Business for the Rule of Law

Ian McDougall, EVP & General Counsel, Lexis Nexis Group

I will start with a bold statement; I think the law is one of the most fantastic, wondrous achievements in the history of human civilization! Even lawyers often don’t recognize this. Sometimes lawyers can be ground down by the day-to-day minutiae of a particular matter. But stop and think about it for a moment. Our civilization has evolved to a point where it is possible to follow a purely abstract philosophical concept by which all our lives can be governed. That system is based on reason (in the logical sense of that word), reasonableness (in the utilitarian sense of that word), and a broad based consent (in any sense of that word you like). It is truly amazing. To that I would add that we are discussing a subject that delivers peace, prosperity and advancement wherever it is strongly felt. I hope, that after reading this, you will feel the urge to get your company involved in advancing the Rule of Law around the world. Before delving into the subject I want to make a brief comment on the notion of Justice (as distinct from the “Rule of Law”). There are so many aspects of the notion of Justice I can’t possibly cover them here. But that is not my subject of today. Justice is a notion that can depend on the type of law passed. This article will presume that a law, whatever it is, is a just one for the purposes of discussing the “Rule of Law”.

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UK Management Publishing June 2015 Vol. 8, No. 31, Spring 2015

Ian McDougall

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Ian McDougall is the Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the LexisNexis, Legal & Professional division of RELX Group. Mr. McDougall joined LexisNexis in 2004 as Vice President and Legal Director for LexisNexis International (LNI), where he

Lexis Nexis Group

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LexisNexis® is a leading global provider of content-enabled workflow solutions designed specifically for professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting, and academic markets. LexisNexis originally pioneered

UK Management Publishing June 2015 Vol. 8, No. 31, Spring 2015

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