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MBA to co-sponsor Feb. 21 UCC conference

Issue January 2013 By Gary L. Monserud

Commerce has gone global and countries are commercially interdependent in multiple ways. Lawyers in the United States and elsewhere increasingly confront issues arising from transnational sales of goods and cross-border financing. Choosing the law most advantageous in the circumstances can be challenging.

The Massachusetts Bar Association is co-sponsoring "International Commercial Transactions" on Thursday, Feb. 21 at New England Law | Boston. The law school's Business Law Center is hosting this free, afternoon conference, beginning at 12:45 p.m. Interested attorneys should call (617) 584-1908 to register. On-site registration will begin at noon.

Two panel discussions will be followed by a networking social hour, beginning at 5:15 p.m. The first panel discussion will consider current issues arising from transnational sales of goods. The panel will be moderated by Professor Curtis Nyquist, New England School of Law. He has taught Contracts and Uniform Commercial Code courses for more than thirty years and has written extensively on contract and commercial law topics. Featured panelists include:

  • Professor Caterina Gardner, lecturer in law, National University of Ireland, Galway. Gardner has been involved in the reform of Irish law governing sales of goods and is currently invested in the project of developing a uniform sales law for the European Union;
  • Antonin Pribetic, litigation counsel, Steinberg Morton Hope & Israel LLP, Toronto. He has been active in international commercial litigation and is widely recognized for his expertise; and
  • Professor William Johnson, associate professor of law and co-director of the Center for International and Comparative Law at St. Louis University School of Law. Johnson has developed a particular expertise in the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

The second panel, moderated by Professor Ingrid Hillinger of Boston College Law School, will focus on financing across the borders. Hillinger has taught commercial law courses and bankruptcy for many years and has published extensively in these areas. Featured members of this panel include:

  • Richard Kohn of Goldberg Kohn LTD, Chicago. Kohn is an advisor to clients involved in international finance and he teaches that subject at the University of Chicago School of Law;
  • Harry Sigman from Los Angeles. Sigman is widely known for his vast expertise in secured transactions. He has advised foreign nations on the ways and means of establishing modern, efficient filing systems;
  • Edwin Smith, a partner at Bingham McCutchen LLP in Boston. Smith, a member of the MBA's Business Law Section, is known to many in the Massachusetts bar as one of the country's foremost experts in secured 
financing

In addition to the MBA, co-sponsors include the Uniform Commercial Code Reporter -- Digest and the New England Law | Boston Center for International Law and Policy

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