Dear Colleagues,
In 2017, the bars of Cologne [Germany], Liège [Belgium] and Verviers [Belgium] founded the International Center for Collaborative Law as a non-profit organization under Belgium law (AISBL) having its legal seat in Liège.
Collaborative law is an alternative dispute resolution method using the tools of principled negotiation as well as the phase model known from mediation. It is a voluntary and confidential process to settle conflicts by negotiating. However, instead of being hosted by a neutral mediator, collaborative law proceedings are conducted by lawyers trained in ADR, counselling and assisting their respective clients, but working as a team and not as opponents. The process aims at resolving disputes respectfully and reaching satisfactory and balanced agreements taking the requirements and interests of each party into account.
In our practice as lawyers in the field of international law, be it commercial, corporate or family law, we found that the traditional approach to international lawsuits before state or arbitral courts is unsatisfactory. Indeed, each party tries to construe the conflict under his/her national law. The competence of the court is nearly always contested. Very often, the judges are not familiar with the principles of international private law, not to mention foreign law which is often applicable and left to scholars acting as experts, but not being part of the proceedings.
The objective of our association is to create a network of lawyers trained in clarity floor and practicing international law while being fluent in at least two languages in order to be able to provide law seeking citizens and companies effective assistance in international lawsuits. Membership is open to bar associations and lawyers trained in collaborative law. There are no fees.
One of the pillars of the network is training, the second creating an effective network based on personal relationship. For this reason, we organize a workshop on October 26 and 27, 2018 at the premises of PMR Europe, Rue Dodoné 113, 1180 Brussels, a well-known actor in the field of ADR and especially collaborative law (www.pmr-europe.com). The workshop starts on Friday at 10 AM, on Saturday at 9 AM. The working language will be English. The costs of participation – strictly limited to the principle of recovery of costs – are not yet finally fixed, depending on the number of participants. The fee will be between €500 and €700 per person, the number of participants being limited to 15. Membership in our association is not mandatory for participation.
For further information, we join the program established by Coraly Smets-Gary, partner and co-founder of PMR Europe who will conduct the workshop with her colleague Florence Leroy.
Workshop in Collaborative law, October 26 and 27, 2018 in Brussels
We would be pleased if you take an interest in this workshop. For further inquiry or inscription, please revert either to
Guido Imfeld, d • h & k Aachen, Jülicher Straße, D‑52070 Aachen, Fon : +49 (0) 241 / 946 21–0, Fax : +49 (0) 241 / 946 21–111, email : imfeld@daniel-hagelskamp.de
or
PMR Europe, Coralie Smets-Gary, Rue Dodonée 113, 1180 Brussels, Belgium, T +32 (0)2 344 53 70 | F +32 (0)2 344 46 58.