After midnight

When you are stuck on a night train passing from Utrecht to Amsterdam and then going back to Hilversum (which takes you almost 2 hours), because you missed the last one that went directly to your home (duration 12 minutes), it is hard to keep calm. Writing a blog is a good way to restore your inner peace in such moments …

As soon as I was done with my exams, I felt that the first semester at Tilburg University deserved to be highlighted in a blog post. This short reflection is dedicated to all the followers interested in law and Dutch legal education, especially to prospective students of TU.

Let me start with the European Competition Law thought by prof. Larouche. It is amazing how much we learnt during this course. Besides going over the main parts of the European competition legislation we also covered all the most important CJEU judgments and even found time for some comparative analyses. At least in my opinion, these were the most fascinating part of the course. There are essential divergences between the US and the EU when it comes to understanding the rationale of competitive market. The difference is a good indicator of the American and European standards as regards economic liberty and has an important impact on business. Other interesting topics were the Microsoft cases and the discussion about possible Google’s illegal practices.

The International Business Law course focused on the uncorporation as a possible way to go in the international economy. Soon after the lectures finished, our professors took part in the UN conference on the same topic. I had never heard about uncorporations before that and the fact that our exam answers might be used as arguments at the conference was motivating. The course made me think about possibilities of introducing the uncorporation in Slovenia, since I believe it could bring many advantages to our economy - if it was approached in the right way, of course. Unfortunately I am skeptical about the enforcement issue – there are many legal institutes that function well abroad while they get abused in Slovenia (e.g. silent partnership or the German “Grundschuld” which have been recently abolished).

McCahery's courses were the hardest. Understanding American securities law at a very high level was the true challenge. To be honest, securities law has been of marginal importance at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, so I definitely lacked some background in this field. Furthermore, it would be beneficial (at least for me) if TU could offer us a “Schnellkurs” on the US law before going into details of the securities legislation. Anyway, being introduced into the American securities market was an enriching experience and, I would say, a matter of necessity for every young lawyer.

All in all, I have been satisfied with the courses at TU in the first semester. The lecturers surprised me with their extremely wide knowledge and up-to-date classes. If I had to complaint, I would mention few unexpectedly cancelled office hours, however, this appears to be the price you pay if you want a lecturer that deals with commercial issues on a regular basis and not only in theory.