What to Teach? One Past Experience

Posted by Steve Honig on September 24, 2010

My primary question is, what should I teach in my brief tenure?  What should budding Russian lawyers take away from an initial exposure to US business law?

One predecessor at Belgorod (seems I am not the first US attorney to land on these shores) told me that his initial ambitious course agenda was carved back at the request of the faculty so as to address some fundamentals.  He was kind enough to share his entire course with me and I set forth the outline below:

Introduction

What Lawyers Do

US Law (seems to outline our court system)

Contracts

Torts

Business Entities

Legal Requirements of Businesses Dealing With Customers

Raising Money for Business

Business Names and Trademarks

Leases

Franchises

Real Estate.

It reads a bit like a law school curriculum; those readers lucky enough to have avoided law school no doubt are distraught (seeing the above list) to have missed the excitement!  But the key inquiry is: what is missing? And is that important?  Possible areas:

*How do you sue someone; what does it cost; does it work to create justice; private dispute resolution (arbitration, etc.)

*Anti-trust.  Is there such a concept in an economy that was until recently monolithic?  Should they care about this?

*Protecting IP -- certainly a major issue here.

*Corporate governance: how should a business be run, by whom and for whose benefit?

*Bankruptcy and insolvency: can and should a person or business escape debt, and when?  What is our solution and is it a good one?

*Tax--I confess not to know a single thing about the Russian tax system.  But tax drives so much US business structuring.  Do we have a tax system that encourages what should be encouraged?

*What business practices in the US send you to jail?

*Securities exchanges, capital markets, PE funds, hedge funds.

SO-- I need your input.  What should I be telling these students that is most likely to be useful?

 

Planning With Family

Posted by Steve Honig on September 22, 2010

IMG_5482.JPGThose of you interested only in the substance of the teaching mission not only have my utmost respect but also might skip this fifth blog post; while personal matters will be kept to a minimum,  some may have an interest in the mechanics of taking my (small) family to Russia.  As you might expect, almost all my predecessors did this alone, or at most with a spouse,  no matter where they taught in Eastern Europe.

 My wife Laura is an attorney practicing family law.  We have offered to have her lecture about the US practice in divorce and child protection, in a different program from the one in which I will teach.  While away, Laura will arrange for other attorneys to cover her practice, as she is a ”solo.”

 My son Matthew, who will be eight by the time we leave the US, is another story.  We hope the educational aspects of the trip will compensate for missed school time, and we will take as much homework with us as possible; my understanding of the housing arrangements and weather is such that I think he will have lots of time for homework.

 Attorney Andrew Nea, who practices with a well-known firm in Virginia, has preceded me in teaching at Belgorod and has graciously shared some of his experiences.  He tells me that the faculty and students are warm and friendly, so I have no real apprehension.  However, the mechanics of his life in Belgorod would require some family adjustments.

 The housing he was afforded was quite adequate but attached to the University and not necessarily child-friendly as, for example, there simply were none.  I will explore renting a small apartment although for such a short visit that will likely prove difficult.

 The food at the school was, says Andy, not quite what American palates expect, let alone an eight year old.  I am not sure that cheese and herring purchased at a nearby supermarket will satisfy Matthew and I’m not sure what to try to bring with us.   I am told that food is plentiful and inexpensive, but I bet you could wait a long time for a Fenway Frank or a cup of Boston Clam Chowder.  I wonder if I can start training Matthew now by going to local Russian restaurants (there are a few in the Newton/Brookline, Massachusetts area, reflecting a transplanted population).   

I also expect that Newton Russian is unlike Belgorod Russian….

 

 

Call for Help: What do I teach Russians about US Law?

Posted by Steve Honig on September 17, 2010

The main purpose of my trip, noted in my first post, is to collect suggestions for teaching United States business law in Russia.  My hope is that teaching the “best” US business law has to offer will resonate logically in a country which is attempting to establish its business foundations. 

I suspect that many ideas will seem alien, illogical or at least out of place.  But I want to identify the best subjects to teach, and then find a way to “get it across.” 

I solicit from all readers your suggestions as to subjects best taught, or best avoided.  Anyone with specific experience in teaching business law overseas, or in a former socialist country, could be most helpful. 

As a lawyer I am interested in bridging the gap between our legal system (which is historically common law and case law based), and the Russian-European tradition which (as I understand it) is primarily code-based. 

On the other hand, it has been suggested to me that the way the American regulatory system is progressing, we are really becoming a code-based country in our business legal system, so maybe the difference is not all that important. 

I solicit your thoughts for topics:

  • Corporate/entity organization 
  • How we tax
  • How we finance business
  • HR issues
  • Uniform Commercial Code and Security interest and mortgages
  • Protecting IP
  • Dispute resolution and alternate dispute resolution
  • Business ethics
  • Management and governance of business enterprises
  • Appropriate degree of government involvement in regulation
  • Anything else? 

Belgorod: A Brief Introduction

Posted by Steve Honig on September 03, 2010

Although I had hoped to be sent to Siberia, my teaching assignment for American law is to be at Belgorod State University.  I must confess I had to go to Wikipedia and map sites in order to orient myself.

Belgorod is a city in Southwestern Russia, just North of the Ukraine border.  There are about 335,000 people in Belgorod and the name in Russian means “a white city.” 

Regrettably, the history of Belgorod seems to be one of war and strife.  Ravaged in 1237 by the “Hoards of Batu Khan,” it was refounded in 1596 as a fort to defend the Southern borders from the Tatars.  Unfortunately the town was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1941, and was the site of the largest tank battle in world history during July of 1943, prior to its liberation that August. 

My university has about 30,000 students and numerous undergraduate and graduate programs.  My students will be 19 or 20 years old.  I will speak in English; I will have an interpreter. 

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I am now trying to learn more about Belgorod and the University.  Seemingly at least one other Western attorney has taught there, and I am reaching out to him (he practices in Virginia). 

Going on the internet to find information about Belgorod is indeed challenging.  Mostly you get “pop ups” suggesting that you might want to meet beautiful Russian girls who are in search of a husband.  While the prospect is tempting, I am not sure that my wife Laura would fully understand. 

Travel sites are short on useful information about Belgorod.  Amazon is equally unrewarding; while I will order an MP3 download of Tam Letal Pavlin’s songs from Belgorod (“A Peacock Once Went Flying”), I was somewhat put off by the Belgorod-embossed stainless steel mug, and surprised by the total absence of guidebooks or other useful literature. 

Anyone who is up on Belgorod, please post some comments and give me some help here.