Public Affairs Discussion Group

Developing the Legal Profession in China

Jon Groetzinger, J.D., Visiting Professor of Law and Director, China Legal Programs at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law



Friday April 22, 2011
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Crawford Hall - Room 9
Inamori Center
Case Western Reserve University

SEE SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT PARKING BELOW

In a capitalist economy, Max Weber argued, firms want predictability. Law as institutionalized in modern capitalist societies offers some assurance that the behavior of individuals, firms, and even government will follow legal texts and interpretations. This was not part of Chinese tradition, but China's economic development has been accompanied by "the steady accumulation of China's body of laws" and "blistering growth of the legal profession." China now has 500 law schools.

Students of politics may ask if growth of law and lawyers is the same as substantive rule of law. The legal profession must also consider how to train attorneys who can represent businesses in both the U.S. and China. After a very distinguished career as Chief International Counsel to Martin Marietta and General Counsel of American Greetings, Professor Groetzinger now directs CWRU programs that bring Chinese legal scholars to teach our students, and that exchange CWRU and Chinese law students. Join us for his perspectives and discussion.

We hope that this year's Friday Lunch discussions have been stimulating and informative. If you have any ideas for potential speakers and topics for next year, please send them to Joe White at joseph.white@case.edu. And have a great Summer!

Joe White and Andrew Lucker

A Special Announcement About Parking...

Dear Colleagues:

As many of you have noticed, work is being done on the visitors parking lot between Amasa Stone Chapel and Crawford Hall. The work is expected to continue until the end of April, and so through the end of this Spring's Friday Lunch schedule.

We have attempted to notify participants in the Friday Lunch with notices in these e-mails. I am very sorry for anyone who has been surprised and turned away. Because of the construction, I do not think spaces will be available for the final two discussions of the Spring, this Friday and April 22.

Unfortunately, the work in the parking lot is part of a larger plan to install parking meters and eliminate free parking except by guests of particular administrative units of the university. The policy has been announced in Case Daily, at http://parking.case.edu/parking/vic.htm. We (meaning the CPS and the College of Arts and Sciences) have received no information about the rates that will be charged on the meters, or the time available on the meters, once they are installed.

Dr. Andrew Lucker and I are working to identify any way that some spaces could be reserved for Friday Lunch guests without charge. I cannot promise success. As there is no other free parking on campus, I do not think it makes sense to try to move next year's Friday Lunch programs to another venue, but of course I will be checking out any possible ways to make the situation more convenient, especially for people with mobility concerns.

Please accept my apologies for this inconvenience.

Best regards,
Joe White

More About Our Guest...

Jon Groetzinger is a Visiting Professor of Law and teaches courses in International Business Transactions, International Trade and Development, Business Associations for LL.M.'s and Doing Business in the U.S. He is U.S. National Director of the Canada-U.S. Law Institute and Associate Director of the Case Abroad at Home program. He founded and advises the Vis International Arbitral Moot team. Before becoming a full-time faculty member, Professor Groetzinger taught Case LL.M. candidates for more than a dozen years. With over 30 years of international business practice experience, he has served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of American Greetings, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Prior to American Greetings, he was President and Chief International Counsel for international operations at aerospace giant Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin). He has also been CEO of other domestic and international businesses. Prior to becoming in-house counsel at Martin Marietta, Mr. Groetzinger practiced international corporate law in Boston. He has chaired national and regional General Counsel associations and appeared on TV and been quoted on international corporate matters in Forbes, USA Today, China Post, Times of India, ABC, CBS and NBC News, among other media.

Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

The April 22nd program concludes the Friday Public Affairs Discussion Group series for the spring 2011 semester. The Friday Public Affairs Discussion Group series will resume on September 3, 2011 for the fall semester.

For more information about these and other Center for Policy Studies programs, please see http://policy.case.edu.

April 18, 2011

Upcoming Events

Tibet, America, and the Book of the Dead

Donald Lopez, Ph.D., Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, April 26, 2011, 4:30 p.m., Clark Hall, Room 309, Case Western Reserve University, 11130 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, Ohio. Sponsored by the Asian Studies Program at Case Western Reserve University.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead, edited by W. Y. Evans Wentz, was published in 1927 and became an instant classic, passing through numerous editions, and subsequent versions by other authors. This lecture will tell the story of how a relatively obscure Tibetan work became the most famous Buddhist text in the western world.

Donald Lopez is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan, where he serves as chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and chair of the Michigan Society of Fellows. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000. His most recent book is: The Tibetan Book of the Dead: A Biography (Princeton, 2011).