Strategic Lawyering Published on 1 August 2014 by Jean-Luc Soulier
Why a website in nine languages?
At the beginning of the summer, we announced the launch of our new website that comprises two full sites in French and English and seven satellite sites in other languages. Jean-Luc Soulier tells us more about the rationale of this multilingual project.
At the beginning of the summer, we announced the launch of our new website that comprises two full sites in French and English and seven satellites sites in other languages. As indicated on our web portal, these nine sites are considered by us as “windows on the world”.
As a law firm serving businesses from multiple countries, we are front row witnesses of the regulatory, cultural and political evolutions of our time. The ever increasing complexity of legislations may be viewed as a concern. Yet, a more panoramic vision reveals a growing internationalization of legal rules at the global and European levels, notably as a result of the great works toward harmonization carried out by international institutions and organizations such as the UN, the OECD or the European Union.
A perceptive observer, however, cannot but notice a resurgence of nationalist feelings in many countries, especially in Eastern Europe, and growing protectionist tendencies in countries that are nonetheless developed countries, like France that everyone thought was immune to the temptation of isolation. We already explained in this monthly e-newsletter what we thought about the “economic patriotism” advocated by a variety of politicians from different backgrounds, such as Mr. Dominique de Villepin[1], Mrs. Marine Le Pen[2] or Mr. Arnaud Montebourg[3].
We have also frequently condemned the reactionary temptations that surface in health and environment matters when certain declared opponents to globalization are trying to convince us that everything is going from bad to worse while, in fact, the global and European regulations, often abundant and complex, have never been so protective, thereby even leading some writers to predict that the first man who will live up to 300 years is already born.
The best way to ensure the stability of the world is precisely to harmonize legal rules at the global level, such an harmonization process being the fruit of consensuses among developed and developing countries within numerous international organizations, in particular in the fields of trade, health, environment and dispute resolution.
As lawyers working every day for clients from all continents, we feel a special sense of responsibility to stand up against the current climate of pessimism, the temptation of isolation and the religious or political sectarianism that makes everyone who thinks differently an enemy.
This is the reason why we explain on our web portal granting access to our French and English full sites and our satellite sites in seven other languages that “This multilingual approach is an act of faith in the improvements brought about by globalization and a tribute to our clients and friends from around the world”.
[1] Dominique de Villepin served as Foreign Minister and Primer Minister during Jacque Chirac’s presidency in the 2000’s.
[2] Marine Le Pen is the leader of the Front National, a far-right populist party.
[3] Mr. Arnaud Montebourg served as Minister of the Economy under François Hollande’s presidency.
Jean-Luc Soulier
Member of the Paris Bar