Louisiana—as the lone civil law jurisdiction in the United States—has been instrumental
in developing and maintaining one of the major legal traditions in the world, the civil law, in the English language. Indeed, having as its source Roman and Canon law, with Spanish and French influences dating back centuries, the civil law has developed over time to best suit the needs of the citizenry at the relevant time period. The development of this venerated legal tradition in English, particularly in Louisiana, has contributed to its influence and accessibility around the globe.
The continued viability of the civil law in Louisiana is possible because of the hard work of scholars throughout the state, and particularly the work of the great legal minds of the LSU Law Center. One such legal scholar is our very own Alain Levasseur, who has worked diligently to ensure that the civil law is accessible in English in Louisiana and abroad. This accessibility enables legal scholars from around the globe to share experiences and ideas regarding the history and future of the civil law tradition.
Please join the Louisiana Law Review, the Center of Civil Law Studies, and the Paul M. Hebert Law Center as we celebrate the development of the civil law in Louisiana, the accomplishments of Professor Levasseur, and the future of the civil law around the world.
For more information and to register,
go to: http://law.lsu.edu/ symposium/ Registration is required
Schedule of Events
Opening Remarks
8:00 AM – 8:15 AM
Panel 1: The Law of Obligations in Louisiana and Abroad
8:15 AM – 10:00 AM
Break 10:00 AM – 10:15 AM
Commentator: Civil Code Drafting Styles and Conflicts of Law
10:15 AM – 11:00 AM
Lunch 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Panel 2: Translation of the Civil Law
12:00 PM – 1:15 PM
Commentator: Challenges and Rewards of Teaching Comparative Law in the Commonwealth Caribbean
1:15 PM – 2:00 PM
Break 2:00 PM – 2:15 PM
Commentator: U.S. Discovery and Foreign Blocking Statutes
2:15 PM – 3:00 PM
Presentations
Opening Remarks
Melissa Lonegrass: Professor, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
Panel 1: The Law of Obligations in Louisiana and Abroad
Participants will discuss the development of the law of Obligations in Louisiana and in France.
Ronald Scalise: A.D. Freeman Professor of Civil Law, Tulane Law School
David Gruning: Professor, Loyola University College of Law
Michel Séjean: Professor, Université de Bretagne-Sud, France
Mustapha Mekki: Professor, Université Paris 13
Commentator: Civil Code Drafting Styles and Conflicts of Law
Professor Symeonides will discuss the extent to which judges may deviate from the text of a statute by examining recent statutes in which the legislature itself authorizes such a deviation.
Symeon Symeonides: Professor, Willamette University College of Law
Panel 2: Translating the Civil Law
Participants will discuss how the civil law was translated using French and Spanish sources and how the law has been translated contemporarily.
Agustín Parise: Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Randy Trahan: Professor, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
Commentator: Challenges and Rewards of Teaching Comparative Law in the Commonwealth Caribbean
Professor Ostroukh will discuss the challenges she has faced in teaching comparative law at a university in the West Indies, and will focus on how certain characteristics of the region have shaped her experience of teaching comparative law.
Asya Ostroukh: Senior Lecturer, Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies in Barbados
Commentator: U.S. Discovery and Foreign Blocking Statutes
Professor Curran will discuss the relationship between U.S. discovery practices and
blocking statutes in France and Germany that have for decades impeded discovery efforts by U.S. entities.
Vivian Grosswald Curran: Professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Law
Also featured in Volume 76, Issue IV of the Louisiana Law Review, Liber Amicorum: Professor Alain A. Levasseur, without presentation:
Nicholas Kasirer: Justice of the Court of Appeal for Québec
Jean-Louis Baudouin: Counsel, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
