Issue of the magazine brings you news, stories and features

AS always, this issue of the magazine brings you news, stories and features from all around the globe. The international maritime community is a small one. Everyone seems to know, or at least know of, everyone else.

A need to understand the different cultures in which we work is crucial to success. That may seem obvious. But how many of us read up on the history and research the current political climate in the countries we visit?

Peter Jones does. He is another well-known figure, this time in Greece, who also celebrated forty years in shipping this year. Peter, managing director of Shipserve International, shared over lunch some of the secrets he has learned about successful negotiation. "Be calm, be patient … You have to be aware of the problems and of the terrain in which you are walking," he advised. Even now, every time Peter goes to work in another country he makes sure he has first understood the culture and is aware of what it is that makes its people tick.

So what else can be done to take the temperature of the cultures in which we work, beyond immersing ourselves in literature, the current news and a good travel guide on the plane journey? The really effective operators listen to the people they meet and get them to tell stories about themselves, their history and their working environment. This could be described as the job of a journalist, but it should also be the rule of thumb for a good lawyer - listen to clients, understand their needs and problems and thus know how best to serve them. This is the essence of what getting return business - and finding new work - is all about.

Another person in this issue who has also enjoyed a career in shipping that spans nearly four decades is Tom Mohri. Tom represents Gard in Japan, and we met in October at the Palace Hotel in Tokyo. Tom describes, with some amusement, his experience of working in London for the first time. He found himself being addressed as an English person, and not as Tom Mohri, a native of Japan. He would have to say, "Stop! Please speak to me in normal English and speak slowly - I cannot understand you!"

Tom also offers some insight for foreigners working in Japan, emphasising the importance of understanding the differences between east and west beyond the purely superficial.

You will also find the next generation of maritime lawyers well represented in this issue. This includes Peter McLauchlan, who updates us recent developments in US maritime law. Henry Najjar does the same from the Lebanon, as do Bianca Bernardis-Larratt from South Africa and Wanda Wang from China.

So, in its own way, The Maritime Advocate opens a window on the maritime world at large and offers you an insight into what is happening, and where.

Georgina Noakes