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. 

The 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 Supérieure. He holds a PhD in Law from the University of Cambridge, graduate degrees from the University of Paris 1 Sorbonne and 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 (negotiation, mediation and arbitration), labour law and employment law, and European Union law (competition and finance). 

One month 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.

QLR: 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?

Dahan: 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 the stakes can be very high. For instance, as a référendaire (legal secretary) for the French Chamber president of the Court of Justice of European Union I was the rapporteur in several high-profile competition and labour law cases. 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. 

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 fields 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.

In terms of the functioning of the institution, judges appoint their own team of référendaires, resulting in a wide variety of degrees of experience among them. It’s a bit similar to the clerkship process, but different in that being a référendaire can be a career position.

The job can be very academic insofar as it is about finding optimal solutions from a purely legal perspective. It’s quite different from private practice, in which the lawyer’s job is often to defend the client’s interests at any cost.

Finally, I very much enjoyed the multicultural dimension of the cases and the institution itself. The working language of the Court is French, which can make the functioning of the institution especially interesting, considering that most judges are not native French speakers. 

QLR: What do you look forward to most about working with the Centre for Law in the Contemporary Workplace?

Dahan: As a member of the CLCW, I am looking forward to collaborating with Professor Kevin Banks on the development of a new organization, the Conflict Analytics Lab (CAL), which will constitute a consortium of experts on the intersection of dispute resolution and technology. We are going to gather experts from leading universities (Queen’s, Cornell, Harvard, and Cambridge), as well as the public and private sectors (the European Court of Justice, several European competition authorities and members of the judiciary) to reflect on new artificial intelligence instruments for dispute resolution specialists. We also aim to develop new predictive justice models that organizations can apply to conflict resolution. Finally, I am hoping to develop new courses on technology and dispute resolution, as well as a new clinic on Alternative Dispute Resolution and technology.

QLR: Tell us about your current research projects. 
 
Dahan: My research draws on the application of advanced machine learning and AI software to law. Thanks to significant developments in technology, we are able to process wide pools of data, such as how much compensation an employee may receive for unfair dismissal, or how likely competition law judges are to confirm regulatory agency fines. (European Commission, Competition Law Tribunal and FTC). Our aim is to construct our own database and develop new big-data algorithms, able to process a large amount of data in a very short time, allowing us to explore the best alternative to a negotiated agreement (“BATNA”) for the involved parties. The general idea is to evaluate whether is worth litigating through a thorough evaluation of alternatives before the judge. For instance, is it worthwhile for Apple to appeal their thirteen-billion euro fine before the CJEU?

Another interesting project we are working on is something we are calling an “organizational conflict index.” This may be our most ambitious and most complex project, and probably also the most sensitive. Based on a carefully selected subset of data – such as the number of claims brought against an organization, the number of dismissals and the number of resignations – we hope to measure whether organizations are more averse or more prone to conflict, as well as how they address conflicts in the workplace. 

QLR: How would you describe your experience so far at Queen’s Law?

Dahan: This term, I am teaching employment law, and I’m already preparing for the ADR class next semester. Being at Queen’s has been a terrific experience so far. I have just spent nearly two years in Luxembourg, waiting to join my colleagues in Kingston while fulfilling my commitment to the Court. I am honoured and delighted to finally be here at Queen’s, and I am looking forward to continuing to engage with my students while pursuing further collaborations with my colleagues.