Ari Afilalo – Marketer

Ari Afilalo- A Scholar of Trade Laws

Ari Afilalo is a professor of Law at Rutgers-Camden School of Law, and has contributed his whole life in researching and teaching trade laws. He has worked a lot for the improvement of trade laws. His studies emphasis on the international trade laws. His book named as The New Global Trading Order- The Evolving State and the Future of Trade provide his ideas and exclusive vision of the trade laws. He stresses on the open trade between the countries. Moreover, it is required to raise the economy of a country. He has explained several conflicts that have changed the sight of world trade. Ari’s research mainly concentrates on following subjects-
International Trade-
Businesses that involve in international trade usually have the knowledge of the necessity of agreement. For the U.S.-based exporters, complying means that you are following the rules and regulations of the U.S. government, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), the Foreign Trade Regulations (FTR), and Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
International Business Transactions-
It is a three-credit course that focuses on discussion and studies the private law aspects concerning to international business transactions.
European Union Laws-
European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union.
Read the new book penned by Ari Afilalo, if you want to know more about global trade and the international trade law.

Interview with Ari Afilalo

For more than 18 years, Ari Afilalo serves as a Professor of Law Rutgers Law School. Afilalo’s is specialized in the treatment of intellectual property in free trade areas, the European Union’s system of judicial remedies, the law governing the elimination of non-tariff barriers to trade, and the international rules for the protection of cross-border investment.
In this interview, he shares aspects of his life and career and talks about his contributions to the Sephardic Jewish community in New York.

How did you start your career?
Ari Afilalo: Since I was a teenager, I was interested in law and politics. I decided to enroll at the prestigious Harvard University. I graduated and received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government. Since graduating from the Harvard University, I decided to continue my education in the field of Law. I received a J.D. magna cum laude at the renowned Boston University School of Law. Later I attended the Harvard Law School and completed LL.M. with specialization in International Law.
Since graduating, I started serving as a clerk to Chief Justice Paul J. Liacos of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. There I learned a lot of things about law, which are serving me until today.
Can you tell us more about your extended work experience?
Ari Afilalo: After that serving as a clerk to Chief Justice Paul J. Liacos of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, I practiced law for several years in New York City. During that time, I focused mostly on cross-border commercial and financial transactions between the United States and Europe, and also on intellectual property matter.
While I was practicing law, I also courses in international trade and intellectual property as an adjunct professor at the Suffolk Law School in Boston.
Moreover, I served for several years as a legal writing instructor for graduate students at the Harvard Law School.
Over the course of my career I also taught courses at the University of Mississippi School of Law as the Croft Assistant Professor of Law and International Studies for one year. The topics included European Union law, public and private international law and banking law. This experience was short and lasted for one year.
Currently, I serve as a Professor of Law at The Rutgers Law School.
You have published a book, can you tell us more about it?
Ari Afilalo: Well, I’m actually the co-author of the book ‘The New Global Trading Order: The Evolving State and the Future of Trade’.
This book addresses largely neglected questions about the world trade order. It gets readers thinking. The book considers the history of global institutions like the WTO and proposes concrete solutions to the problems of global trade. Moreover, this book covers policy analysis as well as political theory and current events.
What is Ari Afilalo specialized in?
Ari Afilalo: Although I have interests in many topics, I specialize in international trade law, business transactions and contracts. Moreover, my scholarly interests include the treatment of intellectual property in free trade areas, the law governing the elimination of non-tariff barriers to trade, the European Union’s system of judicial remedies and the international rules for the protection of cross-border investment.
Besides of your professional obligations, you are also an active member of the Sephardic Jewish community in New York. Can you tell us more about that?
I was born in a Jewish Moroccan family. My family emigrated from Marrakesh in Morocco and settled in Paris, France.
So, as an active member of the Sephardic Jewish community in New York, I make enormous contributions to my community with my in-depth writings about Sephardic Jews.
I have a blog about the Sephardic Jews Treasure. There I share my deep knowledge about Sephardic Jewish rituals and customs.
My posts cover topics such as Sephardic Jews’ journeys, rituals, practices, food customs, origin, communities, culture, traditions, language, history, music, religion, institutions, etc.

Commercial Law Entities

Most businesspersons enter into contracts more frequently than they may realize. In almost all business dealings, any time you or your company agree to take some action or make a payment in exchange for anything of value, a legal contract has been created. In this article, Ari Afilalo, Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School, discusses the most common entity types in commercial law.

To help you understand the basics of Commercial Law Entities, Ari Afilalo, specialist in international trade law, provides an introduction to the law relating to international commercial contracts.

The notion of a trader

When we talk about entities of commercial contract law, we always talk about traders. A trader is a legal or natural person who independently carries on an economic activity in order to make a profit by producing, marketing goods or providing services on the market.

Therefore, Ari Afilalo higlights, in order for a natural or legal person to be considered a trader, four assumptions must be fulfilled cumulatively:

1. That it is a legal or natural person engaged in an economic activity by producing or marketing goods or providing services on the market

2. That the economic activity is carried out independently and on its own behalf and for its own account

3. That the economic activity is carried on permanently and not only occasionally

4. That the economic activity is performed for profit

Individual trader

Individual trader is a natural person who independently performs an economic activity in accordance with the regulations on crafts, and is entered in the trade register as an individual trader. The same article regulates cases where an individual trader is entered in the trade register and the assumptions under which this is possible. The property of a trader is acquired by a natural person only by entering it in the court register, explains law professional, Ari Afilalo.

Company

A company is a legal entity whose establishment and organization are determined by the Companies Act. The Companies Act mentions companies as public companies, limited partnerships, joint stock companies and limited liability companies.

The legal system, but also law itself, divides companies into:

1. Companies of persons (public company and limited partnership), and

2. Equity companies (joint stock company and limited liability company)

A company is a trader, that is, an entity of commercial law, and it is legally irrelevant whether the company carries on an economic or other activity.

In establishing a mandatory relationship, legal entities act in accordance with their statute, social contract, or rules. However, a contract concluded, or other legal action taken contrary to the statute, social contract or rules, remains in force, unless the other party knew about it or was otherwise provided by law.

Subject Matter of Commercial Contract Law

A business contract is one of the most common legal transactions you will be involved in when running a business. An understanding of the basics of commercial contract law is crucial to creating sound business agreements that will be legally enforceable in the event that a dispute arises, no matter what type of business you run. Here, Rutgers Law School professor Ari Afilalo highlights the subject matter of commercial contract law.

As Professor of Law Ari Afilalo begins, in order to determine the subject matter of commercial contract law, it is necessary to consider:

1. The rules that exclusively fall under commercial contract law

2. The rules that should be considered as supporting for the functioning of commercial contracts

3. The regulation of behavior originating from the business community

The first category consists of commercial contract law in the narrow sense, specialized areas such as bills of exchange and check, securities law in general, banking contract law, transport law, industrial property law, etc.

The second category consists of bankruptcy law, anti-cartel law, competition law, etc. This is actually a matter of public law, which must be taken into account, since they are also rules of commercial contract law, and constitute a special discipline of public law, explains Ari Afilalo.

The third category consists of autonomous rules of the business community. They do not have the character of law, but rather a code of conduct, legal guides and customs created by professional bodies, and gentlemen’s agreements and other instruments that are considered binding but cannot be enforced by law, so they are not legally binding, such as letters of intent, letter of understanding and comfort letter.

A letter of comfort, or comfort letter, is usually issued when a business wants a loan from a bank. In this case, the bank asks the parent company for some insurance. Parent companies are reluctant to provide a loan guarantee because in such case, liability should be shown in the balance sheet, so they are more willing to assist the subsidiary by giving the bank a letter of comfort. In most cases, it is intended to assume a moral but not legal obligation for the parent company that provides the comfort letter. However, in some cases, the parent company assumes a legal obligation that is of a non-financial nature, and as such will not sell or otherwise dispose the shares in the subsidiary until the loan is settled. The legal system is more or less on the same page that these are legally non-binding commercial contract law institutes, although doubt exists in some systems, like in Switzerland for example.

Gentlemen’s agreement is an informal agreement between two parties. It can be written or orally. The essence of this agreement is that its execution rests on the honesty of the parties and not under the threat of legal coercion. This differentiates it from a contract, which can be enforced.

For a more in-depth discussion of the law of contracts, reach out to Ari Afilalo who teaches courses in international trade law, international business transactions and contracts.

Commercial Contract Law

Commercial contract law is part of the commercial law that deals with legal relations in the trade of goods and services. Commercial contract law is not the same as commercial law. It differs from it in its breadth of concept. Commercial contract law is part of commercial law, but commercial law in addition to commercial contract law also includes company law and some other special disciplines. The following exploration of Commercial Contract Law, provided by Professor of Law Ari Afilalo, focuses on its legal definition and key features.

If we take legal sources as a criterion, we are talking about legal and autonomous commercial contract law. The first represents legal and other regulations, while the second represents sources created by commercial entities themselves.

Commercial contract law is a set of regulations governing commercial legal relations. These rules are constantly evolving with the updating of legislation and, in particular, with new forms and concepts being created in business practice, case law and arbitration, and legal doctrine.

Commercial contract law is autonomous with respect to macro and microeconomic measures, explains highly experienced law professional Ari Afilalo. It is "depoliticized" and has its own legalities and legal technique and is independent of political and economic measures.
Commercial law is part of a broader group of private law. Despite the influence of public law rules, it is subject only to the rules of private law. Commercial contract law deals with commercial transactions. The issue of the legal status of commercial persons is not addressed in his case. It is the subject of company law.

In material terms, the legal provisions of commercial contract law are dispositive. The dispositive nature of the regulation is consistent with the nature of commercial contract law and the principle of freedom of contract. Compulsory rules of commercial contract law make an exception.
However, the freedom to regulate obligatory relations, established by the provisions of the Law on Obligations, has its limits, since participants in obligatory relations cannot regulate those relations contrary to the Constitution, compulsory regulations and morals of society. Commercial contracts are also subject to the principle of conscientiousness and honesty, the application of which a contracting party cannot exclude by its agreement.

Ari Afilalo, Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School, teaches courses in international trade law, international business transactions and contracts. In addition to that, he also participates in conferences, where he provides leading comprehensive update on recent developments in commercial contract law.