Comparative Law in action
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The unprecedented speed of disruptive technologies is leaving a host of regulatory challenges in its wake. Across the globe, companies and nations are scrambling to catch up, creating regulatory frameworks that facilitate innovation—while still protecting citizens and upholding the rule of law. It’s a daunting challenge and one that requires innovative legal minds who are capable of shaping our shared future.
Comparative Law in Action is the first competition of its kind, created by IE Law School to foster positive change through education by bringing together students from top law schools.
The competition challenges them to work on an interactive multimedia case in a largely virtual environment, where they must reflect the methods of tomorrow's legal teams and apply a comparative legal mindset to reach innovative and all-encompassing solutions
Participants will study and analyze how law and policy adapt to new dynamics created by technology, while also leveraging its power to present solutions to legal challenges.
Comparative law in action
Through a practical and immersive real-world multimedia experience, students will learn how a comparative law approach can create innovative solutions to today’s pressing global issues.
EDITIONS
2023: EMPATHY INC
In the third edition of the Comparative Law in Action competition the student teams are faced with a scenario where they have to consider the corporate social responsibility of a multinational technology company. They are presented with ‘Aurora’, an artificial intelligence software that allows its users to employ a very sophisticated surveillance technique to study the emotions of their objects. The developer of Aurora, a multinational company called ‘Empathy Inc’, becomes the subject of controversy when it is revealed that the software has been used to oppress members of the political opposition in the state of Ballica.
The students will need to analyze issues relating to the application of international human rights standards to global business and their supply chains, relations between states and multinational companies, as well as litigation techniques to hold corporations responsible for violations of individual rights. They have a double role to advise both the company as well as a human rights NGO. This technique encourages them to come up with as complete arguments as possible and prepares them for the multitude of roles that the legal profession offers.
2022: LOVENOW
The story revolves around a fictional, international social media company, “LoveNow,” that acts as a matchmaker for its users through a digital app.
Students will be asked to consult for the social media company, which faces a series of legal challenges, both informal and more formal, from users of the app and third parties. In fact, students will act as external legal consultants to the company, analyzing a rich variety of information alongside the application’s terms and conditions, and privacy and security policies.
They will have to consider users’ rights under GDPR legislation and other international laws regarding cybercrime, as well as topics such as privacy, impersonation, identity theft, publicity rights, cyberbullying, defamation, and the right to be forgotten. Students will also need to consider the snowball effect of an online publicity scandal, the real emotional harm that social media can cause individuals, and comparative/cross-jurisdictional elements.
2021: LALALAND
Lalaland: A multimedia case study on electoral law
Lalaland is immersed in chaos and despair. Is change the only solution?
The first Comparative Law in Action Competition 2021 deals with social unrest in the fictional country Lalaland. Throughout this case, you will have to confront questions and issues related to the electoral system. Along the way, other challenges will arise, including the use of technology in ensuring accurate electoral results, as well as the regulation of disinformation.
Lalanders require exceptional leaders to guide them out of this turmoil. Do you have what it takes?
LEARNING BY DOING
Dean Soledad Atienza explains how the Comparative Law in Action challenge takes education to whole new level, as students are exposed to a challenging and innovative methodology and are required to put into practice rigorous legal analysis, critical thinking and other key leadership skills such as the ability to adapt to change, work in teams, creativity and communication, among others.
THE JOURNEY
UNIVERSITIES THAT PARTICIPATE
DISCOVER HOW WE TEACH LAW THROUGH THE COMPARATIVE LAW METHODOLOGY
The current global context calls future lawyers and professionals that are to be effective leaders on the world stage. Learn how the comparative law methodology allows students to develop the varied skill set necessary in today’s legal landscape.