Asia & Pacific Region Committee

The Asia-Pacific region has grown very rapidly in economic and political importance in recent years and this growth has been accompanied by a corresponding increase in the importance of law and legal institutions as well. With this in mind, the Mission of the Asia-Pacific Law Committee is to improve the understanding of the role of law in promoting the interests of clients doing business and the legal environment in the Asia-Pacific region and to foster interchange of ideas and personal relations between lawyers practicing in New York and their counterparts practicing in Asia-Pacific jurisdictions.

The Committee’s main focus is legal education considered in the broad sense. Members of the Committee are encouraged to participate in Section meetings that are held in Asia such as the past meetings in Hong Kong and Shanghai and the Fall 2009 and 2010 meetings in Singapore and Australia, including organizing panels on current legal topics affecting the region and the development of law in Asia. To better appreciate the historical development and function of law in Asian societies and the place of law in Asian cultures, the Committee encourages members to meet with each other when traveling on business and on vacation. Although the wide geographic disparity of Committee memberships makes it inconvenient to hold meetings other than at annual events of the Section, members are encouraged to communicate with each other concerning legal developments of interest through Section e-mail lists and social networking sites such as LinkedIn.