MSBA Executive Director Paul Carlin with the visiting delegation.
Over the past 10 years, I have had the opportunity and pleasure to host brief meetings with visitors from a variety of nations around the world, such as Nigeria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nepal, and China. Six delegations from mainland China, composed of lawyers, law society officers, and regulators have visited the MSBA. The Ministry of Justice in China has sent many representatives to obtain an overview of how lawyers are organized into bar associations, how the MSBA administratively operates, and our relationship to our three branches of government – particularly the judiciary – regarding such functions as bar admission, registration, and discipline.
In mid-December, another delegation from Wuhan City (not Wukan) in Hubei Province visited for two hours of talks. Since this particular delegation wished to discuss intellectual property law and enforcement, I asked noted IP lawyer James Astrachan to join me. After brief introductions and the customary exchange of business cards in a typically respectful manner, I welcomed them with a few standard phrases of greetings in Chinese that I have learned over the years. I then described the organizational structure of MSBA (board, sections, committees, staff), its size, its voluntary nature (rather than mandatory, like 35 other states), and many of the benefits that we provide to our members. It is challenging to cover so much information in such short time, especially since most of our statements must be translated. This particular delegation had many questions about the number of lawsuits for intellectual property and the difference between civil and criminal prosecution for IP violations.
Wuhan City is the largest city in central China, with a population of approximately 10 million residents. The 3,000-year-old city sits next to both the Yangtze and Han Rivers. Over the centuries, the confluence of these rivers at this location has made it possible for Wuhan City to become a major economic, cultural, political, educational, and transportation hub. Many noteworthy provincial and national events have occurred in Wuhan City.
Our meetings are always extremely cordial and deferential. As we all know, China has made immense strides in developing their country in the past 60 years. Our two countries must determine whether in the future we will be rivals or partners in the affairs of our world. There is currently much interplay between our financial and economic systems, to the benefit of both nations. As China develops its institutional legal system, we hope that it creates a rule of law system so that its international affairs become consistent and predictable. Only a few short decades ago, China had very few lawyers. However, the growth of that nation’s immense commercial dealings around the world can be facilitated by a cadre of legal professionals who become familiar with the customs of international affairs.
Paul V. Carlin is Executive Director of the Maryland State Bar Association.
