Training

2013 LEGAL ENGLISH AND LEGAL WRITING

Overview

The International Law Institute (ILI) is pleased to announce its 43d orientation in the summer education series, the first and longest running program of its kind. This program is ideal for foreign lawyers and professionals, arbitrators, law students and practitioners in general, preparing for graduate legal study in the U.S, and anyone whose job requires an understanding of the American legal system, as compared to the civil law tradition, or for anyone who deals with American and International clients and partners. Our summer program has two components, each one designed to provide you with the best training of its kind: "Introduction to Legal English and Legal Research and Writing" and "Orientation in the U.S. Legal System and Business Law".

Course Outline

The Introduction to Legal English seminar exposes foreign legal practitioners and law students to English legal terminology and usage through an overview of the U.S. legal system, contract law, and legal drafting. In addition to learning a broad range of legal terminology, participants benefit from an introduction to the legal reasoning process in the U.S. legal system, helping them apply the terms and concepts as they learn them.

The seminar consists of two segments—a lecture and a workshop. In the lecture portion, participants examine cases and concepts that help them understand key terminology necessary for U.S. legal practice. In the workshop portion, participants engage with their colleagues and the professor to practice pronunciation, conversation about legal concepts, legal reasoning, and legal writing.

Participants in this seminar will develop the advanced skills they need to succeed in a multi-jurisdictional legal practice. The language and reasoning skills that they develop are useful not only for working with clients, firms and organizations in the United States, but also for understanding the logic behind U.S. legal practice and applying U.S. legal reasoning in their own practice.

Course Advisor

Dr. Kevin Fandl has been Course Advisor to the International Law Institute’s Legal English program since 2009. He is the author of the course text, Narrowing the Gap: Legal English for the New Global Legal Practitioner and the director of the Global Legal Education Institute. He has taught law and policy courses around the world since 2004 and specializes in the areas of international trade, migration, and economic development. Dr. Fandl is a graduate of American University (J.D., M.A.) and George Mason University (Ph.D.) and currently serves as Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

See also: Combination course: Legal English & Writing and Orientation in the U.S. Legal System and Business Law

2013 ACHIEVING FOOD SECURITY

Overview

The right to food has been recognized since the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights; yet achieving food security remains a challenge. Participants to this seminar will be encouraged to think fundamentally about the topics selected for discussion, and in particular to consider how the private sector can be mobilized in the effort to secure long term food security and to increase agricultural productivity - within the context of a strategic national sector plan. The seminar will equip participants with the tools necessary to introduce and improve food security in their respective countries, and to address short and long term obstacles along the way. Case studies will be introduced throughout the seminar. The bulk of the seminar will focus on the selected topics listed under “Implementing and Sustaining Food Security” in the description below.

Course Outline

 ELEMENTS OF FOOD SECURITY

Legal Framework

• Towards an international legal framework for adequate food security
  
• National food security legal frameworks.

National Economic and political environment

• National fiscal situation and macroeconomic environment- price supports, subsidies and other governmental interventions
  
• Involvement of international and regional organizations
  
• Markets and products, existing and potential
  
• State of literacy and education.

NATIONAL SECTOR PLANNING

Methodology for developing an effective national sector plan

• Responsibilities and supervision
  
• Participation and consultation with national and local stakeholders (smallholders and farmer organizations, civil society, private sector, other groups)
• Considerations of institution building and reform. 

Role of the public sector and governmental policies

• Enabling a favorable economic and investment climate
  
• Public sector budgets and fiscal capacity
  
• Coordinated policies in land use, energy, water and other natural resources, irrigation, food safety and consumer protection, education, employment, trade, investment and competition, subsidies, price supports and other market interventions, infrastructure development, taxation and others
  
• Food supply, emergency preparedness and disaster relief.

Role of the private sector 

• Access to technology and to research and development
  
• Access to funds and financial technology
  
• Enhanced employment
  
• Education and training
  
• Management expertise.

Role of Civil Society 

• Social, civic and educational non-governmental organizations
• Labor organizations.
• Universities, non profits, NGOs
  
• Religious, fraternal, civic and charitable organizations
  
• Women's, ethnic and minority group organizations.

Role of International Institutions and Regional Organizations

• World Bank, United Nations, UN Food and Agriculture among others
  
• Types of funds and programs
• Access to funds and programs; management and accountability, coordination with other programs.

IMPLEMENTING AND SUSTAINING FOOD SECURITY (SELECTED TOPICS)

Markets and products- implications for market intervention, trade, investment and competition

• High value crops and agricultural products
  
• Innovation and the role of science and technology in agricultural production
  
• Analysis of markets and products- value chains; trade; and globalization of markets
  
• Role of research and development.

Public Private Partnerships and Agricultural Infrastructure

• Public private partnerships in agriculture
  
• Types of critical agricultural infrastructure-public private partnerships and other models
• Role of the government in bidding and procurement, governance, forms of government support, regulation and standards of service. 

Investment, Finance and Insurance

• Access to finance in the agricultural economy
  
• Transaction types and structures- land, facilities, crop production, export and import, operations
  
• Participants in agricultural and rural finance- investment funds, banks, international and regional organizations, insurance companies, leasing companies, credit companies, production equipment vendors, microfinance organizations
  
• Rural finance in the private sector- role of producer organizations, community organizations, collateral and land titles, negotiable instruments (warehouse receipts) and other financial instruments
• Investment funds in the agricultural sector- financing of high value and export products, biofuels and other hybrid products, agricultural lands
• Insurance and risk management in the business of agricultural - government and private insurers, role of international and regional institutions, types of products, other forms of risk mitigation.

Education and Training

• Access to basic education
  
• Agricultural education- vocational and technological training
  
• Financial education
  
• Education in rural areas
  
• Gender and ethnic and minority group considerations.

Food Safety, Consumer Protection and Quality Assurance

• National regulation and standards
• Role of international and regional organizations
• Best practices and standards
  
• Risk assessment and enforcement mechanisms.

Energy, Water and Environmental Protection

• Impact on agricultural economies of soaring prices for mineral fuels and the search for renewable energy resources
  
• Considerations of environmental policies and standards
  
• Issues surrounding water resources, irrigation and water supply.

Social Safety Nets and Emergency Preparedness

• Alleviating malnutrition and assuring adequate food supplies to the nation
• Emergency preparedness, planning and disaster relief.

Course Advisor

Mr. Martin D. Jacobson is a retired partner in Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, based in New York City. Mr. Jacobson has over 30 years of experience in financial and corporate transactions with a focus on project, infrastructure and aviation finance. He is currently a Lecturer in Law at the University of Chicago Law School and is formerly a Franklin Fellow in the Office of the Legal Adviser in the U.S. Department of State. He holds a B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School), an M.B. A. from New York University (Stern School of Business), and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

2013 PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AND PROJECT FINANCE

Overview

This course provides training in the design, negotiation and financing of private participation in infrastructure and covers topics of interest to private sector lawyers, contractors, bankers and accountants as well as government officials. It uses case studies and mock negotiations to identify critical issues related to the use of project finance techniques to fund PPPs.

Course Outline

Planning for Private Participation

• General nature of private infrastructure finance
• Lessons learned from past policies and projects
• Strategic considerations for the host government and for the private sector participant
• Identification and preparation of individual projects
• Developing a communications strategy

Design of Concessions and other PPP Arrangements

• Legal and regulatory framework
• Design of individual agreements
• Special problems of agreements with local authorities and other subnational entities
• Key financial considerations, including the concept of bankability

Negotiation of Key Contract Clauses

• The negotiation process
• How to negotiate contentious clauses, including: clauses to make a concession bankable; termination provisions and compensation in event of termination; tariff and price adjustment clauses; unilateral change and economic hardship clauses; provisions for government support; transfer of assets at the end of the concession and dispute settlement clauses

Finance: Structure and Basic Techniques

• The concept of project finance
• Risk analysis and mitigation
• Legal structures
• Basic techniques
• Basic project documents

Finance: Arranging the Funding

• Sources of finance
• Providing credit support and security for loans
• Financial documentation

Renegotiation of Agreements

• Most common reasons for renegotiation
• Alternatives to renegotiation
• Types of renegotiation
• Clauses in the concession agreement to facilitate renegotiation

Course Advisor

John M. Niehuss is Director of ILI's Private Investment in Infrastructure Center. He has been involved in international financial and investment transactions for over 40 years as a practicing lawyer, World Bank staff member, US Treasury Department official, investment banker, and General Counsel of the Inter-American Development Bank and the U.S. Export-Import Bank. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Michigan Law School and at the Peking University School of Transnational Law in Shenzhen, China..

2013 LEGISLATIVE STRATEGIC PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

Overview

This seminar is designed for parties responsible for providing support services to legislatures and parliaments. The growing demands on elected officials and their staffs to enact laws and review national policies efficiently and effectively in an ever–changing and complex environment requires new attention to how the process and institutions are managed. The focus will be on the organizational structure and practical techniques for managing legislative institutions and the support services necessary to accomplish this in an efficient and effective manner. Seminars will be conducted using site visits along with class programs and actual case studies. Participant round tables will be an important component to learning best practices. Special arrangements may be made with advance notice to tailor seminars for parties with specific interests.

Course Outline

Role of Legislative Staff

• The relationship between career and political staff appointments
• Effective allocation of staff to support member offices, committees, leadership and administrative services

Legislative Organization

• Comparative analysis of legislative and parliamentary models
• Review of unicameral and bicameral structures
• How to work with leadership offices and through committees
• How can the legislative branch have a more productive relationship with the executive branch?

Legislative Support Offices

• Budgeting, staffing and training
• Determining what legislative support offices are appropriate for a specific country or state; e.g. research, legislative drafting, committees, administration and members' offices

Site Visits

• United States Congress
• Library of Congress
• State legislatures in Washington, DC area

Course Advisor

H. Stephen Halloway is the Director of ILI's Center for Comparative Legislative Management. He has over 35 years of experience in senior legal and policy positions in the U.S. Government, the U.S. Senate, the United Nations and the Inter-American Development Bank. He was Chief Regulatory Officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce and a civil rights attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice. He is co-founder of the Multilateral Procurement Group, an informal steering committee of multinational companies and consultants regularly doing business with the MDBs and UN.