In this episode, Mark Feldman and Stephen Minas discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on transnational arbitration, as well as broader developments in transnational dispute resolution (including arbitration, mediation and international commercial courts) at a time of both the claimed economic ‘decoupling’ between the United States and China and the promotion of ‘connectivity’ agendas such as China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

In this episode, Susan Finder and Stephen Minas discuss China’s highest court, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC), and key SPC developments in 2020: The SPC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, various aspects of judicial modernization, the China International Commercial Court within the SPC, and the SPC’s “Opinion on providing services and guarantees for the Belt & Road”. Susan Finder is Distinguished Scholar in Residence at STL and author of the Supreme People’s Court Monitor blog.

In this episode, Joy Xiang and Stephen Minas discuss intellectual property rights management for clean technologies, innovation in developed & developing countries, international cleantech cooperation under trade & climate change law, & the role of cleantech in building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic. They also discuss Professor Xiang’s proposals for strengthening cleantech cooperation. Joy Xiang is assistant professor at STL & a 2019/20 fellow at the Asian Law Institute, National University of Singapore.

In this episode, Liu Yue and Stephen Minas discuss refugee law and the process of seeking asylum in both developed and developing countries. Yue shares his experience working with refugees and asylum seekers in Bangkok, Thailand. The discussion also explores recent asylum cases concerning the US southern border, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for refugees and asylum seekers and UNHCR reactions. Liu Yue is a C.V. Starr lecturer at STL and was a Volunteer Legal Advocate for urban refugees with Asylum Access Thailand in Bangkok prior to joining STL. He holds a a J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a B.A. in English from Fudan University.

Technology and changing business models are disrupting the legal profession, legal services and law schools. In this episode, Ray Campbell and Stephen Minas discuss the possibilities as well as limitations of LawTech and LegalTech innovations in the legal profession, such as online dispute resolution and the use of artificial intelligence in courts; regulatory change to encourage innovation; and the future of law schools. Professor Campbell is a scholar of civil procedure and professional responsibility at STL. His research concentrates on the intersection of law and commerce, with a special focus on the changing nature of the legal services marketplace in light of technological and economic innovations.

In the 1st STL Law & Sustainability Colloquium session, Christoph Schwarte reflected on how the pandemic may affect the international body of law related to climate change, and provided an overview on the specific challenges for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process. Christoph is executive director of Legal Response International (LRI) – a London based charity that provides free legal support to developing countries and civil society observer organisations in connection with the international climate change negotiations. The webinar was recorded on November 4th.