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Social Responsibility

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LEGAL EDUCATION

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White & Case lawyers share their knowledge

to build legal capacity in emerging democracies

ur legal education work with lawyers and judges on five continents reflects three major trends we
see: the growing importance of international public law; the gradual strengthening of civil society; and the
expansion of the concept of pro bono legal services to new jurisdictions. These trends are helping
improve the soundness of legal systems. Our ability to open doors to best practice and accepted
standards helps lawyers and legal institutions in emerging democracies avoid reinventing the wheel.
In 2012, we did our most substantive work to date.

These trends are

helping improve
the soundness of
legal systems

Haiti: Arbitration training

In June, partner Ank Santens and associate Damien Nyer from New York and partner Charles Nairac
from Paris conducted a week-long workshop on best practices in arbitration for Haitian lawyers and
judges in Port-au-Prince. Our lawyers led the course, which consisted of theoretical modules and
practical exercises conducted in French. Participants included a Court of Appeals judge, the President
of the Port-au-Prince Court of First Instance and senior members of the Haitian bar. This effort is
particularly meaningful for Haiti as the country seeks to use its new arbitration law and arbitral institution
to promote alternative dispute resolution and increase foreign investment in what remains the poorest
country in the Western Hemisphere. The courses were organized in collaboration with the Chambre de
Conciliation et dArbitrage dHaiti (CCAH) and the International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP). Following
the well-received courses, CCAH and ISLP asked White & Case to revise CCAHs Rules of Arbitration
and to organize a further seminar on arbitration for the Haitian judiciary.

Sierra Leone: Project Umubano

Sierra Leone is still recovering from its devastating ten-year civil war, which left its legal system starved
of government focus and financial support. This July, London associates Marcus Booth and Stefan
Mrozinski participated in Project Umubano, an international social action project founded by UK Prime
Minister David Cameron. Our lawyers coordinated a group of nine barristers, solicitors and law students
from across the UK who provided training for Sierra Leonean lawyers and paralegals and advised on
cases for Timap for Justice, a non-governmental organization that provides free legal services through
community-based paralegals. The Sierra Leonean Solicitor General and other top government officials
lent support to the project, which is developing important legal infrastructure around the country. A
serendipitous meeting illustrates the breadth of the Firms reach on legal capacity projects. While working
with Timap, Marcus and Stefan met a summer intern from New York University Law School who,
coincidentally, was in Sierra Leone on a White & Case Orison Marden Fellowship, a summer internship

3 TRENDS
across 5 continents drive our
legal education work
THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF
INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC LAW
THE GRADUAL STRENGTHENING
OF CIVIL SOCIETY
THE EXPANSION OF THE

22-Aug-15 18:17

White & Case | Social Responsibility Review

2 of 2

Social Responsibility

http://srreview.whitecase.com/soundlegalfooting.htm

PRO BONO

LEGAL EDUCATION

VOLUNTEERISM & CONTRIBUTIONS

GREEN

AWARDS

Transparent and efficient capital markets are critical to growth and innovation, and good guidance on
rules and procedures is particularly vital in emerging markets. White & Case was invited by
GuarantCoa multi-donor agency whose members include the UKs Department for International
Development, Switzerlands State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, the Netherlands Directorate-General
for International Cooperation and Swedens International Development Cooperation Agencyto provide
training to the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission on regulation of the corporate bond
market. Partner Melissa Butler and associate Chris Horte traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, where they, along
with representatives of Moodys Rating Service, provided training for senior management at the division
of the Nigerian SEC that regulates the debt markets. The focus was on creating capacity to help Nigeria
move the corporate bond market from its current embryonic stage to a more active and developed one.

Kenya: Trial advocacy skills

Continuing our partnership with Lawyers Without Borders, London associates Rian Matthews and
Hendrik Puschmann participated as senior faculty members in the Support Through Trial Advocacy
Training program in Nairobi, Kenya. The program explored the new Kenyan constitution adopted in 2010
and the countrys anti-corruption statute through a case file focused on gender violence with a corruption
overlay. Attendees included 30 magistrate judges, 54 lawyers and prosecutors and 15 participants being
trained to lead subsequent sessions. Innovative learning technology was incorporated, including video
segments to address evidentiary and other special challenges facing the Kenyan trial bar.

COMESA: Nineteen countries enhance competition

We partnered with the International Institute for Advanced Studies to advise the 19 countries that
comprise the common market for Eastern and Southern AfricaCOMESAon issues of competition
law. COMESA is a supranational organization on the model of the EU, which in 2004 instituted its regional
competition act and accompanying procedural regulations. The COMESA Competition Commission
(CCC) decided to adopt implementing legislation and guidelines to provide more specific guidance to both
authorities and the business community, raise awareness of competition issues and prepare the ground
for actual enforcement of the competition act. Partner and Pro Bono Practice Leader Ian Forrester and a
team of associates advised on competition law from a European point of view. Brussels associate
Pascal Berghe participated in workshops with the CCC, in Lusaka, Zambia, and at White & Cases
Johannesburg office. We are also helping to draft guidelines that will explain how competition law will be
applied to typical agreements between competitors or between suppliers and customers, or to alleged
abuses of market power by dominant companies.

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2015 WHITE & CASE LLP

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