CLA Asia 2005 - Traveling Fellowship Award

In honor of the host country of the Computer Law Association (CLA) First International Asian Conference 2005, CLA, with the assistance and support of four sponsoring law firms (all of them members of CLA), will be awarding a lawyer from India the opportunity to intern with four law firms (the sponsors of the Award) in Europe.

CLA's objective is expose an Indian lawyer to the different legal systems in the field of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Law, which has a steadily increasing cross border dimension, and to allow the recipient of the fellowship to experience at first hand how ICT law is practiced in these jurisdictions.

CLA hopes that this will enable the recipient to return to India and apply his or her experience to his or her home jurisdiction, and use the knowledge gained to educate other lawyers practicing in India on the current key issues emerging as a consequence of the explosive growth of the ICT business.

By creating this opportunity for an Indian lawyer to learn about ICT Law in Europe, through practical insights in law firms, CLA hopes to expand its network of ICT lawyers across the globe who are committed to the growth and development of ICT Law in their respective legal systems.

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Each participant in the Award contest must be nominated by his/her current employer or firm, as a part of the Registration process for the CLA First International Asia Conference 2005, in Bangalore. The participant in the Award contest need not be registered as a delegate at the Conference, but the supporting sponsor must be a registered delegate.

The Award winner will spend between six and eight weeks with four different law firms in Europe. As a part of the nomination, the current employer/firm agrees to provide a sabbatical in the second half of 2005 to its nominee, to permit the nominee, if Awarded the Fellowship, to take advantage of the Traveling Fellowship Award. The exact dates of the visit with the sponsoring law firms will be determined by the four sponsors of the Award and the Award recipient.

The emphasis during the visit will be on practical aspects of ICT Law. CLA seeks to contribute to continuing professional development by giving an Indian lawyer an in-depth understanding of the European legal systems. In addition to providing professional stimulus and cross-cultural insights, the Award recipient will have opportunities to meet European lawyers and network with members of their practice groups. CLA believes that the social aspect of the exchange program will contribute significantly to the creation and strengthening of networks, which will be sustained long after the Award recipient has returned home.

From the nominations received, CLA will select one grantee of the Fellowship. The Award will be based on an overall evaluation of the nominations, at the complete discretion of the CLA Traveling Fellowship Jury.

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To be eligible, the nominee must:

Be an Indian citizen;
Be qualified to practice law in India;
Be nominated by a registrant (attendees/delegates who have already paid the conference fees in full or their nominees only) at CLA's First International Asian Conference 2005, in Bangalore, the registrant firm being the employer of the nominee to the Award;
Have procured a tentative leave of absence from current employer, such to being the grantee of the Fellowship;
Have a minimum of two years professional experience as a lawyer;
Currently be involved in ICT law, IT, ITES, BPO or related industry practice;
Be fluent both in written and spoken English;
Be able to demonstrate through the completed application (attached) some objective evidence of committed involvement in the field of ICT law;
Be able to travel to Europe for a period of six to eight weeks in the second half of 2005 (exact date to be determined by the four sponsoring law firms after consultation with the recipient);
Have a passport with more than 6 months validity remaining after the proposed program tenure;
Be eligible for a visa for the travel and stay in the country(ies) where the program will be implemented (any selection is subject to obtaining the necessary visa); and
Be able (subject to an absence due to force majeure) to attend the gala dinner on February 1, 2005, at the Leela Palace Hotel, in Bangalore, if selected as one of the three nominated candidates for Fellowship

Sponsors/Exhibitors/Organizers or their nominees are not eligible to participate in the Traveling Fellowship Award

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Each paid Indian registrant for the CLA First International Asian Conference 2005, in Bangalore, may make application for the Traveling Fellowship Award on behalf of one of his or her employees. Such application should include the following:

A note of not more than 200 words of what the nominated individual wishes to get out of the program and involvement in the CLA together with ideas for activities they would like to become involved in to promote CLA in India;
A confirmation letter from the nominated individual's current employer/firm in support of the exchange program, including permission for the leave of absence in the second half of 2005 (exact date to be determined by the four sponsoring law firms).

The full and complete application for the Traveling Fellowship Award must be submitted no later than Saturday, January 22, 2005. The completed application must include the application form and attachments. The application is filed by using the online application form on this website, and by sending the relevant attachments (scanned) to: www.cla-india-travelingfellowshipaward.org

No other form of application will be accepted. Partial or incomplete applications will not be accepted

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CLA, through the participating host firms (sponsors of the Award), will meet the cost of the exchange program for the elected participant in Europe. This includes:

Return air fare (economy class) from India to the host country(ies);
Travel expenses (air fare economy class, train fare first class) within Europe;
Accommodation and food expenses during the stay in the host country(ies) during the program;
Any social activity organized by the host firms, at their discretion;
Management of the entire exchange program

The value for the above elements is approximately Euro 6,000. The Fellowship Award will take the form either of a one-off payment or of an advance on the travel expenses and payment of allowances for accommodation and food by each hosting law firm. In either case, the payment(s) may be made at a location and in the form chosen by the hosts

Participants should make a note of the following:

The value of the exchange package stated above is an approximate amount. The amount can be regarded as an allowance for some or all of the costs of living in and traveling to and within Europe during the period; it may or may not cover all costs depending on the habits and requirements of the Fellowship recipient;
Any additional contributions, in cash or kind, made by the placement host firms will be at their discretion and may not be demanded as of right by the winner of the Award;
The winner of the Award is not paid any salary during the program, neither by CLA nor by the host firms;
The winner of the Award is expected to provide by himself/herself a sufficient coverage for any kind of damages incurring during his trip to Europe, including coverage for loss of property, and providing full accident and health insurance coverage.

First Part of the Exchange Program
Three selected candidates will be invited to the CLA Gala Dinner to be held on February 1, 2005, at the Leela Palace Hotel, in Bangalore as a part of the CLA conference being held there. The three candidates will be notified of their nomination for the Award on January 24, 2005, by email. During the CLA Gala Dinner, one of the selected candidates will be presented as the Award winner by the Jury both to their respective hosting law firms as well as to the audience present at the event.

Based on the availability of both the hosting firms as well as the Award winner, the preliminary schedule for the exchange program may be worked out at that occasion.

The Jury will consist of five members including Ursula Widmer (Chair of CLA's Exchange Program, CLA board member, Award sponsor), Wolfgang Büchner (CLA board member, Award sponsor), Daniel Kahn (CLA board member, Award sponsor), Jan Geert Meents (Award sponsor) and Subramaniam Vutha. It will be at the discretion of the Jury to retain additional local support from Indian nationals for the overall evaluation of the selection of the three candidates for the Award.

Second Part of the Exchange Program
The Award winner travels to the hosts and is offered a one to two weeks stay at each of the host firms. Host firms are encouraged to involve the Award winner as much as possible and to invite him or her, to the extent feasible, to contribute to the case work of their firm.

As far as possible, placements are arranged to suit the Award winner's interests and/or specialization although this cannot be guaranteed.

During the placement, the Award winner will spend time in the host firm, seeing the work of other attorneys. During this time he or she will may have the opportunity to observe cases in court, to discuss them with the attorney concerned and to read paperwork. He or she may also participate in conferences with clients (with the consent of the clients), and may be able to assist with appropriate drafting, pleadings and other paperwork.

Third Part of the Exchange Program
The Award winner will be asked to submit a short report about his or her experiences during the exchange program to CLA, for purposes of record as well as publication in a CLA journal and on CLA's website. This written report will be required to be submitted within two weeks from the completion of the exchange program by email to the Chair of the CLA Exchange Program (Ursula Widmer).

Certification
On successful completion of the exchange program, the participant will receive a Certification of Participation in the CLA Exchange Program. The certification from CLA certifies satisfactory completion of the exchange program. In order to complete this program successfully, the participant must satisfactorily attend host offices and must present the written report to CLA in due time.

DISCLAIMER/FORCE MAJEURE
In case of an unlikely partial or full withdrawal/termination of the traveling fellowship program due to unavoidable circumstances beyond the control of the fellowship sponsors or the organizers- it is hereby expressly stated that the Conference Organizers, producers, local India organizers - Trade Fairs & Conferences International, Sponsors, Exhibitors or general participants or anyone directly and indirectly associated with CLA Asia 2005 will not be held accountable for any claims whether financial, legal or consequential by any applicant. It is expressly agreed by the applicant that he/she does hereby understand and agree to this disclaimer before applying for the traveling fellowship program.

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