International expert in resolution arri After serving on the European Union’s Court of Justice as a référendaire for 18 months, Professor Samuel Dahan flew from Luxembourg to Kingston in January, beginning his faculty appointment at Queen’s Law. This latest Queen’s National Scholar brings a wealth of experience to his new position in academia. He has been an advisor to the European Commission’s Directorate General for Financial Affairs, has consulted for the European Commission, the OECD, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and private corporations, and has clerked for the Conseil d’Etat (French Administrative Supreme Court). In addition, he has taught law and negotiation at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cornell Law School, the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), ESSEC Business School and Ecole Normale Professor Samuel Dahan, who joined the Queen’s Law faculty and the Centre for Supérieure. He holds a PhD in Law from the Law in the Contemporary Workplace in January, is working on the development of University of Cambridge, graduate degrees the Conflict Analytics Lab, a Legal Tech think tank on machine learning and data from the University of Paris 1 Sorbonne and analytics applied to conflict resolution. the University of Brussels, and an LLB from the University of Nice. His research interests include law and technology (AI, machine learning applied to law), dispute resolution the stakes can be very high. For instance, as a référendaire (negotiation, mediation and arbitration), labour law and (legal secretary) for the French Chamber president of the employment law, and European Union law (competition Court of Justice of European Union, I was the rapporteur and finance). in several high-profile competition and labour law cases. Six months into his new role, Professor Dahan talked to Queen’s Law Reports about his most recent professional experience, his new role with the Queen’s Centre for Law in the Contemporary Workplace (CLCW) and his current research.
This included the Laboratoires Servier case, the largest case to date concerning patent settlement agreements in the pharmaceutical sector, which concerned both an abuse of dominant position and reverse payments, and resulted in a nearly 500 million euro fine).
What did you do as a Référendaire at the Court of Justice of the European Union, and what did you find particularly interesting about this work?
I must add that being a référendaire is even more exciting given the fact that the political hurdles the EU has undergone over the last few years (including, but not limited to, Brexit). The Court has played a significant role as a lawmaker in important cases, notably in the field of state aid, cartels, internal markets and social policy. This makes the référendaire job very enriching, but the stakes and sensitivity of the cases sometimes add several layers of complexity. Happily, I believe the Court is well equipped to tackle these issues.
Working as a cabinet member for a President Chamber at the Court of Justice of the European Union was a fascinating experience for many reasons. Drafting judgments for the highest judicial body in the European Union is both exciting and intimidating. As you may imagine, the kinds of legal questions are very diverse and 8 QUEEN’S LAW REPORTS ONLINE
