I drew this for Christmas 1993.

I had just turned 18 and returned back to Germany from a one-year high school exchange program in the USA.

Looking at the drawing today, it reminds me of something that has become essential in my work as an arbitration practitioner:

𝓞𝓹𝓮𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼.

Legal education, at least in my experience, tends to shape us within a system.

We learn to think in certain structures, to apply certain rules, to shape arguments within a given framework. And every jurisdiction is different. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but always different.

I have been lucky enough to not only study law in a civil law jurisdiction like Germany but also in a common law jurisdiction during my LL.M. at Emory School of Law. Plus, I received part of my legal training in France, another civil law jurisdiction with many differences to the German system.

I am convinced that this has helped me feel at home in the practical and legal world of arbitration.

Because arbitration is different. It brings together people from different legal traditions, different cultures, different ways of thinking.

And arbitration requires something more than one system can offer:

💫 A willingness to step outside one’s own system.
💫 To accept that there may be other valid approaches.
💫 To remain open to solutions that are not the ones we would instinctively choose.

This applies not only to the substance of a case, but also to the way we work together — with co-counsel, co-arbitrators, and parties, witnesses and experts from different backgrounds.

Openness is not about giving up one’s own standards. It is about creating space for other perspectives.

And allowing something better to emerge from that exchange.

Happy Sunday everyone. And a good start to the week ahead!

#DrawingFromThePast #Openness #Arbitration #ConflictResolution #Education #InternationalExchange YFU – Deutsches Youth For Understanding Komitee e.V.

𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴:
𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳’𝘴 #20YearsInPractice. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 — 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳 — 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴. 𝘌𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦.