The Birth of a Book
Written by: Tom M. Schaumberg | Lauren E. Peterson
Nearly 10 years ago, a colleague recommended to the American Bar Association (ABA) that it contact me regarding publication of a book on the still largely unknown, but growing area of practice under 19 U.S.C. § 1337, commonly called Section 337, before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Until then, there was only one resource available, which, while comprehensive, was more of a research tool for practitioners already in the field than a primer for those who were uninitiated. From that initial inquiry grew the idea to put together A Lawyer’s Guide to Section 337 Investigations before the U.S. International Trade Commission, which was intended to provide an overview of the law and practice before the ITC for lawyers who were not familiar with the field and clients who might want to avail themselves of Section 337 to attack unfair import practices or those who found themselves defending them.
Fortunately, our firm and its attorneys had among the longest history of practice in this specialized field. As a result, over the years, the firm had created countless memoranda and written numerous briefs covering virtually every aspect of Section 337 practice as it was distinguished from similar types of proceedings in the federal district courts. Due to the specific requirements of Section 337 as a trade statute, as opposed to traditional federal intellectual property laws, and the unique aspects of the Administrative Procedure Act applied to ITC hearings, it was the purpose of the book to explain these unique aspects of Section 337 practice.
The creation of the First Edition of the book resulted from a well-organized collaboration among the firm’s lawyers, paralegals, secretaries, and law clerks. The process began by cataloguing the firm’s memoranda, briefs, law review-type articles, and speeches under an outline that was created as an index for the book. Lawyers were assigned responsibility, with their teams, for one or more chapters. Where gaps in the materials appeared, new research and writing were undertaken until each chapter began to take form. At that point, the editing also began to assure consistency in content and style, accuracy in the elaboration of legal and procedural principles, elimination of redundancy, and identification of additional necessary research.
As chapters were typed, the tasks of editing, proofreading, updating, and cite-checking began in earnest. Approximately one year after the start, the manuscript was delivered to the ABA, which did an incredible job of typesetting and, generally, preparing the book for publication. The First Edition was published in 2010, the Second in 2012, the Third in 2016, and the Fourth, most recently in 2019. Each edition was designed to update case law and other developments from the previous version, as needed. Once again, the updating process was a collaborative firm effort, with responsibility for individual chapters assumed by partners and associates alike, aided by paralegals, secretaries, and law clerks.
The Second Edition was also published in Chinese, the original translation having been performed by a native Chinese associate in the firm, along with a Chinese intern. Currently, the Fourth Edition is being prepared for publication in China with the invaluable assistance of partners from two leading Chinese law firms. Publication in China is expected before the end of 2020.
As practice under Section 337 has grown, it is hoped that the book served its purpose - to educate and to assist in the development of an important area of U.S. international trade law.
Order a copy here.
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August 25, 2020