A Cross on a Red Star

This is a photograph taken just outside the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi in Prague.??Since 1252, this place has been associated with the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, a Christian Military Order from Bohemia.??The Church itself is located just beside the world famous Charles Bridge, where throngs of tourists visiting Prague congregate every day.???A little over 20 years ago, I worked for many weeks in this same building complex and I probably walked on this pavement dozens of times without ever noticing the mosaic.?At the time, I was in Prague with my colleagues preparing to represent Slovakia in?CSOB v The Slovak Republic, an ICSID case that became somewhat well-known in later years. https://www.italaw.com/cases/238.

Back then, I had little understanding of how consequential this experience would be for me. Let’s start with the tribunal. It was headed by the late Thomas Buergunthal, who passed away last month.??He was a human rights lawyer, an Auschwitz survivor, and a Judge on both the Inter American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice.??His recent obituary is well worth reading for those that did not know him. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/02/us/thomas-buergenthal-dead.html??

He was accompanied on the Tribunal by Professors Piero Bernardini from Italy and Andreas Bucher from Switzerland.???Judge Buergunthal later stepped down and was replaced by Professor Hans van Houtte from Belgium.??Our opposing counsel was the wonderful Abby Cohen Smutny of White & Case, and her colleagues, Judge Charles Brower, Frank Vasquez and Anne Smith. Our own team was special, headed by my former partner Henry Weisburg, and including the late, and much missed, Prof Emmanuel Gaillard, John Savage KC, Yas Banifatemi , and some junior associates who also went on to greater things, including Ken Fleuriet, Conor Byrne and Heloise Hervé.??We had fantastic co-counsel in Alena ?ernejová and Peter Bartosik , both of whom now have their own firms in Slovakia.?

I have taken the time to list all of these people because, if I could send a message to my younger self, it would be to celebrate the talents of your peers, regardless of whether they are on your side of the bar or the other.??It is a privilege to have a career that allows you to interact with such talented people, debating such interesting legal issues, in amazing places.??I would tell my younger self that almost everyone involved in this case is enormously talented and that they either are, or will be, very important people in my future career.

My other message, though, would be to take a step back from the immediacy of the moment and fully appreciate where you are and what you are doing.?CSOB v The Slovak Republic?was a key part of the “Velvet Divorce” whereby the former Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. It was the only case that allocated the FTO sovereign debt between these countries. It was, to continue the metaphor, a successful divorce, and both economies have gone on to thrive in the intervening two decades.??So, take a moment to situate what you are doing in a historical context.

Finally, just take a moment full stop. When I worked all those weeks in this building, I took virtually no time to learn the history of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star. That was a privilege that had to wait for this trip twenty years later. Nor did I ever visit the wonderful Prague Castle, which is situated just a ten minute walk away on the other side of the Charles Bridge.??I was probably too busy preparing the cross-examination of a witness I no longer remember, on an issue that I have long forgotten.??I regret not taking the time then, but it is better late than never.??

My key take-away is that you will be better in your job, whatever that may be, if you take a day, or if that is not possible take a half-day, or even an hour, to visit all the places your job will take you. Take in your surroundings. Absorb little bit of the history of the place. The CSOB case was, in part, a case about a guarantee, so I will end this post with a guarantee of my own: if you follow this advice, I guarantee you will not regret it.