美籍律師譚璧德已在台灣執業多年，在智慧財產權、公平交易法、公司法等領域的經驗相當豐富，也曾在1995 至1996年於台灣大學IUP（ICLP前身）就讀。當時他表示對於在台灣發展很感興趣，令美國法學院的同學十分驚訝，不懂為何他要學中文、為何要去台灣？為什麼會有美國人想去台灣當律師？譚律師心想：「為什麼不可以？」他開始上天下海地給幾乎所有在台工作的外籍律師打電話，詢問他們工作的情況。努力耕耘的結果，果然有豐碩的收穫。目前譚璧德律師是博仲法律事務所的合夥人，也積極參與台灣「蠻野心足生態協會」的保育活動。
On December 4, alumnus Peter J. Dernbach visited ICLP to speak about his experiences as an American lawyer practicing in Taipei. Dernbach is a partner at Winkler Partners and a specialist in intellectual property, competition and corporate law. He was also a Fulbright fellow to Singapore.
In the mid-nineties, Dernbach took a year off from law school to study at IUP (ICLP's predecessor). When he first considered practicing in Taiwan, his classmates back at the University of Virginia School of Law were skeptical: Why Chinese? Why Taiwan? Why not seek more lucrative opportunities back home? What would a foreign lawyer even do in Taiwan? Dernbach set out to create his own the answers to these questions. He cold called nearly every foreign lawyer working in Taiwan to set up interviews.
One such bold contact lead to a job offer from Robin Winkler, an American-born lawyer who has practiced in Taiwan for twenty years (also an alumnus). After graduating, Dernbach returned to Taiwan to work for Winkler at Qi Lin International Law Offices. At the time, the field of intellectual property law was just heating up in Taiwan, and Winkler was trying to create a transnational firm that would cut across all different practice areas.
Later Dernbach spent several years at Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn, LLC in Washington DC, but returned to Taiwan in 2002 to a position at Winker Partners.
Nowadays it is much less surprising to see fresh JDs study Chinese with their eyes set on business opportunities in the East. Another question arises: Why Taiwan and not China? Dernbach has received calls from head hunters eager to lure him to the mainland or Hong Kong, but feels a deep connection to his work and life in Taiwan. "Places are like people. I connect with Taiwan," he said.
Dernbach is an avid environmentalist and involved with the Wild At Heart Legal Defense Association.
