City Beat: Legal Eagle Laura Ching is fashionably chic

Regular City Beat columnist James McCullough was on leave recently and I was honoured to fulfil his duties for the day. I had a great time finding events to report on and was able to tick another item off my bucket list - write a newspaper column! 

Here is the column that ran. 

Date:

21 March 2014

Source:

http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/legal-eagle-laura-chong-is-fashionably-chic/story-fnfli675-1226860560891

Chewy Anzac Biscuits

Most of my generation and younger won't have had the joy of growing up with Day to Day Cookery book by IM Downes. I was lucky enough to have one in my house growing up - circa 1985 edition. 

The recipes are those you would see at the CWA bake stalls and the ones your Nan would have ready for your weekly visit. 

One recipe I make year after year is Anzac biscuits. They are chewy, tasty and incredible! I made a batch yesterday to take to my girlfriend (who is also making her own batch today). 

Did you know that there is an exception to the use of the world "Anzac" specifically for Anzac biscuits, provided they are made basically true to the original recipe and are made and sold as Anzac biscuits - not cookies! 

Here it the recipe:

Ingredients 

1 cup of plain flour

1 cup of rolled oats

3/4 cup of desiccated coconut

3/4 cup of sugar

140gr of butter

3 teaspoons of golden syrup 

3 tablespoons of boiling hot water 

1 teaspoon of baking soda

Method

1. Sift flour into a bowl. 

2. Add rolled oats, coconut and sugar. Mix well. 

3. Melt butter in a saucepan, add syrup and water. 

4. Take off heat, add in baking soda and allow to foam. Pour immediately onto dry ingredients. 

5. Mix well. Make small pieces (I use a dessert spoon to scoop as a rough measurement), roll into a ball and press onto a greased tray. Leave room as they spread. 

6. Bake for 12-15mins in a 150 degree oven. 

They biscuits will be soft as you take them out. They will crisp around the edges. Don't bake until crisp as they will harden as they cool. 

If you are not a fan of the chewy Anzac biscuits and like the crunch, bake for 15-18mins. 

Enjoy with a great cuppa (tea or coffee for my non Aussie readers), while thanking our past and present troops. Those who sacrificed their time and lives for our Country deserve the highest respect and honour. Lest We Forget this Anzac Day. 

$2 Billion Missing in U.S.-U.K. Art and Antiquities Trade. Trade Based Money Laundering or Some Other Explanation?

It stands to reason that the declared export price of goods should match the declared import price of the same goods. So questions certainly arise when customs values reported by an exporting country do not add up to the customs values for the exact goods published by the importing nation. And that is what is happening with the United Kingdom and the United States in the art and antiquities trade.

The trade in works of art, collectors pieces, and antiques exported from the U.K and imported into the U.S. demands scrutiny. These cultural goods are classified by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) commodity code 97, which specifically covers paintings, drawings, engravings, prints, lithographs, sculptures, statuary, and stamps. HTS 97 also includes collectors' pieces and collections of zoological, botanical, mineralogical, anatomical, historical, archaeological, and paleontological materials. Numismatics are covered as well, and so too are antiques over 100 years old.

The U.K. was the number one source of archaeological, historical, and ethnological material imported into the United States in 2013 (HTS 9705.00.0070 goods). In the broader art and antiquities markets, the U.K. ranked number two--second only to France--in the value of all HTS 97 goods imported by the U.S. last year.

According to data generated by HM Revenue and Customs, the U.K. reported a declared value of exports to the U.S. in 2013 of £2,202,630,107 worth of HTS 97 art, collectors pieces, and antiques. That total translates to $3,700,640,000 as measured by the currency exchange rate effective on April 22, 2014.

In contrast, the 2013 data compiled from the U.S. International Trade Commission show that America imported from the U.K. only $1,675,476,108 worth of HTS 97 goods. The difference between the total declared value of HTS 97 goods exported from the U.K., and the total declared value of HTS 97 goods imported for consumption into the U.S. during 2013 amounts to $2,025,163,892.*

Because the published values do not match by over $2 billion, they should be analyzed carefully by trade experts to find out why this money is missing from the trade data. Commercial lawyers and customs attorneys, for example, should examine how the value differences can be justified, if at all, by changing currency valuations or other relevant factors.

[UPDATE May 5, 2014: The trade data for a five year period, from 2009-2013, is examined in CHL's post here.]

The data need to be studied by law enforcement too, particularly since customs values for U.S. imports are not determined by government record keepers; they are amounts supplied by importers, which are then written on customs entry forms. As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement correctly observes, "Global trade is frequently used by criminal organizations to move value around the world through the complex and sometimes confusing documentation that is frequently associated with legitimate trade transactions."

Customs authorities particularly should probe whether there may be evidence of trade based money laundering (TBML). TBML permits criminal networks to earn and transfer money by hiding and remitting profits within the stream of the legal marketplace. One TBML technique is to import goods into the U.S. at an undervalued amount.

The $2 billion difference between HTS 97 goods exported from the U.K. and imported into the U.S. warrants scrutiny on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly because the legitimate--but opaque--art and antiquities markets are susceptible to terrorist financing risks, money laundering, and black market operations. The preservation of both cultural heritage and the legal marketplace demands that answers be found to explain the $2 billion missing from the U.S.-U.K. art and antiquities trade.

*Trade data for HTS 97 goods is examined over a five year period in a blog post dated May 5, 2014. The 2013 U.S. data used for the five year comparison looks at general import values rather than values for imports for consumption, which is used in this blog post.  Also, the currency conversion rates used in the five year data in the May 5 blog post are all from December 31 for each year, respectively, from 2009 through 2013. The currency conversion rate used to convert GBP to USD in the April 22, 2014 blog post here is the rate published on April 22, 2014. This information accounts for any differences in values reported here versus the values reported in the May 5 blog post.

Photo credit: Darren Deans

By Rick St. Hilaire Text copyrighted 2010-2014 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post is prohibited. CONTACT INFORMATION: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com

LCCHP to Host Egypt: Night at the Museum on May 7

On May 7, the Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation (LCCHP) will be hosting Egypt: A Night at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Egypt has recently drawn attention for the destruction of cultural heritage by the looting and destruction of museums and archaeological sites throughout the country. This spring, Egypt formally requested the U.S. to place import restrictions on endangered archaeological materials originating from within its borders.

Please join LCCHP and our members to learn more about these issues during a private tour of the Egyptian Wing of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (the Penn Museum houses one of the largest collections of Egyptian and Nubian material in the United States) followed by a happy hour near the museum.

When:              Wednesday, May 7^th  

                        Private tour from 6:30 – 7:30 pm
                        Reception from 7:30 – 9:00 pm

Where:             Univ. of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
                       3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Admission:        LCCHP members: $17
                        Non-LCCHP members: $22
                        University of Pennsylvania students and faculty: $5

Join LCCHP at www.culturalheritagelaw.orgto receive LCCHP members’ rates for the event. Purchase your tickets hereor visit the LCCHP website at www.culturalheritagelaw.org.

Contact Leila Amineddoleh, at director@culturalheritagelaw.org, or see the flyer (Egypt at Penn Museum) for additional details.

Photo credit: Lucretious

By Rick St. Hilaire Text copyrighted 2010-2014 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post is prohibited. CONTACT INFORMATION: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com

Don't leave before you have left

For anyone who saw my debate at the AIM International Women's Day debate back in March, you will already know my thoughts on Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In.  While I think her book has been fantastic in terms of raising much needed awareness surrounding the issues of women in business and gender equality, however in terms of content, personally I did not take much from the book. Except this - Don't leave before you leave. This chapter was moreso focused on women making decisions now in anticipation of what could happen in the future, eg not taking a promotion now because in 3 years you may want to have maternity leave. However, the name of the chapter suggests to me this concept is can be expanded to be used after you have resigned and while working out your notice period - don't (mentally) leave before you have left. 

I recently resigned my job and finished up in employment and workplace relations law to return to my love of insurance and personal injury litigation. At the time of resigning, I was still managing my health issues, but I made it clear to my Partner when I resigned that I was not leaving before I actually left.  The idea behind this is not burning your bridges and still producing quality work until your last day. 

During your notice period don't start taking extended lunches, don't lapse on timing of work and continue to follow up instructions from clients. Leave plenty of time for a full handover and talk with your Partner to see how they want to conduct the handover. I recommend file notes for each matter with key dates and issues highlighted, including your thoughts on the matter. If necessary, arrange a meeting with your co-worker who will be taking over the matters and ensure your secretary assists with having filing up to date. 

No matter what your reasons are for leaving a position, you should never create bad blood while working out your notice period.  Remember, you never know where you will end up in the future and you will find its a small world. Have enough respect to your firm, your Partner, and to yourself, to continue to apply yourself 100% during your notice period. You won't regret it. 

Recipe: Quiche (secret family recipe)

I love cooking (for others more than me). But one dish I love making of a weekend to keep me nourished during the week is this scrumptious quiche. It's a family recipe that has been passed down and even has a secret ingredient - jatz biscuits! Who would have thought!

Ingredients

Half a pack of jatz crushed - I use the cracked pepper jatz

2 cups of grated cheese

1 onion diced

1 large carrot grated

3 eggs beaten

1 cup of milk

6-7 middle bacon rashers cooked and diced

Method

Crush the jatz with a potato masher. Not to crumbs, but just smaller pieces. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Once mixed through, add to a pie dish. I swap between round and rectangle ones depending on my mood! I find rectangle better as I can cut the quiche into pieces to take to work. 

Cook at 175 degrees for about 40 minutes. Some ovens may take longer, so check in the middle before taking out. If it is not cooked through, keep checking every 5 minutes until done. 

You can serve it warm or cold with salad. I prefer it cold - tastes yummier!!!

Enjoy. 

GLOSS: February 2014 - The Need for Gen Y to use Social Metworking

I am proud to say I am a member of LBD Group. It is a fantastic forum for mentoring and personal development, without the fluff.

In February 2014, I was a contributing writer to LBD Group's monthly publication GLOSS. Here, I was able to write about my passion for social networking and the need for young professionals, aka Gen Y, to use social networking in their business development. 

Date:

February 2014

Source:

https://asp-au.secure-zone.net/v2/index.jsp?id=993%2F1104%2F4668&lng=en

City Beat: Women Run the World

Now I have made a Media and Gallery page, I will be uploading some articles, pictures etc. 

Here is the City Beat article following the International Women's Day Debate, where I was thrilled to have been represented in caricature! 

Date: 

8 March 2014 

Source: 

http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/city-beat-women-run-the-world/story-fnihsps3-1226848524368

Performance Reviews - the tips you won't find online

It's performance review aka PDR time. This is something no professional at any level should overlook, but it's even more crucial as a young lawyer when you are trying to climb that corporate ladder. 

The biggest mistake young professionals make is believing they are entitled to a payrise simply due to the effluxion of time. Ahhhh wrong!! You need to earn it and you need to show why you have earned it. Your Partner knows your are great in general, and PDR time is your chance to show them and HR why a payrise is justified. 

Here are my key tips to helping you nail your PDR. 

1. Take the time to complete the paperwork. Most firms give you timetable for PDRs, including links to the forms you are to complete (and when you will get they letter about any payrise!).  Do not do it the night before/morning of as you are bound to forget key information. 

2. Dig out your "Good Girl" (or boy) folder. A past Partner introduced me to this and it has been invaluable for not only PDR time, but also when tenders and proposals are being done. This is an email folder, and a hard copy binder, of all documents and emails reflecting your great work. It can be things from a client thanking you for getting a 2 day task to them overnight, or a note to yourself about a file you were instrumental in. 

3. Make sure you use attachments to support what you are saying. My first ever Partner told me before a trial, "if you are believed on your evidence, you will be successful". Evidence is key! When matters are opened, depending on the system, the referring lawyer and client introducing lawyer are referenced and reports can be run showing your stats. However, some programs can only record Senior Associates and above and your great efforts may not be recorded.  Therefore, I encourage you to keep a table with the following:  

a) new clients you have introduced to the firm;

b) new matters you have introduced to the firm - for new and existing clients; and

c) new instructions you have taken from new or existing clients that you have referred on to another workgroup. 

If you continually update this table throughout the financial year, it will help you complete your PDR forms quicker and in more detail. 

Other documents you should include are a summary of your average chargeables (yes, the Partner would have this, but you should have this information handy), key marketing and business development events/documents you have had input in, a list of articles you have had published (or contributed to for junior lawyers), seminars you have prepared or presented and any media regarding you/your matters. 

4. Know your worth. While mid and top tier firms continually benchmark salaries, you should also keep an eye on the market. Hays publish a great legal salary guide that you can request. If you feel as though you have contributed to the firm above someone at your level, use your attachments (see point 3) and the market guide to negotiate your salary. While it is a bold move to negotiate your salary, if you have the evidence and a good argument, (hopefully) you have nothing to loose. 

5. Plan ahead - where do you want to be in a year, 2 years and 5 years. Do not go into your PDR saying "I want to make Partner someday" when you are a first year. Yes this is a great goal, but be prepared to discuss short term goals. If you want to move to Associate or Senior Associate, set out a timeframe to discuss and have your Partner provide input to your career plan. 

If you want to start a Masters or other type of study and training, this is your chance to discuss the prospects of it working with your practice and if the Firm can fund it. 

6. Be prepared to discuss any issues you have. PDRs are a great time to discuss any diversification or specialisation you want within your workgroup. This is the time to ask if you could start working on professional indemnity files as well as public liability.  If you feel as though you are struggling with a certain area, ask what resources the Firm can offer to help you upskill. 

7. Ask your Partner what they believe your strengths and weaknesses are so you can grow and improve! Don't be offended by any weaknesses they highlight. Wouldn't you rather know what you can improve, as opposed to just letting it continue and it potentially impacting your career later? I would rather know. Knowledge is power!!

8. Don't lead with a negative. This is common with females who often say "I know we only just got that claim for X filed in time, but the instructions didn't come in until 10am". Instead use, "on X file, we received urgent instructions at 10am to file a claim that day.  I was able to rearrange other commitments and assist Special Counsel in drafting the claim so that it was approved by the client, filed and served that day by 3pm". See the difference - positivity without arrogance. Instead you have shown you can manage other clients expectations, manage your own commitments and work with the team to meet a tight timeframe. 

9. Use the time for the PDR meeting wisely. It is easy to get off track and start talking about your current matters, and while a ice-breaker is good, the focus needs to be on your career plan and getting through what you need to discuss. Similarly, if you think you will need longer for the meeting because there are extra details you want to discuss, eg putting in place next steps to get you on the Senior Associate path, have your secretary schedule more time. 

Remember to take pen and paper to the PDR so you can make notes on what you need to follow up. A PDR isn't finished at the end of the meeting, you need to be proactive and continue to action your career plan. Set yourself a bring up every 4-6 weeks throughout the year to review your career plan so you are not scrambling come April next year to get everything done. 

Good luck with your PDRs. It is a nerve racking time, but now is your chance to show why you should have a payrise and/or get a promotion. 

Cas

QB Monthly - April 2014

Recently I had the most fortunate experience of being profiled in the CourierMail's Queensland Business Monthly (QB Monthly). I was also lucky enough to land the cover!

Thank you to Robb Kidd for writing such a fantastic piece. The feedback has been amazing. I even cried when I received a letter (yes a letter!) from a high school student wanting to tell me that I inspired her. So glad I can pay it forward and help the next generation. 

Here is the article. 

Networking: What do you want to be known for?

There are always plenty of networking events for young professionals and as your profile starts to grow, you will find more of these event invites will come direct from clients and other industry professionals.

I know first hand how exciting is to receive the invite personally, rather than through your Partner or Director, however I want you to learn from my "mistake". You don't need to accept every invite!  One of the senior members at my last firm, when discussing a double-booking I had, asked me an invaluable question "what do you want to be known for?".  

While I love networking and every event presents a new opportunity, I was getting overwhelmed with trying to keep up with the events. Wine tastings with accountants, trivia nights with young professionals, lunches with women associations. I was spreading myself too thin and I started to loose sight of where I should be concentrating my business development activities. But given I have been told I can be an "extremist", I did not want to end up at the other end of the spectrum - not marketing at all (remember the worst time to market is when you need to). 

Being a list person, I revisited my personal business development plan and decided to do the following:

1. Assess each event so I had a balance between social business development events ie the trivia nights and the Business Chick type lunches, from client potential business development events, ie the wine tastings with accountants and the industry luncheons.  

2. Limit myself to no more than 2-3 events, maximum 4 in peak seasons (end of financial year and Christmas), per month with one being a client potential event as these events should be prioritised over others. 

3. Above all, make work related events a priority. These are the ones were the Partner has been invited and I'm an extended invite, or Firm hosted events. 

4. Continue to follow up key introductions from events to maintain contact. 

After being asked what I wanted to be known for, I now read through invites in more detail, including having a look at key sponsors and promoters of events. I want to attend events that will help build my profile in the area of law I want to be known in. Looking at key sponsors can also help you assess who you could also invite to the event. 

I will forever be grateful for being asked what I wanted to be known for. It has helped provide me with an advantage in taking my business development to the next level. 

My parting tip for young professionals, while we have LinkedIn, still collect business cards and create your personal database. Maintain contact with these new connections by having a coffee every few months or send a case/article that may be relevant to their industry. I speak regularly on using social media to promote your profile and obtain clients, however I don't believe traditional forms of business development should be abandoned. 

I hope this post helps you and as always feel free to comment below or email me with any questions. 

One last thing - BE AUTHENTIC!!

Egypt Officially Asks U.S. for MoU to Protect Cultural Heritage

The Cultural Property Advisory Committee (CPAC) is scheduled to take up Egypt's formal request to have American import protections placed on endangered archaeological material originating from that country. The Federal Register today pre-published a notice announcing that CPAC will begin a review of Egypt's proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 2.

Temple of Isis at Philae in Egypt.

CHL has been calling for greater protection of archaeological sites, religious structures, and monuments since 2011 because of increasing perils to cultural heritage in Egypt. These threats have been chronicled in several CHL blog posts including here and here.

The International Council of Museums itself alerted the world to this swelling problem in 2012 by publishing the Emergency Red List of Egyptian Cultural Objects at Risk.

To submit comments concerning the proposed MoU, go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal and enter Docket No. DOS-2014-0008. Comments must be sent to CPAC by May 14. They must relate to the "four determinations" laid out by the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act (CPIA). These include:

(A) [whether] the cultural patrimony of the State Party is in jeopardy from the pillage of archaeological or ethnological materials of the State Party; 

(B) [whether] the State Party has taken measures consistent with the Convention to protect its cultural patrimony; 

(C) [whether] --(i) the application of the import restrictions . . . with respect to archaeological or ethnological material of the State Party, if applied in concert with similar restrictions implemented, or to be implemented within a reasonable period of time, by those nations (whether or not State Parties [to the 1970 UNESCO Convention]) individually having a significant import trade in such material, would be of substantial benefit in deterring a serious situation of pillage, and (ii) remedies less drastic than the application of the restrictions set forth in such section are not available; and 

(D) [whether] the application of the import restrictions . . . in the particular circumstances is consistent with the general interest of the international community in the interchange of cultural property among nations for scientific, cultural, and educational purposes.

Photo credit: Martyn E. Jones

By Rick St. Hilaire Text copyrighted 2010-2014 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post is prohibited. CONTACT INFORMATION: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com

True Grit: Monica Hanna Defends Heritage in Egypt, Receives SAFE's Prize

(C) SAFE. Used with permission.

Khaemwaset was a royal prince who lived during the 13th century B.C. He became the first Egyptologist and was greatly revered in his time for conserving Egypt's monuments.

Now a 21st century Egyptologist has been honored for preserving the past. She is archaeologist Dr. Monica Hanna, who actively searches the desert sands and the Nile banks to defend Egypt's rich heritage against looters and vandals.

Saving Antiquities for Everyone (SAFE) presented the Beacon Award to Dr. Hanna Thursday night, calling her "an outstanding archaeologist and social media advocate whose work has raised public awareness about the illicit antiquities trade and the fight to protect cultural heritage." SAFE's distinguished prize has been presented since 2006 to recognize individuals who bring attention to the global crime of heritage trafficking.

Dr. Hanna has replaced Khaemwaset's chariot, papyrus roll, and royal title with a car, a Twitter account, and true grit. She uses modern-day tools along with old-fashioned courage to travel to heritage sites under attack and tweet for help. Dr. Hanna now has close to 30,000 followers on Twitter's social networking site. The internet-savvy archaeologist also the founded the online community known as Egypt’s Heritage Task Force. 

Prior to receiving the Beacon Award, Dr. Hanna addressed an auditorium of engaged listeners about "Saving Ancient Egypt, One Tweet at a Time." She passionately described the destruction affecting Egypt's heritage since the Arab Spring, and her photographs of armed looters and dynamited sites belied the fact that her daily work remains fraught with danger as she confront criminals, government officials, and civil unrest. She has even been shot at.

Dr. Hanna's determination has paid off, nevertheless. With modesty and enthusiasm, the Egyptologist explained how she rallied her countrymen to clear trash from an archaeological site, inspired local protests against unplanned urban expansion, and gathered help to clean up the mess left behind by thieves and vandals who stole practically everything from the Malawi museum and burning and destroying whatever they could not haul off.

Those in attendance at last week's ceremony in New York learned about three significant perils to cultural heritage in Egypt as Dr. Hanna recited many incidents of looting, land grabbing, and smuggling that have occurred since 2011.

Dr. Monica Hanna's slide showing a large looter's pit
near the Black Pyramid at Dashur, Egypt.

Explaining that there is "looting with machine guns," the archaeologist described plundering that has taken place at Abusir, Dashur, Memphis, and several other historic locations throughout the country.

Dr. Hanna chronicled artifact thefts near the Black Pyramid, facilitated by diggers who greatly expanded the number of illegal looter's pits during the first 30 days after the revolution.

The area of Dashur--a royal necropolis that is home to the Black Pyramid, the Red Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid, and many other important monuments--witnessed an astounding 300% increase in thieves' holes. Dr. Hanna presented satellite images of the pockmarked landscape, which has swelled across the archaeologically rich desert in recent years.

The Egyptologist lamented about the destruction caused by bulldozers that "rummage like cats in a trash bin," irretrievably shredding archaeological material. Blasting too has wiped out evidence of the past, documented by photographs depicting the devastating aftermath caused by freshly exploded dynamite.

Dr. Hanna pointed out the differences between the "organized mafia" and the local villagers who steal antiquities. Organized criminals use four wheel drive vehicles, bulldozers, and weapons smuggled from Libya. They hire locals to dig and give them lunch boxes. More importantly, they often target specific objects of interest like those from the Amarna period, the New Kingdom, and the Old Kingdom. The looting demonstrates that "they have archaeological knowledge," Dr. Hanna warily observed. Local villagers and families, by contrast, use simple rope and shovels.

Decrying unplanned urban expansion, Dr. Hanna described this growing harm with slides depicting a new parking lot built over an old temple site and a soccer field pitched atop an ancient 26th Dynasty burial. Land grabbers and the "land mafia," meanwhile, have wrested control of heritage locations by "hacking out" traces of archaeology and by building modern cemeteries to claim dominion, she said.

Dr. Hanna spoke about "clear channels for smuggling" that menace the country as Egypt continues to be stripped of artifacts that are illegally sold abroad. Antiquities trafficked from the Sinai Peninsula to Gaza eventually fly from Israel to European markets, the Egyptologist disclosed. Artifacts also find their way from the Gulf of Suez seaport of Ein El Sokhna to Dubai, Doha, and other destinations.

Amid the descriptions of endangered cultural heritage, Dr. Hanna expressed concern for the welfare and education of the children of Egypt. Illegal digging, for example, has caused deaths. At Abusir el-Malaq, a site where thieves have created heaps of human bones and fragmented mummies, Dr. Hanna gave an account of how approximately 20 children were killed while unearthing artifacts.

She highlighted that Egypt's children would not have a vested interest in protecting local culture if they failed to embrace the heritage as their own. One teenage boy, whom Dr. Hanna spotted running away from the ransacked Malawi museum, told her it was okay to attack the artifacts because the museum belonged to the government. She implored that a "mistake we need to address is that belief that heritage belongs to the government and not to the people." Dr. Hanna expressed appreciation to the other young people who arrived to help save what was left of the Malawi museum's collection.

Dr. Hanna concluded her remarks to the SAFE audience by offering several suggestions about how Americans could help. She encouraged support for academics who publish scholarly articles documenting archaeological site looting. She emphasized that the illegal sale of artifacts must be reported to authorities. She also expressed strong support for the adoption of import barriers to block pillaged and smuggled Egyptian artifacts from entering the United States.

There will be more heritage to protect as the resilient Dr. Hanna returns home to Egypt. To track her ongoing preservation efforts and to learn more about cultural heritage under threat, readers can follow the modern-day Khaemwaset's Twitter feed here.

By Rick St. Hilaire Text copyrighted 2010-2014 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post is prohibited. CONTACT INFORMATION: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com

For Richer or Poorer: Commentary on The Economics of Cultural Property Laws

“The Economics of Cultural Property Laws” presents a controversial study that attempts to wed archaeology--a knowledge-gathering discipline focused on exacting evidence collection, thoughtful research, and a deep concern for heritage preservation--to a production-based enterprise evaluated only by the many spectacular objects it can generate.

The article, which offers more sophistry than careful study, appears in The Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law, Volume 1, Issue 1 (January 2014). It has gained notoriety after being published in a Los Angeles Times op-ed piece this week, albeit in an abbreviated fashion and with a muted accentuation on economics. The op-ed is titled "The Archaeology Paradox: More Laws, Less Treasure."

The study's author laments in the LA Times that the world today is "culturally poorer" because major archaeological discoveries are made less often, singularly blaming "rigid cultural property laws" as the apparent reason why there are fewer spectacular excavations.

A careful reading of the underlying Indonesian Journal article suggests an undertone that archaeology is akin to a mining operation whose primary mission is to produce fantastic raw materials for consumption. Indeed, the author openly advocates for what he calls "the [archaeological] source nation's comparative advantage in raw antiquities."

To prove the hypothesis that "[c]ultural property laws ... reduce the source country’s archaeology market and drive up excavation costs," the author employs commercial terms that are ill-suited to the discipline of archaeology. For example, the author writes that "[archaeological] [s]ource nations can maximize their comparative advantage by selling future interests in buried artifacts to archaeologists with the resources to excavate them."

Statements like these cause one to wonder whether the harvesting of consumer-driven heritage is under discussion rather than authentic archaeology. Indeed, the author ultimately--and wrongly--measures the richness of cultural heritage by simply counting the number of sites par excellence that the archaeologist's trowel has excavated, those found on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The other thousands of sites spanning the globe are overlooked, their information about the past evidently discarded as insignificant to the richness of humanity's heritage.

The study should acknowledge that archaeology is not really archaeology when the discipline is transformed into a shovel-ready enterprise that simply waits to employ diggers and equipment for the purpose of generating the choicest inventories. Archaeology's purpose, by contrast, is to "preserve, protect, and interpret the precious record of the human past by employing the highest ethical, professional, and intellectual standards," a goal aptly stated by the Archaeological Institute of America's vision statement.

Do cultural patrimony laws instigate cultural poverty as the study's author suggests? The truth is that cultural poverty begins when non-renewable heritage resources are ripped from the earth without proper scientific documentation and study. We are culturally poorer when knowledge of the past is irretrievably lost because looters and vandals have knowingly or recklessly tampered with the hard evidence preserved beneath the ground. Cultural poverty persists when stolen artifacts are smuggled, fenced, and unlawfully purchased. That is why cultural patrimony laws, which help hold criminals accountable and which aid in separating wrongdoers from their illegal profits, enjoy a highly ranked place in heritage preservation.

Neither the law nor authentic archaeology can divorce themselves from serious cultural heritage protection measures.

Photo credit: Russell Hugo

By Rick St. Hilaire Text copyrighted 2010-2014 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post is prohibited. CONTACT INFORMATION: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com

Tips for graduates and young professionals

Today, I wanted to share with you a book that helped me when I was a graduate and staring out in my first professional job 7 years ago, and one that is helping me now as I move into the next phase of my career.  I have even shot a quick vlog (my first one!) and encourage you to share this with other graduates and young professionals.

When I started at my first law firm, I thought I knew it all.  It wasn't until a female partner and I were talking one day that I realised there were certain behaviours I could improve, as well as my dress and how I acted.

Luckily for me, I was introduced to Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office by Dr Lois Frankel.  Personally, I am not into self help books, or the latest buzz words that are around for career progression.  However, this book was different.  It was real, it was relevant and it wasn't telling me I had to "be a bitch" to get ahead, or start acting more like a man.

Some key tips (also in the vlog), I took away were:

• Dressing for the job I wanted.  I wanted (and still do) to be a Partner.  Dressing too casually in a corporate office wasn't going to get me there.
• Viewing senior male colleagues as a father figure - this is where I kept going into my school girl ways, fumbling about and not being confident in my approach to my work.
• Wearing appropriate make -up.  What is good for a Saturday night, is not good in a professional environment.  After reading the book, I sought assistance from a make-up artist to best learn how to apply make-up that was appropriate for work.
• Constantly apologising.  I would do this all the time when it was not necessary.  I would lead with "sorry" and I did not understand the impact this would have on the way others viewed me - especially my Partners.
• My behaviour around colleagues in the industry.  I am an outgoing and energetic person.  I am happy to chat to other colleagues when at Court and before mediations.  However, after a few odd coffee date requests from older males in the profession, I spoke to one of my Partners, and realised the way I interacted could be viewed as flirtatious, even moreso because I was young and female in a predominantly boys' world.  Coupled with my constant hair playing, my bubbly personality was being mistaken for something I did not intend at all.

Dr Frankel recently released a new edition of Nice Girls Still Don't Get the Corner Office.  I am at the next stage of my career and looking to move into a more senior role.  I have been reading the new edition to remind me of these unconscious mistakes I have been making, which could be sabotaging my career!

I encourage you all to purchase this book and share it with your friends.  It's all about paying it forward, and this book will help you more than any other in the market.  What I like best is how Dr Frankel also recommends books by other authors to read - you don't see that very often.  These books, like Dr Frankel's, are not over the top (again noting my distaste for self-help style books) and are helping me gain that competitive, yet friendly edge, over my colleagues.  My "Corner Office" is a promotion to Senior Associate and I can't wait to get it!

"The Law Cited by Plaintiffs Does Not Offer the Remedy They Seek" - Rubin v. Iran

"The court recognizes the tragic circumstances that gave rise to the instant action, but finds that the law cited by plaintiffs does not offer the remedy they seek." With these words, Judge Robert Gettleman ended the Northern District of Illinois case of Jenny Rubin, et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran, et al. v. The University of Chicago and The Field Museum of Natural History.

The case involves American victims of a Hamas suicide bombing in Jerusalem in 1997. A federal judge in Washington, DC in 2003 awarded the plaintiffs a $71.5 million default judgment against Iran, holding that country to be responsible for the attack. One way the plaintiffs have sought to collect the judgment owed to them is to acquire ancient Iranian artifacts at prominent American Museums, including Chicago's Oriental Institute (OI) and The Field Museum, through attachment. They have been unsuccessful thus far.

Persepolis

OI holds the Persepolis and Chogha Mish Collections, consisting of objects acquired from Iran as part of long-term loans for the purpose of academic study. About 30,000 clay tablets make up the Persepolis Collection, loaned by the National Museum of Iran in 1937. The Chogha Mish Collection is made up of clay seal impressions excavated in the 1960's.

The Herzfeld Collection, meanwhile, consists of 1200 artifacts purchased by The Field Museum in April 1945 for $7300. The Field Museum sold some of the artifacts to OI in 1945, but later took back a portion. The Rubin plaintiffs have contended that Herzfeld objects found in both the Field Museum's and the OI's collections were stolen from Iran after their excavation, which occurred during the early part of the twentieth century. But The Field Museum continues to assert ownership, and Iran has not made any claim to the collection.

Both the museums and Iran have been fighting the plaintiffs' attachment case. They petitioned the Illinois federal district court for summary judgment in August, arguing that there were no issues of material fact and that they were entitled to have the plaintiffs' case dismissed as a matter of law. Judge Gettleman last week agreed.

The court adopted the defendants' position that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) cannot be used to award the artifacts to the plaintiffs. The FSIA is the federal law that protects foreign states from lawsuits, and makes foreign sovereign property located in the United States immune from attachment.

The plaintiffs argued that Section 1610 of the FSIA makes a "commercial activity" exception by declaring that “[a] foreign state shall not be immune from the jurisdiction of courts … in which rights in property taken in violation of international law are in issue and that property … is present in the United States in connection with a commercial activity carried on in the United States by the foreign state … [or an] instrumentality of the foreign state ….”  (emphasis added). The museums argued that their collections were not part of any Iranian commercial activity, and that they were not acting as agents for Iran in any type of commercial activity.

Judge Gettleman concluded, "Because Section 1610 of the FSIA requires the commercial activity to be conducted by the sovereign ... the court finds that the [museum] assets are not subject to attachment under Section 1610 of the FSIA."

Even Congress' amendment to the FSIA, known as the National Defense Authorization Act or 1610(g), does not permit the plaintiffs to seize the asset artifacts, the court ruled. The plaintiffs argued that the amendment permitted execution against all terror states’ assets. The court disagreed and held that "if Section 1610(g) provided a separate basis for attachment that allowed the execution against all terror states’ assets, regardless of whether they are blocked assets, certain subsections of Section 1610 would be unnecessary." "The plain language indicates that Section 1610(g) is not a separate basis of attachment," the court added, explaining that the plaintiffs could not find convincingly argue a brand new exception to the sovereign immunity rule. "The court therefore finds that Section 1610(g) does not provide a new basis for plaintiffs to attach the assets of Iran, and does not subject the collections in question to attachment and execution."

Judge Gettleman additionally ruled that the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) does not permit the plaintiffs to seize the artifacts. TRIA allows a plaintiff to attach the "blocked assets" of a "terrorist party" found liable for an act of terrorism. "Blocked assets" are those “seized or frozen by the United States under ... the Trading with the Enemy Act or under ... the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.” The court's order succinctly explained, "Because the [Persepolis and  Chogha Mish Collections] assets in question are not 'blocked' under TRIA, they are not subject to attachment by the plaintiffs under that statute." 

Regarding the Herzfeld objects, Judge Gettleman relied on the First Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the companion Rubin v. Iran case involving attachment of ancient Iranian artifacts from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Harvard museums. The First Circuit decision relied on information supplied by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an agency that interprets administrative regulations applicable to TRIA. Gettleman wrote:

The court finds the reasoning of the First Circuit and the interpretation by OFAC compelling. The language cited by OFAC demonstrates ... that only assets contested by Iran, and not by third parties such as judgment creditors, would remain blocked and therefore subject to attachment. The court therefore holds that Iran itself must contest the ownership of the property in order to render an asset contested, and therefore blocked, under the TRIA. Because Iran has not claimed ownership of the antiquities in the Herzfeld Collection or the OI Collection, those assets are not contested or blocked, and therefore are not subject to attachment under TRIA.

The museums' victory in federal district court certainly will not be the last word. Recall that the case of Jenny Rubin, et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran was restarted in Illinois in July 2012 after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the Rubin plaintiffs' request to have the nation's highest court review a Seventh Circuit decision that ruled against the plaintiffs. It is expected that the attachment case will continue for several more years.

Photo credit: Mira Pavlakovic

By Rick St. Hilaire Text copyrighted 2010-2014 by Ricardo A. St. Hilaire, Attorney & Counselor at Law, PLLC. Blog url: culturalheritagelawyer.blogspot.com. Any unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of this post is prohibited. CONTACT INFORMATION: www.culturalheritagelawyer.com

Mel V's super moist protein biccies

I love my protein, but I also love my sweets!! Seeing I work out at least 5 times a week, I need my snacks, but as with most career girls, I don't have time to make things and often resort to buying snacks that have that much preservatives I am sure to be mummified instantly upon death.

But then Mel V (you know the girl who exposed the truth behind the before/after body transformation pictures), came along with these biscuits. We were having a bander on Instagram over her use of the word "moist", so I rose to the challenge and made them. DELICIOUS and yes moist!

What surprised me most was the secret ingredient - see if you can pick it below. 

Ingredients

- 30g of melted butter (I used nutlex)

- 100gr of natural peanut butter

- 400gr of chickpeas washed, rinsed and spun through the blender

- 40gr of ground oats

- 2 tbsp of honey (ok I used 3 - sorry Mel!)

- scoop of whey protein powder (Mel used Delicious protein peanut butter chocolate shake, I only have vanilla so I used that)

- 25gr of chocolate chips

Mix everything, bar the chocolate chips, REALLY well.  Once mixed through, add in the chocolate chips.  Roll into chunky biscuits. Probably don't flatten them as much as I did. 

Bake for 15-18mins at 160 degrees.  They are really sticky so use baking paper.  Makes 9. 

Cannot thank Mel enough for this recipe. I LOVE THEM! 

Cas