Forum
When I first learned about personal jurisdiction in civil procedure, I considered it to be a very labor-intensive, complicated legal issue. In brief, parties may establish personal jurisdiction by demonstrating presence, domicile, consent, or applicability of a constitutional long-arm statute that authorizes specific or general jurisdiction. Alternatively, parties could establish in rem or quasi in rem territorial jurisdiction. The legal tests for establishing personal and territorial jurisdiction are lengthy and daunting to most 1Ls.
Initially, I wondered, “Why does our legal system require lawyers to do so much work simply to show that the lawsuit is occurring in an appropriate forum? Is it really productive to spend so much time and money on a procedural matter, as opposed to the substance of the case?”
I started absorbing the importance of forum when my Civil Procedure professor explained the discrepancies between substantive laws in different forums and the federal statutes governing transfer of law. Nonetheless, my experience navigating life and work abroad is giving me a new appreciation of the importance of forum. Geneva’s structure, culture, location, topography, and economy has shaped every aspect of my life this summer, including my diet, exercise routine, social activities, sleep schedule, vocabulary, professional networking opportunities, work style, and project assignments.
Every time I grocery shop, I think about the fact that Geneva is very expensive, but, most of the time, the quality matches the price. Consequently, I cook a great deal. Although I also cook almost every night in the U.S. and maintain about the same level of commitment to health regardless of where I live, I have not been making my usual weekly staples in Geneva. Because meat, Latin American spices, and Asian ingredients are more in Geneva than in the U.S., I cook much more pasta this summer than I usually do at home. I often find pasta meals in the U.S. unsatisfying, but even my simple pastas taste fantastic in Geneva because the boatload of vegetables I mix into the pasta are fresh, and the local cheeses are delicious.
My Swiss exercise routine significantly deviates from my U.S. routine. In the U.S., I usually make use of my free membership at William & Mary’s Student Recreation Center, attend a yoga class, stream a pilates workout, or go for a run outdoors. Williamsburg is situated in swampland, so the terrain is flat, which makes long runs outdoors much easier than they are in hilly Geneva. I decided against paying for a gym membership or yoga classes this summer, so I have substituted many of my usual workouts for hikes or swims in the lake. Although my exercise routine in the U.S. is more balanced and robust than my Swiss routine is, I have never experienced more beautiful workouts than those I have had here.
The amount of time I spend socializing has remained relatively consistent, but the activities in which I participate differ. Instead of getting dinner and drinks at Green Leafe, walking around Colonial Williamsburg, meeting up to go to the gym, or cooking a meal and eating it on my balcony, my friends and I wander through the Plainpalais markets, get on a train and spend a Sunday hiking, or walk down to Lake Geneva with a bottle of Swiss or French wine after work and take turns cooling down in the crystal-clear water.
When I stay up much later than I usually would in the U.S. in order to catch up with friends and family back in the U.S., my friends comment on the fact that my use of language has changed. French words intermingle with British-English phrases, like “quite lovely,” to form cosmopolitan sentences that reflect my multicultural life in Geneva. Although these cultural amalgams are nothing remarkable in Switzerland, they sound almost as strange to American ears as do my stories about needing my passport to drop our rental car off on the French side of the Geneva airport.
In addition to having the opportunity to network at IBJ’s United Nations event, I have had numerous opportunities to speak and meet with the nonprofit professionals, judges, lawyers, and professors who lead IBJ’s in-country programs all over the world. Due to privacy and security concerns, I cannot go into greater detail about the individuals whom I have met, but I have valued hearing local experts explain how their home countries view criminal justice, the rule of law, human and civil rights, politics, and education. Although I am fortunate enough to have opportunities to connect with international law professionals while at school at William & Mary, the opportunities are less frequent and often limited to phone and e-mail correspondence. Speaking to international human rights lawyers in IBJ’s well-decorated space in the heart of Geneva is a wonderfully special experience.
IBJ is unlike any other professional environment I have experienced, and my work style has adapted to suit it. Even though the organization is eighteen years old, the innovative and passionate atmosphere, continuous expansion, and flat hierarchy makes it feel like a start-up. Instead of focusing solely on one project for a day or two, I work on three or four projects every day and get called into meetings at a moment’s notice. I actively participate in meetings about organizational structure, regulatory compliance, new country programs, partnerships, hiring, and core funding projects. Often these meetings include director-level staff, and I am either the only intern or one of two interns in the room. Nonetheless, IBJ’s executives have invited me to contribute to discussions on a thought-leadership level. On numerous occasions, the CEO, Chief of Staff, and Director of Grants Administration have endorsed my opinions and asked me to lead initiatives to implement my ideas.
I never expected to draft entire contracts and co-write five sets of policies and procedures as a 1L summer intern. I also did not expect to manage international partnerships and write two grant proposals that collectively could earn IBJ nearly $900,000 in funding. However, becoming such an integral part of the team has been tremendously fulfilling.
For visa-related reasons, I took an unexpected solo trip to Liverpool, and I worked remotely for two days and while in transit. I also hustled into the office as soon as my flight landed. Although I likely would not be as enthusiastic about working during a vacation with friends or family because my need to work would inconvenience others, I enjoyed “having to work” during my solo travels because I realized how much my contributions benefited my team. Plus, being out of the office for a few days, exploring a new city, and watching the dramatic finish of the Clipper Round the World yacht race helped me refresh my perspectives, refocus, and devise new solutions to our UNDEF grant proposal challenges.
This short trip and the rest of my summer has illustrated just how impactful forum can be.
