last day of work

today is my last day of work at Studio Legale Cigolini, and its sad. i have only been here 3 weeks, but i have made good friendships with the lawyers here. they have done a good job of showing me the ropes at an italian courthouse, explaining EU law, and speaking to me in english. i will miss them, but i look forward to a new experience in Milan.

thoughts on the law in italy:

1. unlike US law, Italian laws do not seem as black and white...or at least they are treated like there is no room for argument. most of my questions are answered with "this is the law in italy." my first year of law school spent 5% of the time with "the law," while the rest of the time was spent discussing how you can argue it both ways. maybe i just didnt delve deep enough into the cases we had...who knows.

2. italian courts are psycho. i only went to a few court houses in america, but they seemed to possess a certain degree of reverence. italian court houses on the other hand are FULL of people running around, making copies, and arguing. i went to a hearing, and here were the ingredients: 20 lawyers (one for each of the 20 parties), 10 cases (the judge heard arguments for them all at once), one small room (the hearing was in the office of the judge). we basically talked to some people, the judge, and then the judge stamped a paper. also, the elevators are always packed to the brim.

3. italian lawyers are nice. my exposure to US lawyers in their work environment is minimal, but people always say they are jerks. everyone here has been hospitable, gracious with their time, and fun.

4. internaional law is...a large fluffy cloud. it has no real form, but it looks like lots of things. i want to touch it but i cant. some of the cases here have involved an italian insurance company, and american broker, a Libyan ship, Estonian charterers, Dutch ports and British lawyers.

as far as general impressions are concerned, i feel completely out of touch with america with the exception of the michael jackson trial. also, it would help if i could speak italian. a story to illustrate: i needed to buy a cd rom, so i went into a store where i saw them. but, much like russia, some of the stores require the buyer to ask for the things they want to buy. i thought if i said CD, the clerk would understand. after 4 attempts, i resulted to pointing, to which she exclaimed "che-day" the italian way to say it. below is a pic of the street where the firm is.