Monthly Archives: January 2007

UM International Arbitration Symposium Tomorrow

I'll be going to the UM Law School International & Comparative Law Review's International Commercial Arbitration Symposium tomorrow. Here's the official announcement,

On January 20, 2006, the University of Miami School of Law International & Comparative Law Review presents a symposium entitled “Dealing With Challenges in International Commercial Arbitration: A Comparative Approach.” Professor Jan Paulsson will give a keynote speech to explain the use of public policy and the notion that a “transnational” public policy could begin to affect enforcement of arbitral awards. Additionally, the other presenters will focus on specific decisions that explicate the judicial climate of their jurisdictions.

International Commercial Arbitration (ICA) is one of the fastest growing fields in crossborder dispute resolution. With the growth of ICA, a transnational public policy (TPP) has emerged that has great potential to change the way businesses and practitioners evaluate the desirability of international arbitration. In this symposium, the International and Comparative Law Review at the University of Miami (ICLR) brings together experts from Europe, Latin America and the United States to consider the classic text on the role of public policy (the New York Convention), the emergence and viability of TPP, and the important trends of which practitioners need to be aware. Other important topics in ICA will be discussed, including anti-suit injunctions, attachment of property, drafting and practical considerations.

Fuller details, including the program, are in this .pdf file. Sounds like a great event if you have any interest at all in this admittedly somewhat specialist subject.

Back in the day, when I was working in a US law firm office in London, most of what I did was international arbitration. It was interesting and highly varied work, with a very diverse set of clients from all over. And now Miami is emerging as a regional center for international arbitration in the Americas.

Posted in Talks & Conferences, U.Miami | 1 Comment

WP X3 Inside A Linux Environment? Could it Be?

So I'm wondering if this remarkably kludgy system — Running Windows as a VM on Linux with VMware Server — would be the solution to running WordPerfect inside a Linux environment? You'd need a reasonably fast machine, and I don't have one to spare right now, but as soon as I have a few spare days (yah, right)….

Posted in Software | 5 Comments

The Anarchist in the Library: The Revival

Sue-Ann writes, the anarchist is back:

For a while I thought that the person who perpetually moved the Anarchy and Order (or is it Order and Anarchy) from the proper place on the shelf at the UM Law Library, had graduated. The book had been in place during the whole of the first semester this year. The only movement was when the entire shelf of books was “shifted” to make room for more books and use empty space.

Well, I was wrong to jump to that conclusion.

The book was removed, once again, from its proper slot in the call number order of books on the shelf, and gently placed on it side a shelf below. Once again, I replaced it.

Previous related post: Library Performance Art.

Posted in U.Miami | 5 Comments

Truth, Justice, and the American Way

Pentagon sets rules for detainee trials – Yahoo! News

The Pentagon has drafted a manual for upcoming detainee trials that would allow suspected terrorists to be convicted on hearsay evidence and coerced testimony and imprisoned or put to death.

Well, that explains why they drafted it in secret and chose not to put up a rough draft for public comment as is commonly the case (although not legally required) for rules of this type.

Full text of the manual is now online, but I have not had a chance to read it yet.

Posted in Guantanamo | 2 Comments

Iran Claims to have Shot Down US Drone

Haven't seen much about this in the Western media, but the Eastern press is reporting that Iran claims to have shot down a US drone recently. Here's the Chinese version,

TEHRAN, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — Iranian troops have shot down a U.S. pilotless spy plane recently, an Iranian lawmaker announced on Tuesday as the Islamic Republic was facing increasing military pressure from its arch rival — the United States.

The aircraft was brought down when it was trying to cross the borders “during the last few days,” Seyed Nezam Mola Hoveizeh, a member of the parliament, was quoted by the local Fars News Agency as saying.

The lawmaker gave no exact date of the shooting-down or any other details about the incident, but he said that “the United States sent such spy drones to the region every now and then.”

The vagueness as to the date is suspicious, as is the lack of detail as to location. Is the US flying spy drones over Iran? Or armed Predators? And if so, isn't that a little provocative? Then again, the whole thing may be Iranian disinformation. It probably sounds good to the voters in Tehran…

Posted in Iran | 10 Comments

Framing McCain

People are already trying to frame McCain.

While he earned this one, I think the things that will destroy him — despite impressive fundraising and on-the-ground troops in the early primary states — are McCain's record, and McCain's complete flip-flop on everything that matters.

Posted in Politics: US: 2008 Elections | 3 Comments