Bar Council business development visit to

Warsaw, Poland

15May 2017

Application form

  1. General

Thank you for your interest in the Bar Council’s business development visit to Warsaw, Poland, which will take place on Monday 15 May 2017.

If you are interested in participating in the visit and speaking at the seminar, complete this application form electronically and return it along with your CV to by EOB on Monday 6 March at 10am.

We will aim to let you know the outcome of your application within two weeks of the deadline date.

  1. Logistics and costs

Attendance at the event itself as outlined under 5. below is free of charge. Delegates are responsible for arranging their own travel and accommodation and for bearing all associated costs. The Bar Council will endeavour to provide advice on hotel arrangements, and will seek to provide local discounted rates - to be confirmed at a later date.

  1. Application process

Candidates will be chosen on the basis of their application form and CV submitted (having regards to) the Bar Council’s selection process and criteria below.

Please note that:

  • Decision-making by the selection panel may be entirely paper-based and online.
  • Given that there may be several equally well qualified candidates; selection is entirely at the discretion of the panel, whose decision is final.
  • In order to participate in the Bar Council’s visit, speakers are required to have paid the Bar Representation Fee by the time of submission of this Form.
  1. Application criteria for participants

Essential

  • Demonstrate ability to contribute to and speak on the subject matters for which speakers are sought.
  • Demonstrate existing international practice related to the practice areas relevant to this visit (e.g. demonstrated through examples of work, speaking at relevant events or relevant publications) or a credible intention to establish one.
  • Clear objectives for participating in the Bar Council visit to Poland.

Desirable

  • Willingness to disseminate experience gained.
  • Other relevant qualifications or memberships (e.g. membership of foreign Bar organisations in the relevant region to be visited, membership of professional groups of relevance such as Specialist Bar Associations or bilateral law associations).
  1. Application form to be completed by all participants

Personal Details:

Name
Chambers name and address
Work telephone number
Mobile telephone number
Email address
Alternative Email
Website
How did you find out about this event:

Provisional Outline Programme:

The seminar will be hosted jointly by the Bar Council, the Polish Bar Foundation and the Warsaw Bar.

Panels will consist of 3-4 speakers from UK and Polish Bar. Please see the draft outline of the programme below.

Time / Topic
9.00 am - 9.30 am / Registration & Coffee
9.30 am / Welcome by the Chairmen of the English Bar Council, Polish Bar Foundation and the Warsaw Bar
Family Law Programme: “A Comparison -Family Law in Polandand England and Wales”
9.30 am – 10.45 am / Session 1: Money Matters –“How finances are divided on divorce and the relevance or otherwise of prenuptial agreements”
10:45 am – 11.15 am / Coffee break
11.15 am – 12.30 pm / Session 2:Families across Frontiers–“The law and practice of moving children from one jurisdiction to another”
12.30pm – 2.00 pm / Lunch
Criminal Law Programme (title to be confirmed)
2.00 pm – 3.15 pm / Session 1:Mutual Legal Assistance in British-Polish Asset Recovery–“National criminal proceedings and provision for mutual legal assistance in support of those proceedings and criminal/civil asset recovery”
3.15 pm – 3.45 pm / Coffee break
2.45 pm – 4.00 pm / Session 2: The European Arrest Warrant in British-Polish Criminal Cases–“Seeking the extradition of suspects from either jurisdiction under the EAW scheme, and tips on how to counter such applications”
5.00 pm – 7.00 pm / Reception(venue tbc) – free of charge

Please indicate the seminar topics you are able to speak on in the table below and give a brief outline of your experience in this area.

Please note that we cannot guarantee you a speaking slot, but will do our best to accommodate you, in accordance with the selection process and criteria listed in section 3 and 4.

Outline of your experience in your chosen seminar topic or area
Please refer to CV for further details of experience in these areas.

Additional information:

Please tell us about any relevant work or study related experience you have had in Poland.

Please outline your main areas of legal expertise and practice.

Please describe your main objectives for speaking at this event and why you think you should be selected.

Main objectives:
Why I should be selected:

Please indicate relevant events at which you have spoken in the past and the topics you have covered.

Please indicate any other information you consider relevant (e.g. activities in foreign bar associations, bilateral lawyers associations or trade bodies).

Please describe how you plan to disseminate your experience gained on the trip, if at all (e.g. sharing market intelligence with your chambers through a seminar, writing an article for a publication etc.)

Please indicate any other information you consider relevant.

Please indicate if you require any reasonable adjustments.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Christian Wisskirchen on or on +44 (0) 20 7611 1315.

BAR COUNCILINTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MISSIONS AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES

General

  1. The International Committee (IC) is committed to facilitating access to its own international business development missions and international business development speaking opportunities (whether or not at such missions) as widely as reasonably possible and to ensuring that, in this regard, fair and transparent selection processes are adopted. Most such missions will include Bar Council (BC) officers and/or IC Chairman.

2.The IC will advertise such missions and/or available speaking opportunities widely and invite applications to participate by attending and/or speaking as set out below. Where firm dates or final details are not available, the IC will endeavour to notify the event as an upcoming event or possible event at an early stage with as much detail as possible. In addition to any general publicity to members of the Bar, the IC will continue to notify interested SBAs and Circuits regularly of upcoming missions and any potential dates and provide regular updates.

3. Other than any attending and/or speaking Bar Council officers and/or IC Chairman, the IC will endeavour to select any participants or speakers from the Bar generally by:

(a)advertising the mission and/or speaking opportunity widely and inviting applicants as set out below; and/or

(b)inviting the relevant SBAs to nominate barristers to participate in the mission and/or to speak.

Exceptions to (a) and (b) may include circumstances:

(i)where the opportunity arises at short notice and there is inadequate time to carry out the processes referred to in (a) and/or (b) but participation in which is considered by the IC Chairman and/or Head of International nonetheless to be worthwhile;

(ii)where the mission and/or speaking slot is primarily an opportunity to represent the BC;

(iii)where, following the process in (a) and/or (b) an insufficient number of appropriate applicants apply or where selected applicants are later unable to participate and any reserve list does not produce a suitable substitute and there is inadequate time to carry out again the processes referred to in (a) and/or (b).

4.Any publicity inviting applications or nominations will make clear whether 3(a) and/or 3(b) above applies and the relevant closing dates for any such application or notification.

5.Where a mission or speaking opportunity has been advertised or notified but details are not sufficiently final to enable the Application Pack referred to below to be made available, the IC will maintain a list of any barristers who indicate that they are interested in the forthcoming mission or speaking opportunity and will send such persons the Application Pack with further details once available.

IC Policy for selecting barristers wishing to take part in International Business Development missions

6.Where an international mission is open generally to barristers to attend, the IC will circulate details of the mission to the Bar, or those parts of the Bar which are likely to be interested (through inter alia Counsel magazine, its website, notification to relevant SBAs, via any relevant BC Regional Interest Group) inviting barristers to apply to participate. An Application Pack which will include an application form and provide such details of the mission as are certain will be made available to interested barristers. Such information packs should include as much as possible of the following (so far as relevant):

(i)aims of the visit

(ii)provisional programme outline

(iii)selection criteria

(iv)procedure for selecting participants

(v)likely number of spaces open on the mission (to non-BC Representatives)

(vi)the availability of any funding (e.g. UKTI sponsorship)

(vii)closing deadline for application and date by which the outcome will be notified.

7. The Chairman of the IC will set up a selection panel of two members of the IC Committee and the member of staff responsible for the organisation of the mission. Alternatively, the Chairman of the IC will invite the IC member responsible for the particular region or jurisdiction or a Vice-Chairman of the IC to set up such a panel. The panel may include the individual setting up the selection panel. The panel will then select candidates on the basis of application forms and/or CVs submitted applying the identified criteria. If, having applied the identified criteria, there are two or more equally well qualified candidates, selection will be by lot.

8. The selection criteria will vary from mission to mission. It is likely that the essential criteria for participation in international missions will include:

(i)Demonstrated existing international practice (e.g. demonstrated through examples of work, speaking at relevant events or relevant publications) or a credible intention to establish one (e.g. demonstrated through membership of relevant organisations, such as bilateral law associations or Regional Interest Groups established by the IC or attendance at any relevant conference).

(ii)Clear objectives for participating in the mission visit, compatible with the aims of the mission.

(iii)Demonstrated ability to contribute to and/or speak at substantive seminars/roundtables, etc.

(iv)Suitability of the mission opportunities to the applicant’s area of specialism/expertise.

(v)Willingness/ability to contribute towards Bar Council trade, and any other, events during the mission (e.g. by agreeing to participate in events organised by the BC).

8A.The Bar Council will also take into account, when considering the relative strengths of the applications the following matters:

(i)The benefits which the participation of each applicant will bring to other members of the Bar (e.g. by reason of the applicant sharing the opportunities and learning gained with other members of the Bar in a set of Chambers, on a circuit or on a Specialist Bar Association)

(ii)Whether the applicant has available other opportunities (not provided by the Bar Council) to promote his international practice. The fewer the availability of other like opportunities available, the greater the weight will be put on the application.

9.Further, the application form will identify any additional criteria which are not essential, but which, in the case of particular missions, will be taken into account as relevant factors in the selection process. These may include for example:

(i) Existing international practice and/or previous overseas experience in the relevant jurisdiction and/or related to the focus of the mission.

(ii)Other relevant qualifications or memberships (e.g. membership of foreign Bar organisations in the relevant region to be visited).

(iii)Willingness to disseminate experience gained on the trip through SBA or Bar Council channels (e.g. give talks at seminars, write article in Counsel magazine, etc).

(iv)Relevant language skills.

10. If relevant to selection, the application form will identify:

  • Whether priority be given to those with an existing legal practice which is related to the focus of the mission;
  • Whether applicants who have not previously participated in a BC selected mission to the particular region will be preferred over members who have previously participated in a BC selected mission to the particular region;
  • Whether professional seniority or lack of professional seniority will be relevant and if so how.

11.A reserve list will be maintained wherever possible from which replacement participants may be selected when a person originally selected becomes unable to attend.

12. The selection panel will aim to ensure a spread of participants from different chambers and/or SBAs. This may include setting a maximum number of participants per chambers (which will be indicated in the information pack).

Policy for selecting barristers for international business development speaking opportunities

12.The IC also will adopt the above identified approach to selection for any international business development speaking opportunities.

Review

13.The IC will keep records of relevant missions and speaking opportunities and how they have been filled and will report annually thereon to the Bar Council to account for their progress towards achieving the aim set out in paragraph 1.

Equality and Diversity

14. All those involved in the selection process will have regard to the guidance on recruitment in the Equality and Diversity Code for the Bar. Reasonable adjustments to the selection procedure will be made for those who have a disability.