The SCLA is proud to announce that its next Global Forum will take place on 29 January at 13.00 Central European Time to discuss the topic of Diversity in International Negotiations: Genders, cultures and strategies. Register here for this online event and read the full agenda here. The SCLA looks forward to welcoming you to our learning community!
FORUM REMARKS
The legal world depends on a continuous process of negotiation. Negotiation processes are not only about interests, but about human beings and how we perceive ourselves, our nature, our values and our cultures. Legal negotiation itself is not about achieving targets for their own sake. Rather, they are a journey of discovery; a journey to discover the differences among cultures, genders, ethnicities and more. Furthermore, legal discussions are about creation. They are about creating greater value through effective cross-cultural communications.
Legal negotiations invoke the founding purpose of the Swiss Chinese Law Association. Our very first “Chinese Law Workshop” in Geneva was the moment when we founded our journal, inspired by many different legal cultures. By joining in diverse legal debates we noticed, on the one hand, many differences amongst ourselves, according to our different cultures. On the other hand, we also saw how many similarities we all share.
For the 13th SCLA Global Forum, we are very pleased to introduce you to a host of international legal negotiators. Peter Alfrandary, a legal expert and the senior vice president of the French Chamber of Commerce, whose work has related to cultural differences for several decades to discuss Cultural audits as a critical legal tool. Following this, we will discuss gender equality issues in cross-cultural negotiations. Federico Antich will offer his perspective on this topic as a mediator based on his experience of over 5,000 cases over the past 30 years. This will be followed by an extended debate on our expert panel of leading experts from Greece (Olga Tsiptse), the UK (Rakhi Rashmi), Poland (Pawel Sikora) and Hong Kong SAR (Sherlin Tung).
Agada John Elachi, President of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators, will then lead a session on Culture Strategies in Mediation, followed by to how to deal with Conflicts of Cultural Interests in multilateral trade negotiations with Xiaobing Tang, Senior Counsellor of the World Trade Organization. We will then welcome Peter Ruggle (Ruggle Partners) to share his vision on Collaborative law in Mediation. As a young mediation and arbitration expert who has lived in Switzerland, US and Mexico, Ana Jaimes will, subsequently, bring the discussion of the Perception of the Society and Perception of Listeners. To conclude our forum, senior Brazilian diplomat (as the deputy head in the Europe Division) and lawyer Paulo Fernando Pinheiro Machado will walk us through Gravitas in Negotiation.
The SCLA Global Online Forum is a monthly leading forum to promote cultural exchanges among world-leading legal experts, organised by the Swiss Chinese Law Association. The association carries a vision of promoting cross-cultural professional dialogue and collaboration, and engagement with leading professionals in global decisional-making processes.
AGENDA for 29 January
13:00-13:05 CET Our Vision of 2021, Tianze Zhang
13:10-13.25 CET Cultural Audit as a critical legal tool, Peter Alfrandary
13.40-13.55 CET Arbitrators from Mars and Mediators from Venus?, Federico Antich
13.55-14.25 CET Panel 1: Gender Equality in Negotiation, Olga Tsiptse, Rakhi Rashmi, Pawel Sikora and Sherlin Tung
14.25-14.40 CET Culture Strategies in Mediation, Agada John Elachi
14.40-14.55 CET Conflicts of Culture Interests:What is the multilateral trade negotiations?, Xiaobing Tang
14.55-15.05 CET Collaborative law in Mediation, Peter Ruggle
15.05- 15.20 CET Perception of the Society and Perception of Listeners, Ana Jaimes
15.20-15.30 CET Gravitas in Negotiation, Paulo Fernando Pinheiro Machado
