Tessabel is a Netflix-type, multimedia drama to teach Anglo-American law and
Common Law principles to lawyers who did not qualify in a Common Law
jurisdiction.
Tessabel is accredited for the continuing legal education of their lawyers by –
- the Brussels Bar
- the Dutch-speaking Belgian Bar (Orde van Vlaamse Balies)
- the French-speaking Belgian Bar (Ordre des Barreaux Francophones et
Germanophone).
The course is written and produced by John O’Donovan who practised at the Bar
in London for 8 years, and then taught in the law faculty at ESADE in Spain for
fifteen years. There are 9 chapters in the course, and each chapter is divided into about 30 sections. A section can be either an audio-visual scene, a document (e.g.
contract, email, SMS message), or an audio recording (e.g. podcast, police interview or phone message). The characters in the drama deliver 1,378 terms in their correct context, and they are then explained and tested.
John O’Donovan wrote the syllabus over fifteen years, asking legal academics,
practising lawyers and his own students, what knowledge was necessary in order
to thrive internationally. The respondents were the best in their home
jurisdictions, but described a disadvantage when dealing with Anglo-American
colleagues because they had little knowledge of English law or Common Law
principles. The consensus was that there was very little interest in becoming a
dual-qualified lawyer, but there was a clear desire for the practical legal
knowledge of an international practitioner in a Common Law jurisdiction.
The characters who deliver the terms in the knowledge database are messy
individuals. Some behave well, but most would be guilty of some sort of criminal
or ethical misconduct. There are murders, a kidnapping, and egregious instances
of money-laundering. Users are hooked by this behaviour, as they might be
hooked by the antics of the Soprano or Corleone families, and this makes the
users stay the course.
Examples of the tags and explanations
- Under ‘contract law’, there are 77 (‘liquidated damages’, ‘void ab initio’, ‘implied term’)
- Under ‘contract clauses’, there are 19 (‘force majeure’, ‘boilerplate’, ‘cooling off provisions’)
- Under the tag ‘finance’, there are 294 (‘DCF’, ‘investment grade’, ‘to squeeze out
investors’) - Under the tag ‘international trade’, there are 43 (‘certificate of origin’, ‘forex’, ‘tariff’)
- Under ‘dispute resolution’, there are 165 (‘consequential loss’, ‘liquidated damages’, ‘particulars of claim’)
- Under the tag ‘crime’, there are 99 (‘beyond reasonable doubt’, ‘double jeopardy’, ‘wire fraud’)
- Under ‘criminal evidence’, there are 40 (‘direct evidence’, ‘hearsay evidence’, ‘prima facie evidence’, ‘admissible’, ‘cross-examination’)
- Under ‘Intellectual Property’, there are 19 (‘prior art’, ‘PCT’, ‘to assign’, ‘copyright’, ‘industrial design right’)
- Under ‘company law’, there are 57 (‘limited liability’, ‘separate legal personality’)
Contact:
https://tessabel.com
john@tessabel.com
