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June 9, 2006

Chinese lawyer learning American law here

By GREGORY R. NORFLEET

gregory.norfleet@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — In America, if there is no law written to prohibit a particular activity, then neither the government nor plaintiffs have any grounds to sue or convict.

Even if a law is enacted, if it comes after-the-fact, it’s too late for anything that already has happened.

Not so in China, where the Supreme Court can, at the request of a lower court, declare an activity illegal even if nothing’s been enacted.

Yanxiang Guo, a Chinese lawyer studying American law here, finds that interesting.

However, he observes, American judges still can create new rules from how they interpret existing laws.

Arriving in Mt. Vernon last week as a Washington University intern, Guo will spend eight weeks helping judges in the Second Judicial Circuit.

Guo, who goes by “G,” is the first student under a new program that helps minorities or those from low-income families find internships.

The Judicial Intern Opportunity Program once only operated in Cook and Lake counties, said Circuit Judge James Wexstten, who helped expand the program in Illinois as the 2005-06 president of the Illinois Judges Association. Now, through partnerships with various law firms and legal organizations, there are 15 new clerkships in the state’s 22 circuits.

Guo has both an undergraduate and masters degree in Chinese law, plus two years of practice as general counsel at a Chinese company. He said he quit his job and came to America in 2004, because Chinese businesses wishing to expand to the United States need to understand the legal system.

“They want to know how to pay less taxes,” he said.

China’s economy is also quickly growing and government and corporations are facing new legal problems — especially in securities and exchange markets — something the United States has already overcome, Guo said.

“I want to learn from (America’s) experiences,” he said.

Guo is also interested in civil rights, especially the First (free speech, religion, press, petition), Fourth (no unreasonable search and seizure), Eighth (no cruel and unusual punishment) and Fourteenth (citizenship and public office) amendments.

Wexstten and other judges are giving Guo work similar to that of a law clerk, like writing legal briefs, as well as having him sit in on lawyer conferences and court hearings.

Interns draw a $1,500 stipend for the experience but could spend numerous hours doing the work — “as long as it takes to get the job done,” said Wexstten.

The judge held up one assignment for a civil case involving land and family matters with the note “Very complicated!”

Wexstten said Guo is “eager and excited” about the internship. Guo said he hopes to stay in America and practice law for a few years here under a work visa before returning to China.

“I sense he’ll be an outstanding lawyer,” said the judge.



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