THE AUTHOR:
Marie-Hélène Ludwig, Chief-Editor and Product Specialist at Jus Mundi (2020-2023)*
*The Wiki Notes are now led by Alexandre Vagenheim, Jus Mundi’s VP of Global Legal Data
You worked at the world’s largest law firm. What motivated you to join Jus Mundi?
As a lawyer, conducting legal research to find the perfect case matching the factual pattern of my case or successfully rebutting the opposite side’s argument has always been one of my favorite tasks. However, on several occasions, I have been frustrated not to have access to a database allowing lawyers to conduct exhaustive research, not only among ISDS documents but also public international law resources (such as decisions of the ICJ or Mixed-Claims Commissions). At times, the disappointment also came from the existing search engines showing search results limited to a few well-known case law. Law is constantly evolving globally, especially in arbitration!
When I learned about the creation of Jus Mundi, I felt, this is it! Jus Mundi is the tool.
I used Jus Mundi for some time, and this experience influenced my decision to join the company. I was impressed with Jus Mundi’s most comprehensive database which gets updated constantly with the latest documents and case law in the field. The intelligent features such as search filters (by applicable treaty, institution, arbitrator, law firm, the outcome of the proceedings, etc.) are a game-changer. It is also incredibly user-friendly, to the extent that I was curious, how did they even do it? Furthermore, I value and share Jus Mundi’s objective – to make international law and arbitration accessible and understandable, globally.
In short, this is how I went from being a user of Jus Mundi to a Product Specialist and Chief Editor. I am grateful that I can use all my experience as an international law lawyer to Jus Mundi’s advantage to contribute to the development of these tools from a lawyers’ point of view and expand the project to all areas of international law. I also enjoy being part of a dynamic and collaborative team made up of 11 nationalities and not limited to just lawyers but also tech and data specialists.
What is your vision for the Wiki Notes project? Can you tell us the top 3 values of the Wiki Notes?
The Wiki Notes allow lawyers to quickly grasp the key issues arising out of a legal concept and to instantly access the most relevant cases and different trends followed by tribunals on the topic. The Wiki Notes can also be the starting point of your legal research to narrow it down when you do not already have in mind the specific keywords and filters to use in the search engine. In a second step, the intelligent search engine and CiteMap (which shows subsequent cases referring to cases cited in the Wiki Notes) allow comprehensive research.
I plan to make the Wiki Notes project user-oriented and beneficial for anyone who is looking for quick answers with the latest jurisprudence. With this strategy, I hope to enforce our vision further to make Jus Mundi the one-stop destination for legal research.
Top 3 values of the Wiki Notes are:
- Wiki Notes provide a summary of the key issues arising out of a legal concept, such as the Investment Arbitration & Pandemic, Force Majeure, Denial of Benefits, Indirect Expropriation, Transparency in Fair and Equitable Treatment, and instantly display the way the concept is structured. Wiki Notes are interconnected and contain hyperlinks to other Wiki Notes on related issues. As a result, Wiki Notes is a great time-saving tool for lawyers and academics while conducting legal research on our search engine.
- Wiki Notes allow lawyers & academics to instantly access the most relevant and recent awards on the issues arising out of the concept and display the different approaches followed by tribunals.
- Wiki Notes are peer-reviewed by an Editorial Team composed of experienced academics and practitioners in the investment arbitration field. This process allows lawyers to access up-to-date and verified information that is also both neutral and practical.
About the Wiki Notes
Jus Mundi’s Wiki Tree currently contains over 200 Wiki Notes on the key concepts of Investment Law and Arbitration but also extremely topical issues such as Investment Arbitration and Epidemics organized in a tree by topic.
This Wiki Notes project is scheduled to be finished by January 2021.
The Wiki Notes are a collaborative project. The process is as follows:
- The notes are authored by Contributors selected for their experience and practice of investment law and arbitration. Most of the Contributors previously worked as practitioners or academics on the topic of the Wiki Note they authored.
- A member of the Editors team composed of experienced senior academics, partners, and associates, then reviews each Note and ensures the Notes’ neutrality, practicality, and quality, notably in terms of sources.
- As the Chief Editor, Marie-Hélène supervises the process and ensures consistency and quality among the Notes.
How to use Wiki Notes effectively?
You can watch a short tutorial video of the Wiki Notes available here.
What is the future for the Wiki Notes project?
In the future, Jus Mundi’s Wiki will cover not only investment law and arbitration, but also commercial arbitration, sports arbitration, public international law, human rights, and other areas of international law. Stay tuned on Jus Mundi for updates!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
After graduating from the University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense in 2011 with a specialization in international law, Marie-Hélène qualified as a French avocat in 2013. Marie-Hélène has worked for seven years as an arbitration associate at Teynier Pic and the global law firm Dentons in Paris and New York. She gained first-hand experience in both investment and commercial arbitration cases as counsel and as administrative secretary of arbitral tribunals under ICSID, ICC, SCC, UNCITRAL arbitration rules, in a wide range of sectors, such as energy, international construction and engineering projects, corporate and post-M&A disputes, environment, pharmaceutical, agri-food, manufacturing, and international trade. Her diverse professional experience also includes working on public international law and sovereign immunity matters, annulment proceedings before ad hoc committees and national courts, as well as enforcement proceedings. Marie-Hélène joined Jus Mundi in June as a Chief Editor for the Wiki Notes project and Product Specialist in the Legal team. We spoke to Marie-Hélène to get to know her and her vision for Jus Mundi’s Wiki Notes project.
