The Hague, Netherlands.  November 10, 2016.

I’m in the small city in Holland that is both the Dutch political capital and the center of global  jurisprudence.  Home to the International Court of Justice, it is also where some three dozen international agreements—the Hague Conventions—have been formulated to harmonize cross-border legal doctrines in private law.  As it happens, I am on a journey to visit the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.  Several colleagues have joined me on the adventure, a day trip from a lecture series in Paris hosted by my alma mater, the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

With the Honorable Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary-General.
With Hon. Christophe Bernasconi, Secretary-General.

It’s here that the Hague Law Blog (HagueLawBlog.com) must be launched.  This new platform marks the beginning of yet another adventure—one that I hope brings efficiency and accuracy to the practicing bar, along with a bit of humor.  Many of my prior columns are migrating over from my firm website, and the new ones will cover every manner of Hague issue—including newly effective Conventions on Securities and Maintenance & Child Support—as well as some issues that lie outside the Hague Conference community.  I always welcome commentary from colleagues, and I invite questions any time.  Truly, I don’t have all the answers to questions I field from clients, and I hope to learn from this experience as much as I hope to contribute.

My mission is to enlighten my fellow lawyers and make us all better at the practice of law.  Two distinguished colleagues provide the inspiration for this launch (and I heartily recommend their work): Ted Folkman, author of Letters Blogatory , and  Dan Harris, author of China Law Blog.  I have read these two fellows’ work religiously for years; if I can be half as entertaining and a quarter as informative as they are, I’ll consider this mission successful.

Thanks for being here.  I look forward to our conversation.

Aaron