It was interesting to observe the differences between the typical Canadian lawyer and the typical Austrian lawyer. Overall, it seemed that they are both regarded as prestigious careers in society. During the scavenger hunt, one of our sources identified that a lawyer is a highly regarded career in Austria. When we think about a typical lawyer, we relate it to criminal defense, real estate, or corporate lawyers; Mag. Koepecky discussed his specialization in dispute resolution in an international context. An emblematic ethos for a lawyer is to convince others as to why their opinion is more suitable than the opposition’s. Although this is widely known, dispute resolution stands out in the sense that consensus is attempted to be built through collaborative law and arbitration. Mag. Koepecky described dispute resolution as “stories to be told” through the persuasiveness of one’s opinion.
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| "For the freedom of science and the respect of human rights", University of Vienna. |
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| Our first experience at the prestigious University of Vienna. |
The legal reality in a firm is that conflict management is an important part of client care. We can relate this back to Canadian business and legal proceedings, as it is very similar to ensure that clients are satisfied with quality collaboration.
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| Berta Karlik was an Austrian physicist and the first female professor at the University of Vienna. |
Peace & love,
Ashlee & David
We found that Ashlee & David blog on Mag. Koepecky lecture to be interesting and will done. Personally we found it is interesting in the fact that LLM has very little Austrian nationals enrolled in the program. Of the 16 students currently enrolled, all but one are from outside of Austria. Why is it that international students choose the University of Vienna. Is it because the institution is internationally recognized, or is it because there are many opportunities in Vienna to work with respected legal institutions. As you said in your blog, lawyers are more respected in Vienna than Canada. With the fact that The University of Vienna is widely respected internationally, does this also draw students to the LLM program?
ReplyDeleteMag. Koepecky was very insightful on how to effectively manage resources in a service based organization. He said the clients are the most important resources for a law firm. Understanding the client is a key step to figuring out how to resource manage internally. Knowing what all the client expects and requires, allows the lawyer to make a more concrete plan going forward.
Overall, we enjoyed his lecture and Ashlee and David’s coverage of law in Austria versus Canada and arbitration and dispute resolution. We look forward to using this information throughout our personal studies.
- Ashton and James
We found Ashlee and David’s blog well written and a good read. While hearing Mag. Koepecky’s lecture it was definitely interesting as Ashlee and David stated to learn the difference between Austrian lawyers and Canadian lawyers. We agree that when one usually thinks of the a lawyer, we typically only consider the lawyer involved with criminal cases or a corporate lawyer. An additional item when thinking about the job of a lawyer is we often think of it involving the court house in front of a judge or jury when dealing with cases. Mag. Koepecky talked about his own experience working in international dispute resolution, which is the process of resolving disputes between parties. It was quite interesting to be taught more about that side of law that one doesn’t see much. As one of the forms of dispute resolution, Mag. Koepecky talked about what arbitration was. Mag. Koepecky explained some of the bonuses of arbitration which was the information can remain private, parties choose the judge and parties run the case.
ReplyDeleteWe find it interesting that while we also blogged about Mag. Koepecky lecture our main takeaway from that lecture was on different sections. Overall Ashlee and David blog was very well done and quite enjoyable to read.
- Mckenna and Hind
Further to the discussion on the importance of client management within the context of international arbitration Kopecky mentioned an interesting phenomenon which he encountered several times throughout his career. The phenomenon involved the conflict between specific authorization granted to higher level management through power of attorney, and the general authorization typically associated with middle managers within the procurement process of international organizations. The complexity of the phenomenon Kopesky described was exasperated when middle managers were granting authorization for material acquisition within the procurement process without the proper and legitimate authority. Normally, higher level management approval would be required for capital intensive purchases. Unfortunately, executives are usually faced with significant time constraints and the required approval would be delegated to managers who lack the official authority to approve these purchases.
ReplyDeleteKopecky suggested that this convention within the procurement process functions seamlessly until faulty products, poor workmanship, or delayed shipments triggered an arbitration proceeding. Concurrently, Kopecky substantiated his argument in favor of professionally drafted arbitration clauses and the importance of trust within the attorney-client relationship, and in the prevention of financial damages resulting from arbitral awards. However, Kopecky failed to mention whether executive level managers within international organizations were perhaps intentionally exploiting this known weakness build into boilerplate arbitration clauses in conjunction with unauthorized management approval, to intentionally and indirectly circumvent legal liability and the resulting damages.
John and Cassidy