Vout says, the Internet and globalization may also provide part of the solution by way of access to information regarding the law of other countries “whilst lawyers operating in low cost jurisdictions will – for better or for worse – play an increasing role.”
Again, Vout is a contributor to the new ALR International series from West in print and online. ALR International provides analysis of specific legal issues and cases that have been litigated in both English and non-English-speaking countries, such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and Korea.
Topics covered include those arising under international conventions and treaties, in areas such as international trade, intellectual property, family law, human rights, evidence abroad and other matters. A global editorial board of highly esteemed practitioners, judges and professors review the volumes and suggest topics in expanding areas of law.
For more information, click here.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
In Practice | Practice trends |
