Picker, A. Sidney, Jr.

English

Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Canada-United States Law JournalVolume 20 | Issue Article 4January 1994Introduction and History of the Canada-U.S. LawInstituteA. Sidney Picker Jr.Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cusljPart of the Transnational Law CommonsThis Foreword is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Journals at Case Western Reserve University School of Law ScholarlyCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Canada-United States Law Journal by an authorized administrator of Case Western Reserve UniversitySchool of Law Scholarly Commons.Recommended CitationA. Sidney Picker Jr., Introduction and History of the Canada-U.S. Law Institute, 20 Can.-U.S. L.J. 1 (1994)Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cuslj/vol20/iss/4Introduction and History of the Canada-U.S. Law InstituteA. Sidney Picker, Jr.*I am Sidney Picker, Jr., a member of the faculty at Case WesternReserve Law School, and Director of its Russian Legal Studies Pro-gram. I am also Chairman of the Canada-United States Law InstituteAdvisory Board as well as the Institute's founder and initial U.S. Di-rector. Henry King, the current U.S. Director, has asked me to wel-come you to the 1994 Annual Conference on Sovereignty in the NorthAmerican Context And In A Changing World and briefly to sketch, forthose of you unfamiliar with it, the origins and activities of the Ca-nada-United States Law Institute.The Canada-United States Law Institute is a binational entity, thejoint creation of the law schools of Case Western Reserve University inCleveland, Ohio and the University of Western Ontario in London, On-tario. It has two directors, one at each of the two campuses; ProfessorHenry King, the U.S. Director, and Professor Rande Kostal, the Cana-dian Director. The Institute was the first organization in either countrydesigned to: (1) explore legal issues affecting the special Canada-United States relationship, and (2) examine each other's legal struc-tures and processes in order to provide comparative law opportunitiesfor the students and faculties of both participating law schools as wellas for the public and private bar in both countries.The two countries provide a fertile foundation for maximizingcomparative law opportunities. On the one hand, they have a great dealin common, including history, geography, a cultural and political heri-tage, language, and economy; thus students in either country haveready access to, and little difficulty understanding, the relevant litera-ture of the other, and they can readily relate to the societal issuesunder examination. On the other hand, Canada and the United Statesare sufficiently different as to maximize the benefits of comparativeanalysis. Thus, while both countries have constitutions and federal sys-tems, they are not alike. These in turn shape unique legal solutions tosimilar social, economic, and political problems. An examination of theother country's legal solutions within the context of its own constitu-tional/federal structures offers unique insights into one's own nationallegal solutions.In order to accomplish the two basic purposes of the Institute, five* Chairman, Canada-United States Law Institute Advisory Board; Director, Russian LegalStudies Program; Professor of Law, Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland).1Picker: Introduction and History of the Canada-U.S. Law InstitutePublished by Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons, 1994CANADA-UNITED STATES LAW JOURNALseparate programs have been established which are operated with vary-ing degrees of regularity. These include:1. An exchange of law students between the two participating lawschools whereby students from each country may take for full creditone of their six law school semesters in the law school of the othercountry;2. An exchange of faculty members between the two participatinglaw schools, both for brief and extended (semester or year long)visits;3. The publication of the first scholarly law journal ineither country devoted exclusively to issues of common interest toboth countries, the Canada-United States Law Journal (which pub-lishes the proceedings of the current conference);4. The sponsorship of scholarly research on comparative law and in-ternational law issues affecting both countries; and5. The organization of conferences on subjects of common interest toboth countries.The current conference falls within the final program. While theInstitute has sponsored conferences since its inception in 1976, over adecade ago it undertook a different tack by focussing annual confer-ences on examinations of various aspects affecting the Canada-UnitedStates economic relationship. Furthermore, the conference format wasmodified to provide a more intensive (as well as extensive) experience.That meant probing in greater depth, requiring advanced preparation,and circulating background materials in advance of the conferences. Italso meant extending the length of time for each conference, andscheduling each in an environment designed to promote both structuredand informal interaction among participants and attendees.The Institute owes a debt of gratitude to many individuals andorganizations who have supported its various activities during the past18 years, both financially and intellectually. Included are the CanadianEmbassy in Washington, D.C. as well as the Canadian ConsulatesGeneral, first in Cleveland, Ohio, and later, after that office was closed,in Detroit, Michigan. In addition, private nonprofit institutions in bothcountries have contributed generously since the Institute's establish-ment. These include the William H. Donner Foundation, the GundFoundation, the Cleveland Foundation, the Richard G. Ivey Founda-tion, and the Ontario Bar Foundation.The Institute in turn is owed a debt of gratitude from Case West-ern Reserve Law School's Frederick K. Cox Foundation InternationalLaw Center, which I would like to acknowledge. The law school's glob-ally oriented International Law Center (established in 1992) used theCanada-U.S. Law Institute as the inspiration for a number of its pro-grams and drew on Institute experience in introducing Center activi-ties, including the Russian Legal Studies Program which I currently[Vol. 20:1 19942Canada-United States Law Journal, Vol. 20 [1994], Iss. , Art. 4https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cuslj/vol20/iss/4Picker-INTRODUCTION AND HISTORYdirect.I in turn owe a particular debt to the person I am about to intro-duce, Henry King, the current U.S. Director of the Institute. At thetime I attempted to start the Institute, Henry was still Chief CorporateInternational Counsel at TRW. As an academic, inexperienced in theways of establishing such special-focused organizations I turned to, andrelied almost exclusively on Henry's organizational skills as well as hissubstantive knowledge of Canadian affairs. His background, as you allknow, is extraordinary. Professor King has served as Chairman of theSection of International Law and Practice of the American Bar Associ-ation as well as U.S. Chairman of the Joint ABA-CBA WorkingGroup on the Settlement of International Disputes between Canadaand the United States. He was also actively involved in bar activitiesrelating to the content of the new-born NAFTA (North American FreeTrade Agreement) between Canada, the United States, and Mexico.But for Henry King's advice and guidance, I would not have beenable to launch this Institute. It therefore gives me great pleasure topresent him to you, complements of the Cleveland Clinic. As many ofyou know, several months ago (but only after he had already, not tomention thoroughly, planned the present conference) Henry submittedhimself to that illustrious institution for a remodelling job on his pipesand fittings (in the form of a quintuple bypass). Like a solidly builthouse of yore, he emerges and stands before us freshly rewired andretrofitted to meet current standards of indestructibility. I am thereforedelighted to bring you Henry King, U.S. Director of the Canada-United States Law Institute, to open this conference.3Picker: Introduction and History of the Canada-U.S. Law InstitutePublished by Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons, 19944Canada-United States Law Journal, Vol. 20 [1994], Iss. , Art. 4https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cuslj/vol20/iss/4

Introduction and History of the Canada-U.S. Law Institute

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