The New York State Bar Association signed an agreement with the Bar of Ireland, formalizing a connection between the two legal associations and creating clearer transatlantic channels of communication for attorneys.
Taa Grays, president of the New York State Bar Association, and Seán Guerin, chair of the Council of The Bar of Ireland, signed a memorandum of understanding at the American Irish Historical Society on Sept. 10, a finale to the Irish group’s three-day trade mission to New York.
“This MOU is an opportunity to collaborate, to partner, to advance our respective missions and to learn from each other,” Grays said. “To work together and to bring harmony in the world.”
The signing of the MOU with the foreign bar association marks a common practice for the NYSBA, which formalizes its partnership with foreign bar associations to make cross-border legal cooperation more structured for lawyers in New York and abroad.
These agreements are generally professional-cooperation arrangements, and suit New York as a major center for international business, finance, trade, and, legal disputes. Lawyers often need to understand another country’s laws, legal institutions, and professional rules. It is one of nearly 40 such agreements that the bar association has made over the years.
Grays engaged in a panel discussion along with International Section Chair Helen Naves and section members Howard Fischer and Ed Lenci that explored the advantages for American businesses to use Ireland for European arbitrations.
“It’s a great choice post-Brexit for a transaction with an EU connection,” Fischer said, according to the NYSBA’s press materials. “This is a gateway to EU law done in a common-law style.”
Other attendees included former Taoiseach Enda Kenny, now president of Ireland for Law; Catherine Ardagh, minister of state at Ireland’s Department of Justice, Home Affairs, and Migration; Rossa Fanning, attorney general of Ireland; Justice David Barniville, president of Ireland’s High Court and Ireland’s designated arbitration judge; and Paul McGarry, former chair of the Bar of Ireland.
The agreement, and the trade mission, is part of a greater effort that Ireland’s legal industry has made to grow its international presence.
From left, Paul McGarry, Howard Fischer, Helen Naves, Joe O’Malley, Ed Lenci and Seán Guerin.Photo via NYSBA
