elssential 3/11
DESCRIPTION
ELSsential is the members' newsletter of ELS – The ELSA Lawyers Society. In edition 3/2011: International Board: Who is the new IB? National Celebrations: Anniversary in Austria. STEP Campaign: Let's support ELSA!TRANSCRIPT
Newsletter by and for Alumni of ELSA
International Board Who is the new IB?
National Celebrations Anniversary in Austria
STEP Campaign Let‘s support ELSA
Nr. 3/2011 Magazine of the ELSA Lawyers Society
Albert Schippers ● Aleksander Blahy ● Angel Rosse Tejano ● Anne-
marie Männikkö ● Antonio Luigi del Sole ● Artur Bunk ● Bago Si-
mona ● Boris Inderbitzin ● Branislav Brocko ● Christian Hagstrom
● Christian Stroemlund ● Claas-Eike Seestädt ● Clara Hrabovec ●
Dario Pantanella ● Delia Orabona ● Dominika Kupczyk ● Esra Er-
soy ● Florian Möslein ● Frederique van Oijen ● Frida Orring ●
Guillaume Tatoueix ● Hubert Gambs ● Ippolito Pucci ● Juridia Asia-
najotoimisto ● Kapp Margit ● Karolina Sicinska ● Katarzyna Maria
Bugaj ● Kirsti Pent ● Krisztina Vattay ● Luca Barbero ● Maartijn
Keijze ● Maitre Guill ● Malina Dolatowska ● Marcel Worm ● Mar-
cin "Boulie" Krzysko ● Maria-Christina Binau-Hansen ● Marianne
Pál Ortega ● Marie Tårup ● Michael Vetter ● Michael-Peter Ocon-
nor ● Mirko Djukovic ● Nadiia Gaidak ● Nina Klotz ● Nina Prantl
● Nina Stensbol ● Pal Jakob Aasen ● Patrycja Zalewska ● Peter
Mikletic ● Priskin Boglarka ● Roberta Rosignoli ● Roza Dembska ●
Salo Kimmo Claud Kenneth ● Sandra Budimir ● Sarah Brock ● Ser-
gii Portnoi ● Suvi Laes ● Tamara Kiss ● Teemu Puutio ● Timo Kor-
tesoja ● Tobias Rehme ● Valentina Ilic ● Vanja Vjelancevic ● Wil-
lem Hoefnagels ● Aga Stobiecka-Kuik ● Andreas Popow ● Antonini
Michelle ● Arnold Dikkers ● Blaz Golob ● Carmen Seiler ● Francia
Emanuele Clemente Carl ● Halvor Lekven ● James Newmark ● Je-
roen Koster ● Krzysztof Kuik ● Mette
Darmgaard ● Ri- chard Henderson ●
Romero Matute Maria Carmen
WWHYHY
TTHEYHEY
JOINEDJOINED
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Focus on Europe
Viana do Castelo, Oct 06-09 Iberian Freshers Camp
Lviv, Nov 11-13 International Seminar on
Mediation
Helsinki,Nov 18-19 30th anniversary celebration
ELSA Finland in cooperation with
ELSA Alumni Finland
Tblisi Elected Host
ICM Autumn 2012
Szczecin, Nov 17-20 National Council Meeting
30th Anniversary ELSA Poland
Palermo, Oct 23-30 ICM of ELSA
Oct 28 and 29 Assembly Meeting of ELS
Algavre Elected Host
ICM Spring 2012
Sarajevo, Nov 24-27 ELSA Ex-Yu Conference
„Status and applicance of the
Conveniton on the Rights of
Children in BiH and the region“
Munich, Sep 30—Oct 02 ELS & EAD Oktoberfest
Triest, Apr 16-22 2012 IFP Mid-Evaluation Conference
Montepellier Final Round EMC² 2012
For Seminars see www.elsa.org
Zurich, Oct 08 30th anniversary celebration
Alumni Evening
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President’s Wor(l)d
The year 30 ab ELSA condita and the
year 20 ab ELS condita is coming to an
end. It is incredible how fast time is
fleeting.
Going to the Octoberfest, flying to Pal-
ermo and it is time already to apply for
the Christmas cocktail in the ELSA
House.
This year ELS, alumni and ELSA were
celebrating the anniversary. The ICM
in Palermo will again focus on ELSA’s
birthday.
ELS will elect the executive committee
for its 21st year. I want to invite you to
consider to fill a position in ELS. This
year quite some persons (re-)joined
ELS again.
My invitation is aiming especially at
the younger ELS members. To be able
to consider all needs and expectations
of our members, a board with alumni
from different generations and back-
grounds is needed.
But of course you can form the alumni
association by attending the assembly
meeting or give a proxy.
I am looking forward to meet many of
you in Palermo.
Yours, Robert
Content
Focus on Europe … 2
President’s Wor(l)d … 3
Why did I join ELS … 4
20 years ELS … 6
STEP—A win-win … 8
ELSA International 2011 … 10
Academic Cooperation … 12
Train the Trainer Week … 13
Anniversary in Vienna … 14
ELS Gala Ball Vienna … 16
Weddings/Seniors News … 17
ELS—The ELSA Lawyers Society
President: Robert Tremel
Secretary
General: Arabela Trifoi
Exec Members: Claudius Krucker
Pierangelo Graziani
Directors: Johanna Kauppinen
Ania Ziemnicka
www.ELSlawyer.org
Editor Newsletter: Robert Tremel
Content / President’s Wor(l)d
4
”Why did I join ELS?”
by Nina Stensbol, Norway
ELSA has been an important part of our lives. Important because it has given us so many things. Like life changing experiences in wonderful places around Europe. It has given us new personal and professional skills. It has broaden our horizon, by showing us that borders have little meaning, and that people from different coun-tries are not so different after all. One of the most remarkable parts is the people we meet, and the friendships that are made during our years in ELSA. Then one day it all ends, we graduate and start living the working life. When that happened to me, I questioned myself "why does it have to end here?, how could I still be supporting ELSA? and how could I continue meeting my friends to have fun but at the same time conserve all the networking?” Well visiting a few countries
each year is very possible, but visiting 42 countries is not possible even if I would love to see every one of them. The answer for me was to join ELS. When my ELSA career started in 2007 in Norway, the ELS was not well known and very few students knew about the possibility of becoming a member. But during the last year there has been a change. The generation of people that leave ELSA now are more informed about the ELS, and they are more posi-tive to join, or at least that is what the rumor says. I have interviewed a few of the newest members to see why they choose to join ELS, and also to see if it is true that more and more young people are join-ing now.
Barbara Sandfuchs, Germany
1. When did your ELSA career start and what was your previous position in ELSA? It started in 2006, my last position was President of ELSA Germany in 2009/2010. 2. Why did you join ELS? “Maybe it was ELSA that has brought us together, but now it is much more than ELSA that keeps us together.” With these words a Hungarian friend of mine described the fact that through the work in ELSA, we gained real friends. ELS offers the possibility to stay in touch with these friends and at the same time contribute to the work of the active ELSA generation. As I am convinced that I will continue to consider ELSA as an amazing network, I decided to join as a life-time member. 3. Is the rumors true that more young people are joining ELS now? Despite the fact that I do not know the statistics, many friends of “my ELSA generation” have recently joined. Therefore, at least I can confirm that there are many “young” ELS members. 4. Are you planning on participating in the ELS Assembly Meeting in the ICM Palermo in Oc-tober or any other ELS international meeting the next year? I am in charge of organizing this year’s edition of the annual ELS Oktoberfest event in Munich. We are happy to host 50 participants from eight countries.
Marcel Worm, Denmark 1. When did your ELSA career start and what was your previous position in ELSA? The good question, when did I start in this fantastic association. I started in 2006 at my second year, where my
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class had merged with another class. And here I met a guy who was active in ELSA, and before I could think about it, was I sitting at the council meeting and got elected as VP Marketing for ELSA Copenhagen, half a year after I got elected as VP S & C for ELSA Denmark. And then I was President for ELSA Copenhagen. So I have been around in the board, and that’s one of the best things with ELSA, are the possibilities. 2. Why did you join ELS? I know a lot of the people in ELS, and I know a lot of the new members in ELS, that have been joining ELS in the last couple of years, and all of them are great people, and people I have had a lot fun with around Europe. So I have never seen it as a “Why” to join, but more
like a “When” to join. So I joined because, I still want the benefits from ELSA, as friendship, travel and a lot of fun around Europe. 3. Is the rumours true that more young people are joining ELS now? Hell yeah, I joined :) - yes the rumours are true, we are a lot of young lawyers who can’t leave the network, and can’t live without the network. So we want to be a part of the European network for lawyers, and we want to help ELSA through the further history. 4. Are you planning on participating in the ELS Assembly Meeting in the ICM Palermo in October or any other ELS international meeting the next year? Off course, I got my tickets for Palermo, so I just need to pack my stuff and find the airport. So see you all in Palermo!
Joëlle Joosten, The Netherlands 1. When did your ELSA career start and what was your previous posi-tion in ELSA? I started my ELSA career in 2007 in ELSA Nijmegen, a local group in The Netherlands. After being director AA and President of that group I went on to become VPAA of ELSA The Netherlands for the past 2 years. 2. Why did you join ELS? I've spend the last 4 years of my life being active in ELSA both on a local and national level as on the international level. I have met many interesting people and some of them have become close friends of mine. The main reason for becoming an ELS'er are the people I've met during the years and would like to stay in touch with. Of course the (in)famous ELSA-Spirit plays a role as well. After 4 years it would be difficult, if not impossible, to just go 'cold turkey'. 3. Is the rumors true that more young people are joining ELS now? I certainly believe so. When I started in ELSA it felt like there was a great gap between the active students and the EL-S'ers. Due to the changes within ELS and the big impulse the previous International Boards have given to ELS, it came back to life. In The Netherlands we have reconnected with our ELS-members over an informal barbeque at one of the ELS'ers homes and have stayed in touch with them ever since. Many of them came to the ICM in Poznan and we had blast with them. Ever since this change more and more of my friends and fellow board members are becoming a part of ELS because the gap has been closed 4. Are you planning on participating in the ELS Assembly Meeting in the ICM Palermo in October or any other ELS international meeting the next year? I am certainly planning on going to the ICM in Palermo and I will participate in the ELS program there. I can't say for sure whether I will attend the other meetings because the end of student life means the beginning of working life and unfortunately I can't predict the future.
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Twenty Years ELS
by Robert Tremel, President, ELS
20 years ago, the ELSA Lawyers Society was founded. For 20 years now, a legal entity, an associa-
tion, for alumni of ELSA exists. The teenage years of the association are over now and it is time to
check if the association is really a “grown-up” now.
Andy Unger, the first president of the ELS, described the reason why ELS was founded in the an-
niversary publication “Building a just world”: “… we decided to form ELS – so that we could carry
on seeing each other and help ELSA too.” We are talking about a time when the internet only made
its first timid steps. Contacts were really kept in books, printed directories and business cards col-
lection were a treasure. The ELS directory exists since the very beginning of ELS.
Are you on facebook? Quite a lot of my facebook friends are former (and current) ELSA members.
When was it the last time you read an email on the ELS mailing list like “Who has contact to John
Doe from Hobbitville?” Emails like this were quite common at the time before the area of “social
networks”. Today we find contacts by typing the name in facebook, linkedin or google.
Is ELS outdated? Is there still a need for ELS? Nowadays ELSA members form their personal
alumni networks by adding friends in Web 2.0. Isn’t it enough to be “fan” of ELSA on facebook or
joining a group on linkedin?
Drawing a comparison to ELSA, I would say that ELS has three “key areas”: Personal relations/
social network, Professional relations/network and supporting ELSA.
Let me start with the area “Supporting ELSA”: In fact many alumni support ELSA on all three lev-
els. Alumni provide support as lecturers and teachers at seminars and law schools, as judges and
advisors for the EMC², as trainers in and outside the ELSA International Trainers Pool, as auditors
and advisory board members, as STEP employers and sponsors. Furthermore ELS itself supports
ELSA financially – in this special year with about 15.000 EURO in total. Unfortunately the re-
quests for help coming from ELSA at least via the ELS are pretty low. Nonetheless the relation be-
tween ELSA and ELS became closer with the anniversary.
I think this also the “area” ELS has spent most of its resources for. This goes for the financial re-
sources as it does for human resources and contacts. We want to strengthen the cooperation with
ELSA and moreover provide not only financial resources, but also other support. The STEP cam-
paign is a common project to raise STEP jobs for ELSA.
We founded ELSA that we could
carry on seeing each other, I quoted
Andy Unger previously and the
quote describes the area “personal
contacts” pretty well. The anniver-
sary celebration in Poznan was – like
previous anniversaries – a good ex-
ample for the social network. Our
members did not go there for profes-
sional benefits, but to meet old
friends, to remember the past and to Friendship
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behave like in the past. To stay in touch with
friends the directory is not that important any
more as it was in the past, as Web 2.0 provides
other possibilities to keep in touch.
But actually Web 2.0 had taught me that I made
more contacts than only these few precious
friends in stayed in contact with. Haven’t you
also sat in front of a picture a facebook friend
posted and tried to identify the person? At sev-
eral ELS events I met people “I always wanted
to get in touch with” again, but never did.
Being a professional network has been the vision of some ELS members. The reality is, that only
lawyers exchange mandates with ELS colleagues and ask for legal advice and help. Seminars,
publications or other academic projects are rather a vision than an action. The touching points
between the different legal professions and between the common legal rules are too narrow to
find an interesting topic. Besides that they are several professional providers on the market who
offer these legal services.
I think that alumni of ELSA still are interested in all of the three aspects of being an alumni. I
truly believe that there is demand for all three of them. Especially younger alumni often ask,
what the benefit of ELS is for them and especially seek support in their career start.
Back to the previous question if ELS is grown up: When you grow up, the tasks grow with you
and they did with ELS. When ELS was founded, on the international level maybe a few hundred
alumni existed. An ICM in 1984 had around 10 participants and around 1990 still not many
more than 100. When ELS was founded the student days of the few alumni were only very few
years ago. Keeping in mind that today ELSA already had about 170 IB members and many more
national officers the group of alumni became much bigger.
ELS always depended on the motivation and availability of individuals. Many of our members
are willing to help, but many of them have limited time resources. A concept how to bundle
these resources has not been found yet and I am not really sure if it can be found. But without
resources ELS will never develop as much activity as some of our members want.
If I look back now and have a look at ELS in 2001 it seems that there has not been any develop-
ment. The number of members was pretty much the same and the level of activity was not really
different. One could have the feeling, that ELS spent its teenage years with partying at ICM loca-
tions, the Oktoberfest and at the Gala Ball in Vienna. But in fact projects were tried like profes-
sional mailing lists. A contract with ELSA
was made and this agreement is a stable basis
for the cooperation. The ELS Grant was set
up. ELS has passed its high school in its teen-
age years.
I think a stable and solid basis for the 3rd
decade of ELS was set. It is up to us to fill
this decade with action, activity and life. ELS
is entering its student years ...
Supporting ELSA
Anniversary Logo
8
STEP can be a win-win for you and ELSA!
by Johanna Kauppinen, Director Anniversary, Finland
“My heart is beating with ELSA and STEP is the blood that feeds that heart” says Umut Kur-
man, 33 years, partner at a law firm in Ankara, Turkey. Founded in 2004, Aydaş Liman Kurman
Attorneys at Law has three partners and is active in commercial transactions and litigation. About
half of their clients are international companies and the other half are Turkish companies and pri-
vate persons. Aydaş Liman Kurman have hosted four STEP trainees in the past, the latest one in
August, 2011. “Everyone of us seniors should support STEP”, Umut encourages.
47 % of students join ELSA because it gives them the opportunity to apply for STEP jobs.
Through STEP students have a real opportunity to become “internationally minded and profes-
sionally skilled”. There is “hidden work” – tasks that the in-house counsel is too busy to do him-
self, but that would be too expensive to give to a law firm.
For you as the employer, STEP can provide the following benefits:
• Motivated student with your chosen profile
• There are multiple tasks for a trainee, such as
• Legal research, comparative or otherwise
• Due diligence of past contracts
• Translations
• Archiving of legal documents (but not as an only task!)
• Contract drafting
• Assisting in negotiations and cases in general
• Having an international student at your office can be both fun and
motivating for your other employees or colleagues
For Umut, the length of a typical train-
eeship has been four weeks and STEP
trainees have come from the Check Re-
public, Germany, Montenegro and Rus-
sia. Each STEP trainee is asked to write
an article of a comparative legal nature
and the best of those may be published
in the Ankara Bar Review.
Trainees have also worked on client
cases making comparative studies of
specific fields of law in Turkey and in
their home jurisdiction. “It’s all about
similarities and differences”, Umut ex-
plains. “The client feels more secure if
we can compare the Turkish legal sys-
tem to how the same matter is regulated
in his home jurisdiction”, he continues.
Key Area Meeting in September 2011. Some of the STEP officers
enjoying as gala cruise in the archipelago of Turku: (from left)
Lucia Palusova (ITP/Slovakia), Irakli Samkharadze (ELSA Inter-
national/Georgia), Grzegorz Gajda (Poland), Dena Dervanovic
(Montenegro), Jan Piza (Czech Republic), Theresa Gutsche
(Germany), Madeleine Thörn (Sweden).
9
STEP – the Anniversary Campaign During this year and next, ELS is working with Irakli Samkharadze Vice-President STEP
of ELSA International and the whole “STEP family” in order to bridge the gap between
alumni and ELSA in the field of STEP. You can be involved in three different ways:
• We are looking for volunteers for the ELS STEP Support Team. If you are inter-
ested and have time to make some phone calls, please contact the undersigned.
• The ELS STEP Support Team shall contact selected individual alumni in order to
find out their possible interest for STEP. After the initial contact, responsibility is
transferred to the respective local and/or national STEP officer.
• If you are interested in having a STEP trainee during the next year, please con-
tact either Johanna or Pierangelo and we shall guide you further.
Can we do STEP on behalf of ELSA? Definitely not. But we can open our minds and ears
for the next phone call coming from the local STEP officer.
Source: www.elsa.org
Johanna Kauppinen
ELS Director for Anniversary
mobile: +358 40 551 7788
Pierangelo Graziani
Executive Officer ELS Trust
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It is time to introduce the International Board of ELSA - the people working full time for the Asso-
ciation. We are proud to continue the work of generations and generations of ELSA enthusiasts
who have built up and supported our Network for 30 years. During these first months in office, it
is time to look at the past year as well as to plan the upcoming year. Communicating and brain-
storming with our alumni is part of this – benefitting from the experience and knowledge gathered
during years of activity in ELSA and of working life. The connections and advice which ELS and
its members can offer ELSA International and the ELSA Network are invaluable.
After one exhausting month of transition we, as the new International Board of ELSA, are aware
of the responsibility that the Network has put in our hands, of the responsibility to continue the
great work of our predecessors and we could not be more confident: Thanks to a well-structured,
patient and knowledgeable transition which they provided for us, we are now ready for one of the
best years of our lives working for a Network with 42 countries.
Our journey started after the election at the International Council Meeting in Poznan, Poland. We
had the privilege of having an exceptional number of our alumni present celebrating with us. After
the elections the International Board received two additions, resulting to eight people living to-
gether in the same house as numerous previous boards, working together for ELSA.
Here are the people: Our President, Niousha Nademi, is a 25 year old law student from Stock-
holm, Sweden. He will focus on the External Relations of ELSA International, not only communi-
cating with our partners but also accessing possible partnerships, not to forget cooperation with
ELS. Furthermore, he will also try to expand our vision to the other European countries and uni-
versities where students are waiting to share the ELSA Spirit with other countries. During the year
he will also be the responsible for board management.
Jaana Saarijärvi from Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is the Secretary General. She is the overall
responsible for the Internal Management of our beloved Association. The Network will be her fo-
cus, with specific points such as Human Resources, the International Trainers’ Pool, the Network
Support System and ELSA Online.
Also from Finland, comes the Vice President Marketing, Kaisa-Maria Kimmel. She is a law stu-
dent at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi. She is the main responsible for Synergy and for
website maintenance but also the person in charge of having new ideas for ELSA’s promotion.
The top priorities in the Marketing area will be the Market Research and raising awareness of
ELSA within the Network and in the outside world.
The Treasurer, Ricardo Gomes, is a fourth year student at Faculdade de Direito de Lisboa, Portu-
ELSA International 2011/12
11
gal. However, he was born in a small town called Guarda.
His main responsibilities are the Financial Management
of ELSA and the assets of ELSA International. His main
focuses during this year are the financial stability of our
Association as well as taxation. He is also the Chairman
of the ELSA Development Foundation.
Irakli Samkharadze from Tbilisi, Georgia is the Vice
President for Student Trainee Exchange Programme
(STEP). His main goal is to provide law students with the
unique opportunity of working abroad while improving soft skills and contributing to the interna-
tionality of law students in Europe.
Zosya Stankovskaya, originally from Chernivtsi, Ukraine is the Vice President for Seminars and
Conferences, and thus one of the people responsible for the Legal Education challenges in ELSA.
She will focus on promoting the International Focus Programme (IFP) within the Network. She
will also focus on the quality of the S&C events and on continuing the cooperation on the field of
Delegations.
With one position vacant after the elections, we appointed Khrystyna Brodych, also from
Ukraine, as the Director for Academic Activities. She will coordinate the Academic Activities of
ELSA focusing on Legal Education, promoting legal writing and legal research, mainly innovating
and improving the area.
Last but not least, the International Board 2011/2012 will have the great help of an eight person
living in the House. That person is the Director for Moot Court Competitions and her name is
Liisa Oravisto, from Helsinki. She will be the person in charge of the Moot Courts of ELSA, the
successful ELSA Moot Court Competition on World Trade Organisation Law (EMC2) and the
challenging project of the Human Rights Moot Court organised in cooperation with the Council of
Europe.
These eight people will contribute to the fulfilment of ELSA´s Vision: “a just world in which
there is respect for human dignity and cultural diversity”. We set our main goals and focus in our
One Year Operational Plan (OYOP) and we are fully motivated in the achievement of these de-
fined objectives. We will have one year to develop, to consolidate and to live ELSA and we want
to include our alumni in achieving these goals.
The years 2011 and 2012 are crucial years in ELSA’s history. We are celebrating the 30th anniver-
sary of our Association and this moment is important for gathering the past generations and for
thinking about the future. We started this process during the anniversary debate in ICM Poznan,
receiving inputs from alumni on how ELSA worked during their time in the Association as well as
their point of view on how we can be proactive in including alumni in our projects. As a conse-
quence, ELSA will work closely with ELS in transfer-
ring contacts for providing STEP traineeships in coop-
eration with alumni. Furthermore, ELSA officers are
more aware of their possibilities for finding speakers
and academic support from alumni through ELS.
The new International Board of ELSA is looking
forward to this year and to working together with
our alumni. The basis for more effective communi-
cation and cooperation has been set –
now let us build on it!
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ELS and ELSA working together on – and at – academic events
by Sofia Kallio, VP S&C, EI 2009/2010, Director for IFP, EI 2010/2011
Member of ELS and ELSA Alumni Finland
The International Focus Programme (IFP) collects and guides the efforts of the whole ELSA Network in order for the members to reach common goals and academic results within one hot legal topic. The programme has been run-ning since 1994 with various topics that have been current during their time. There are many exam-ples of ELSA members who have actually found their field of law for their legal careers through organizing and attending IFP events and projects. Health Law was elected as the topic for the IFP for the period 2010–2013 at the International Council Meeting (ICM) in Malta, spring 2010. The Opening Conference of the current topic took place in Prague, Czech Republic, on the 22nd – 27th February 2011 with the tremendous effort of
Martina Kalapáčová as the Head of Organizing
Committee and Jiří Mačát as the Responsible for the Academic Programme. The programme con-sisted of lectures from international and Czech experts on health law, such as Egle Granziera from the World Health Organization (WHO), André den Exter from the Erasmus Observatory on Health Law of the University of Rotterdam and Iain Byrne from Interights. The lectures and interactive workshops covered various issues related to Health Law, since the aim was to introduce the topic broadly as an opening event. The themes included, inter alia, malpractice liability, informed consent, pharmaceutical law, euthanasia, health insurance companies, comple-mentary medicine and patient mobility. The Opening Conference was not only a grand opening for the three years of focus on Health Law, but also served to show the pos-
sibilities for cooperation between ELSA and ELS. The academic pro-gramme of the Conference was compiled with the help of
JUDr. Ondřej Dostál, Ph.D., LL.M., himself a former ELSA member, who also gave inspiring lectures during the event. Moreover, some other speakers of the event, including Egle Graziera and Natalia Lojko, have been ELSA members during their student years. In addition, the ELS Exec held their meeting at the time of the Confer-ence and was able to attend the academic and so-cial programme. I can say without a doubt that it makes a differ-ence for a young ELSA member to meet the pro-fessionals that once started their careers with a similar path. It motivates, gives the student a feel-ing of having a mentor, and builds a bridge be-tween the ELSA generations. I encourage the ELS members and other alumni to take an active role in supporting the ELSA Groups and creating such ways to cooperate on the local, national or even international level. One of the highlights of the IFP during the following year is the IFP Mid-Evaluation Conference with the focus on Mental Health Law which will be held in Trieste, Italy (16th – 22nd April 2012).
How many ELS members will we see there?
13
Train the Trainers Week by Arabela Trifoi, Romania and Katrien Willems, Belgium
Just as a reminder, the International Trainers Pool
(ITP) has been established in 2000 being the main
training body in ELSA. The aim of the ITP is to
improve the quality of the human resources
amongst the ELSA members through the aid of
former ELSA members who voluntarily deliver
trainings in the whole ELSA Network with the
offered facility that the travel and accom-
modation expenses are covered by ELSA. What’s
specific about ITP trainers is that they benefit
from annual sessions organized by ELSA Interna-
tional which ensure a proper formation and infor-
mation of the trainers. Basically there are two cen-
ters of interest in which ELSA International in-
vests: forming the trainer’s training skills and
keeping his ELSA knowledge up to date.
Every two years ELSA International organizes
one Train the Trainers Week(-end) and before
every autumn ICM, a Refreshment Week-end, the
first is meant to give a serious trainer ed-ucation
to future trainers facilitated by experienced
trainers, the second to refresh the skills of the ITP
members.
So far we have experienced the Train the Trainers
Week. This year, the
event took place in
Germany, in a small
city near Frankfurt,
and it consisted in a
week-long process
which resulted in the
formation of 9 new
trainers for the Inter-
national Trainers Pool
(ITP).
We had 12 hours per
day of intensive working and learning under the
guidance of Jochen Hoerlin, Nina Klotz and
Koen Klootwijk, all three ITP trainers and ELS
members as well. Content-wise we were led
through themes such as learning typologies and
the 4-MAT teaching technique, team phases and
training design, how to structure and deliver train-
ings, behaviors in communication, sides of a mes-
sage, body language, moderation and conflict
management. We also experienced this trainings
week very intensely. Not only had we learned
about training skills, but we also learned about
ourselves as being a trainer. To guide us through
the week, we also were appointed a “buddy”, to
whom we could tell everything during this week.
Such method of experiencing this training week
was definitely a plus.
The end of the week was the beginning of a new
step in our ELSA carreers as it left us with the
motivation to start giving trainings to the network.
The Train the Trainers Week was a very
succesfull event, professionally organized but still
full of ELSA Spirit, difficult but still leaving us
with the feeling that we’ve learned a lot. We
therefore would like to thank the trainers and
participants for their trumendous effort and
guidance throughout the week.
The next Train the Trainers Week is scheduled in
the summer of 2013. If you have any questions
about training or the ITP, do not hesitate to
contact ELSA International: [email protected].
Event: Train the Trainers Week (TTTW) Date: 02 - 09 July 2011 Location: Büdingen, Germany Participants: 12 former/current ELSA members from all over Europe Trainers: Jochen Hoerlin, Nina Klotz, Koen Klootwijk and Rudolf Reiet
14
It all began in January of 2011. Tobias Birsak, then Presi-
dent of ELSA Vienna, got in touch with me and some other
Austria alumni in quest of material for the new ELSA ar-
chives. In his email he described how many items had disap-
peared after ELSA Vienna’s move and how he was looking
to collect stuff from previous decades. I decided to meet with
him and his colleague Milorad Erdelean to discuss further
details but it took another month until we finally came to-
gether in “Café Maximilian” near Downtown Vienna on 22
February. Said café was ELSA Vienna’s favourite gathering
point in the mid-nineties so some sentimental feelings inevitably touched me. I had brought a cou-
ple of thick binders with old ELSA documents along and while we leafed through lost treasurers,
Tobias mentioned some initial plans for an Austrian ELSA anniversary later in the spring, proba-
bly around 6 May. The party was supposed to be organized by ELSA Vienna in co-operation with
ELSA Austria. When Tobias asked me whether I could help him contact some of the alumni of
“my time”, I immediately caught fire. My active ELSA time had ended 10 years ago, after chairing
the “Anniversary ICM” of ELSA in March 2001 in Vienna. Since then, I had lost track of many
former ELSA-friends and -colleagues and it seemed to be just the right time to get back in touch
and invite them for an anniversary party, which should bring together ALL the ELSA generations
in Austria.
My first and perhaps biggest challenge was to reconnect with the two Austrian ELSA founders,
Ernst Wurz and Michael Goldinger. I had met both of them during the 2001 anniversary celebra-
tions and, several years later, also bumped into Michael Goldinger again at an evening reception.
Nevertheless I knew that both “founding fathers” were busy men and hard to grab. Luck was on
my side and I finally reached both of them. They immediately agreed to do anything they could to
join ELSA’s birthday party in May. What followed was week after week of more or less intensive
“detective work”. Some of those people I had worked with in ELSA became and stayed close
friends so it was no problem to drop them a line or a call. However, some other former board and
team members had basically disappeared off the face of earth. You think the internet has made it
easy to rediscover them? Not really! In some cases, Google didn’t reveal any suitable hits and
even Facebook was only partly helpful as not everybody was listed there. What finally helped the
most was working contacts who asked somebody
that asked somebody. As it seems, spreading the
personal word is still a useful investigative tool
in the 21st century. Without really planning it, I
became some kind of adjunct member of the
“OC” getting involved in more and more ques-
tions surrounding the party – and I must admit
that I enjoyed it! Working together with Tobias
Birsak and with Nina Wanke, then President of
ELSA Austria, was a pleasure.
The old ELSA senses came back to life and it
Bridging all generations: ELSA’s Anniversary Celebrations in Vienna
by Gregor Wenda, Austria
15
was a lot of fun to receive news from people you hadn’t talked to in a decade. Other ELS
folks like President Robert Tremel and Austrian Representative Franz-Martin Orou also
shared their knowledge and contributed precious contacts. The list of participants gradually
grew and when the evening of 6 May 2011 was finally here, around 70 former and present
ELSAnians gathered in the traditional wine pub “Wolff” in Vienna to raise their glasses. In
addition to active members from most local groups, ELS President Robert Tremel, then IB
member Laurits Ketscher, and numerous alumni from the past thirty years had followed the
“party call”. ELSA founder Ernst Wurz gave the key note address. Paul Hochbaum, former
President of ELSA International, me, and Martina Berger, ELSA Austria President some
two years ago, shared their personal recollections with the audience. I had prepared a set of
power point slides with photos and stories from 1995 to 2001. How time flies! It was an eve-
ning full of memories, old and new friendships, laughter and tears, thanks and wishes. Never
before did one see so many different Austrian ELSA generations in one place. ELSA Vienna
and ELSA Austria, together with the assistance of ELS, organized an unforgettable event –
and I was proud and grateful to contribute to it.
Ad multos annos!
Alumni at the National Council Meeting
by Gregor Wenda, Austria
The spring National Council Meeting (NCM) of
ELSA Austria in Fürstenfeld was special in
many ways. Not only did it mark the election of
a new National Board, it was also dedicated to
ELSA’s 30th anniversary and an intensified co-
operation with Austrian ELSA alumni. The most
prominent guest on 4 July 2011 was ELSA
founder Michael Goldinger. He had established
ELSA together with Austrian Ernst Wurz and
colleagues from Hungary and Poland in 1981.
Michael could not attend the anniversary party
in Vienna on 6 May but
promised to come to Für-
stenfeld for a podium dis-
cussion on the past and
future of ELSA insteas.
He was the farthest trav-
elled person on that eve-
ning as he had come all
the way back from a busi-
ness trip to Russia. Other
ELSA alumni on the po-
dium included Gregor
Wenda, former President
of ELSA Austria 1998/99,
Ines Wolfbauer, former
Treasurer of ELSA Austria 1998/99, and Jür-
gen Schenk, former Vice-President Marketing
of ELSA Austria around the millennium. The
questions from NCM participants revealed that
ELSA challenges haven’t changed too much
over the decades and that it can sometimes be
tough not to “reinvent the wheel”. The dialogue
between active ELSAnians and alumni contin-
ued long after the formal part was over – and led
to plans for further co-operation in the next year.
16
Where fairytales come true ELS Gala Ball in Vienna
by Guido Costantini,Italy and Simona Adamcova, Czech Republic
In the long gone March of 2001, I par-
ticipated for the first time in a gala ball
in Vienna, celebrating the 20th anni-
versary of our gloriole association.
That event, glamorous and unforgetta-
ble as it was between the typical ICM
atmosphere and the Wiener waltz,
would have remained an isolated
event in my life, had I not decided, al-
most exactly a decade later, to partici-
pate in what remains, inexplicably, a
niche event of our association: the ELS
gala ball in Vienna.
Taking place right inside the imperial
palace, that evening saw a dozen of
ELSA seniors and one ELSA member
first having a classy “aperitivo”, based
on champagne and delicious tarts, in
an exclusive venue of the „Alt-Kalksburger“ Club
(alumni association of prestigious Catholic private
school which dates back to 1856) and then losing
themselves among hundreds of attendees of one of
the several university gala balls that annually take
place in the Hofburg.
Whoever had expected tuxedoes and gorgeous
night dresses would not have been disappointed.
More than that, one could had seen many people
dressed in the typical Austrian costumes and in cos-
tumes from all around the world as foreign students
paraded in Scottish tartans, Indian and Chinese
silks, South American velvets and even in what
looked like authentic zebra skin.
For the waltz-impaired, different halls offered vari-
ous kind of music, rating from the polka to the la-
tino rhythms, but not - traditions be praised - disco
music of any kind.
Having set an hourly meeting point, the ELS(A) peo-
ple lost themselves in the revelry and, truth to be
told, after the first couple of successful rallies, it
was not until the day after when the most of us met
again for a late lunch in a pretty special location,
half restaurant - half greenhouse garden called Pal-
menhaus. That was also a calm place to talk and
better know each other. (Guido)
And yet the weekend wasn’t fin-
ished and we still had a lot to ex-
perience. The two of us (always
striving for culture) went to see
Carmen on one of many stages that
Vienna offers. Afterwards, despite
being tired from the gala ball we
could not miss the occasion to visit
of the typical après-ski-designed
restaurant/disco where, besides
the great beer, you can enjoy deli-
cious Austrian specialties like
“Kaiserschmarrn”.
The brunch on Sunday showed the
typical ELSA workshops atmos-
phere when we ended up discuss-
ing the new ELS logo. As usual, our
association brings work and fun
together and after all, this event wasn’t so differ-
ent. Although I admit that “fruitful discussions”
were not as emotive as on ICMs it was definitely
nice to see our alumni being interested in future
progress of their association and in making it more
attractive for the new members.
In the end, it was an unforgettable experience that
saw, to borrow a line, "the best dressed ELS mem-
bers I’ve ever seen in my life" and one that we fully
plan to repeat, hopefully with more of the ELS
members now realizing how such an event cannot
be missed. And finally, an immense thank you to
Franz-Martin Orou for the organization, great job
well done and hopefully see you and many others
participating on the Vienna fairytale event in 2012!
(Simona)
For many years two events became a tradition in
ELS. At the beginning of the year, Franz-Martin
Orou on behalf of the Austrian alumni invites to
an Austrian Gala Ball. Thank you very much.
The second event is the Octoberfest. Jochen Hör-
lin, Meinhard Schröder, Nina Klotz and Stephan
Dobrowolski were the main responsibles. Since
this year younger alumni took over and Barbara
Sandfuchs took the responsibility. Thanks for
many Oktoberfeste and thanks for many more to
come.
17
Cristian Elull married Karolina, who is origi-
nally from Bratislava, on Aug 13th in Malta.
Chris was on the National Board of ELSA
Malta—well—a few years ago.
WEDDINGS
Karina Sultanova was president of EL-
SA Kazakhstan, Sec-
Gen of ELS and is
trainer of ELSA.
On July 23rd she
married Joss Bolton
in England. They are
both working for
Shell and are mo-
ving to Paris.
The ELSA International Team 2008 met on May
21st to celebrate a high level ELSA and ELS wed-
ding:
Jean-Marc Lauwers, Treasurer IB 2008/09 and
current auditor of ELS married Katrien Willems,
Dir EI 2008/09 and ELS represenative for Belgium.
Ruta Zarnauskaite was president of EI in
2001/02 and is one of the judges at the
EMC², Gijs van Iersel was SecGen of ELSA
Maastricht in 2001/02. On June 10th they
got married in Ruta‘s home town Vilnus.
18
Leonid Cherniavskyi, last years president
of ELSA International married Masha
Drozdova on 10.09.2011.
Obviously presidents know what they do ...
Maria Cruz Ferrera Costa was VP Marketing in the IB 2003/04. She got married on
14.08.2011 and invited some of her ELSA friends to La Corunna.
Silvia Grabovac VP S&C ELSA Croatia 1997/98
Fabrizio Cancedda VP AA ELSA Italy 1996
Zagreb 03.09.2011
MORE WEDDINGS
19
Seniors‘ News
Anyone missing?
Please help us collect information about our mem-bers and friends. If you hear about a marriage, eg. about two former IB members who might get married this autumn (the third IB-IB marriage and no—it is not the couple we are waiting for 10 years now). If somebody posts an ultra sound image on face-book, let us know. You will read who the lucky partents are in the next issue of our newsletter.
On 20th May Ludmilka was born.
Her father Jan Slanina and her
mother Lucie Wachtlova were both
in the NB of ELSA Czech Republic.
Hennica was born on the 17th April this year: First
she will become director of ELSA, like her mum
Kristina Juth was in 2001/02 and 2002/03. Then
she will become a successfull Finish tax lawyer
like her mum and her dad Raimo.
Rebekha is the daughter of Nikki (nee
Camilleri; VP S&C of ELSA Int. 2000)
and Adrian Mallia and since June among
the youngest inhabitants of the ELSA-
famous island of Malta.