TradeLab aims to make trade and investment agreements more accessible and beneficial to developing countries and smaller stakeholders. It connects students and legal professionals to provide pro bono legal assistance on negotiations, compliance, and dispute settlement. Through online resources and legal clinics, TradeLab builds capacity on international economic law.

1. Making WTO, Preferential Trade And Bilateral Investment Treaties Work for Everyone

2. Mission Statement
TradeLab aims to empower countries and smaller stakeholders to reap the full
development benefits of global trade and investment rules. Through pro bono legal
clinics and practica, TradeLab connects students and experienced legal professionals to
public officials especially in developing countries, small and medium-sized enterprises
and civil society to build lasting legal capacity. Through ‘learning by doing’ we want to
train and promote the next generation of trade and investment lawyers. By providing
information and support on negotiations, compliance and litigation, we strive to make
WTO, preferential trade and bilateral investment treaties work for everyone.
Beneficiaries
Students
Legal
Professionals

3. Objective
To broaden the pool of individuals and stakeholders that have access to the benefits of
trade and investment treaties, and to build lasting legal capacity and knowledge of
international economic law.

4. Overview
 What is TradeLab?
 Online Platform
 Legal Clinics
 How Does it Work?
 Who Do We Help?
 Project Examples

5. What is TradeLab?
 TradeLab is an independent, Geneva-based, non-governmental organization bringing
together a global network of academic institutions and experienced legal professionals
 We work with various beneficiaries, including governments & public officials, trade
associations & businesses (particularly SMEs), and civil society groups (NGOs)
 Three organizational components– Online Platform, Legal Clinics and Research
 Utilizing innovations in internet technologies and legal education we provide pro bono
legal work in four key areas– Information, Negotiation, Compliance and Litigation
Funding for TradeLab Coordinator Technology Partner

6. TradeLab Platform
 Allows beneficiaries to submit
their trade and investment law
issues in a user-friendly manner
 Matches these issues to
relevant law clinics and legal
professionals (mentors), through
an intake questionnaire
 Maintains a public knowledge
base of data, research, common
trade and investment questions,
and past project summaries
 www.tradelab.org

7. TradeLab Platform

8. TradeLab Legal Clinics
The Graduate Institute
Geneva
Georgetown University
Washington D.C.
University of Ottawa
Canada
IELPO
Barcelona
Arusha, Tanzania Jindal Global Law School
Sonipat, India
Qatar Univeristy
Doha
“Students Solve ‘Real Problems’ for ‘Real Clients’” (Prof. Steger, Ottawa)

9. Legal Clinic Components
 Beneficiaries explain their legal need to the TradeLab Plaform, an Academic Supervisor of one of
the legal clinics, or the TradeLab Coordinator
 TradeLab Coordinator assigns the project to a legal clinic, and in coordination with the Academic
Supervisor, matches it to an appropriate mentor
 Academic Supervisor is a faculty member of one of our seven clinic institutions, and is
supported by a Teaching Assistant for administrative assistance
 Mentors are legal professionals in law firms, national or international organizations or academia
with expertise in the project topic who agreed to give some of their time for free; they provide a
guest lecture to the clinic on the basics of the legal question at issue and offer technical input to
law students throughout the course of the project
 Output can take various forms, and if public, is uploaded to the TradeLab Platform as a law guide:
– Legal Memorandum
– Draft / Model Legislation
– Amicus Brief
– Third Party Submission TradeLab output is prepared on a pro bono basis by students as a
pedagogical exercise. It is not professional legal advice and in no way
establishes a client-attorney relationship.

10. From Question to Output
Beneficiary
TradeLab
Platform
Legal Clinic
Academic
Supervisors
Students
Output
Academic
Supervisors
Professional
Mentors
TradeLab
Coordinator

11. How the Legal Clinics Work
Students receive
description of projects
before clinic start date
Project Teams selected
& students discuss
projects in-class
Mentor Presentation
(1 session for each
project)
First Meeting with
Beneficiary
(after meeting with
Academic Supervisor)
Session with Law
Librarian & Skills
Sessions (legal writing,
oral presentation)
First Draft for comments
by Academic Supervisor
In-Class Mid-term
Presentations
Second Draft for
comments by Academic
Supervisor &
Beneficiary
Second Meeting with
Beneficiary
Third Draft
In-Class Final
Presentations with
invited guests

12. Academic Supervisors
The Graduate Institute
Joost Pauwelyn
Anne Saab
Fuad Zarbiyev
Georgetown University Law Center
Jennifer Hillman
Katrin Kuhlmann
Joost Pauwelyn
University of Ottawa
Debra Steger
IELPO Barcelona
Altagracia Cuevas
Xavier Fernandez
Sergio Puig
TRAPCA, Tanzania
Tsotetsi Makong
Thokozani Ngwira
Jindal Global Law School, India
Pallavi Kishore
James Nedumpara
Qatar Univeristy
Talal Abdulla Al-Emadi
Francis Botchway
Jon Truby

13. Mentors
 Mentors are legal professionals in law firms, national or international organizations or academia
with expertise in the project topic who agreed to give some of their time for free; they provide a
guest lecture to the clinic (in person or online) on the basics of the legal question at issue and
offer technical input to law students throughout the course of the project

14. Past Mentors
Pablo Bentes, Steptoe & Johnson (domestic
content requirements)
Richard Chovanec, US Bureau of Customs &
Border Protection (US rules of origin)
Nannette Christ, US International Trade
Commission (assessing free trade agreements)
Larry Christensen, Miller & Chevalier (export
controls)
Roberto Echandi, World Bank (prevention of
investment disputes)
Anna Marhold, Assistant Professor, Tilburg
Law School (trade & renewable energy)
Makane Mbengue, Associate Professor,
University of Geneva, Law Faculty (FDI in
Africa)
Niall Meagher, Executive Director, Advisory
Centre on WTO Law (US trade remedy laws)
Jorge Miranda, King & Spalding (circumvention
of anti-dumping duties)
Steve Orava, King & Spalding (trade & climate
change)
Amelia Porges, Law Offices of Amelia Porges
PLLC (dispute settlement in FTAs)
Andy Shoyer, Sidley & Austin (trade in services)
Please note that mentors listed here: only spoke in their personal capacity; only gave a presentation to the students and answered
some questions; and they never worked directly with the beneficiary, nor, in any way, established a client-attorney relationship.

15. Who Do We Help?
 TradeLab legal clinics have taken on 65 unique projects from around the world
IOs
24%
NGOs
34%
SMEs
8%
Governments &
Public Officials
34%
TradeLab Beneficiaries
By Project
NGOs 22
Govt. & Public
Officials
22
International
Organizations
16
SMEs 5

16. Past Beneficiaries
Governments & Public Officials
 Mexico (Should Mexico Join ICSID?)
 Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Office (Designing a WTO-
Consistent Customs Union)
 Permanent Mission of Canada in Geneva (Retaliation under the WTO system: When does
Nullification or Impairment Begin?)
 European Parliament, Committee on International Trade (A Comparative Analysis of Generalised
Systems of Preferences)
 European Commission, Cabinet of the Trade Commissioner (‘Gold Standards’ for the International
Investment Policy of the European Union after the Entry into Force of the Lisbon Treaty)
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
 European SME invested & expropriated in the Middle East
 East African Business Association (Services Liberalization in East African Community)

17. Past Beneficiaries
International Organizations
 African Union (Drafting of Dispute Settlement Mechanism for CFTA)
 CARICOM Secretariat (CARICOM Project)
 UN Conference on Trade and Development (Tax Base Erosion and Profit Sharing)
 International Monetary Fund (Consistency of Capital Flow Regulation Under the US Model BIT 2012, vis à
vis the IMF and the WTO)
Non-Governmental Organizations
 International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (China Rare Earths Export Quotas)
 Black Market Watch (Illicit Trade and International Economic Law)
 The People’s Pledge (The Future of the UK in Europe: Exit Scenarios and Their Implications on Trade
Relations)
 International Institute for Sustainable Development, Canadian Environmental Law Association, and
Ecojustice Canada (Amicus Brief in WTO dispute on Canada Feed-In Tariffs for Renewable Energy)
 Oxfam International (Questions of Compatibility with WTO Law of Trade Measures Taken under a New
Climate Change Protocol)

18. “The Trade Law Practicum was a valuable and rewarding exercise. It enabled
us to undertake detailed research on issues which are important to our
beneficiaries and the legal analysis of the students was rigorous and high-
quality.”
- Ben Czapnik, International Trade Centre, Geneva
“ The cooperation with the CLINIC-CTEI was fruitful and valuable. The joint-
research greatly assisted us to identify legal issues and develop effective
responses within a short period of time. The quality of work and professional
attitude of students are truly impressive.”
-Lynne L.H. Cheng, Chief/ Associate Research Fellow,
Taiwan Research Institute
Beneficiary Testimonials

19. “The Trade Law Clinic provided a strong, enthusiastic team, who provided
strong analysis in a very collaborative fashion with us. The result was a strong
piece of work, and the generation of new ideas that we would not have raised
ourselves, producing real added value to our work.”
- Dalindyebo Shabalala, Director, Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development Project,
Center for International Environmental Law
“Oxfam appreciates the opportunity for well thought, structured and brilliant legal
opinions on critical issues that continue to remain the focus of our campaign
work...we look forward to further collaboration with the trade law clinic next
year.”
- Joy Kategekwa, Policy Adviser, Trade and Investment,
OXFAM International
Beneficiary Testimonials

20. “The Trade Law Clinic has been an excellent opportunity to combine theoretical
knowledge with practical experience and provided me with valuable experience
in current international trade law issues.”
- Iris Koberg, MIS student from Austria
“The Institute's advanced trade law clinic gave me an exciting hands-on
opportunity to put my legal education to work for an international non-
governmental organization on a question of trade law. The Clinic was both
challenging and enormously rewarding. Carefully framed issues ensured the
relevance of the Clinic's work and the opportunity to present to a room of trade
law officials from various WTO Members, NGO representatives, lawyers and
students demonstrated its usefulness.”
-Christopher John Enne Hovius, MIS student from Canada
Student Testimonials

21. “The Trade Law Clinic offered me the opportunity to apply my theoretical
knowledge about international trade law to a concrete project related to the on-
going review of the WTO Dispute Settlement System. While Prof. Pauwelyn’s
seminar on WTO jurisprudence provided very useful background knowledge
and academic guidance, I enjoyed working directly with clients and gaining
practical skills that will be invaluable for my professional future.”
- Christiane Ahlborn, MIS student from Germany
“A unique and great experience that goes beyond any other course. It gives
students the opportunity to actually apply and practice law, to work closely with
fellow students and professionals and to make a valuable contribution.”
-Babette Ancery, MIA student from The Netherlands
Student Testimonials

22. Projects
Information
Negotiation
Compliance
Litigation
 Build legal capacity through researching, simplifying and making
international economic law more accessible
1
2
3
4
 Assist in preparing litigation briefs (including amicus briefs),
third party submissions, and legal memoranda at the WTO, in
investor-state arbitration and other fora
 Provide compliance assessment of proposed or existing
legislation, drafting of model legislation or advocacy positions in
the context of existing agreements on trade and investment
 Offer background research and support in the negotiations of
trade and investment agreements

23. Example: Information
A Plurilateral Treaty on Investment: Finding Common Ground after the Trans-
Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement
Beneficiary: World Economic Forum
This project examines and evaluates the outlook of a plurilateral investment treaty with
the TPP investment chapter as a template. The aim is to understand where the
“plurilaterization” process is likely to lead us.
 What are the areas of convergence? Where do conflicts remain?
 Who is moving with the process and who is not?
 What is the potential extension of existing plurilateral agreements?
 What are the barriers to the conclusion of new ones?
Other project examples:
 An Assessment of UK “Brexit” and Consequences under Trade & Investment Treaties
 Analysis of Illicit Trade under International Economic Law for NGO

24. Example: Negotiation
Should Mexico Join ICSID?
This project is a comparative analysis between the ICSID system and the arbitration
rules mostly referred to in Mexico’s International Investment Agreements (IIAs) to resolve
investor-state disputes.
• Mexico’s status quo in international investment
• Analysis of specific procedural and substantive issues: ICSID, ICSID/AFR and
UNCITRAL
• Implications of signing and/or ratifying the ICSID Convention
Other project examples:
 African Union, Continental Free Trade Area: Dispute Settlement Mechanism?
 East African Business Association: Services Commitments

25. Example: Compliance
Model Law for the Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540: Export
Controls and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the CARICOM Member
States
Beneficiary: CARICOM Secretariat
This project drafted a Model Law for Caribbean countries to implement United Nations Security
Council resolution 1540 with regard to the prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction.
 From a treaty-based approach to a domestic law-based model act
 Design of relevant authorities and coordinating authorities
 Filling in the gaps with respect to substantive obligations under the UNSC Resolution 1540
 Make language more trade friendly
 Controlled Items and personnel requirements
Other project examples:
 Trade Provisions for a Proposed Carbon Tax Act (Confidential)
 Analysis of WTO compliance of developing country oil & energy laws (Confidential)

26. Example: Litigation
Options for Antigua in Suspending Copyright-Related TRIPS Obligations against the US in the
US-Gambling Case
This project analyzed ways in which Antigua could cross-retaliate against the United States, using the
suspension of its obligations on copyright.
 Legal background
 Suspension of new and existing copyright grants
 Suspension of enforcement
 Practical models
 Potential conflicts between the Berne Convention and the WTO DSB decision and counter
arguments
Other project examples:
 Amicus Curiae brief for environmental NGO coalition in WTO Canada feed-in tariff dispute
 Viability analysis of potential WTO case for developing country against US trade remedy actions
 Drafting of investor-state complaint for SME expropriated in the Middle East

27. Research
 Identifying current access barriers to trade and investment agreements
 Assessing past attempts to raise awareness of trade and investment rules and
addressing legal capacity constraints
 Identifying knowledge networks
 Providing information on core concepts and specific trade and investment issues, through
videos and law guides on our platform, drawing from past and current beneficiary needs
 Alerting beneficiaries on trade or investment measures that may affect them

28. The TradeLab Network
Legal Clinics
Mentors
Research
Beneficiaries
Academic
Supervisors
Students
Law Firms
Legal
Practitioners
Governments
SMEs
NGOs
TradeLab
Platform

29. Contact Us
Joost Pauwelyn, TradeLab Co-Founder
Graduate Institute, Geneva & Georgetown Law Center
joost.pauwelyn@graduateinstitute.ch
Mengyi Wang, TradeLab Coordinator & Clinical Instructor
wang@tradelab.org
www.tradelab.org
info@tradelab.org