On the 15th of January 2019 we went to Bird and Bird for a lecture about Geo-Blocking and lunch afterwards.

It was an early morning, but together with the group we gathered at Utrecht Central Station before we took the train to the Hague.

We went to their office by tram and waited in front of the office building until we were complete. When we entered the office of Bird & Bird we were friendly welcomed by one of the recruiters. She offered us some coffee, tea and cookies before we went into the office room which had a beautiful and amazing view of the city of the Hague.

When everybody settled down, Ivette, one of the recruiters, told us more about the firm; when and where they were established, the countries in which they are operating, what there expertises are and of course what the possibilities are for us students to apply for an internship of other job possibilities.

After the introduction, Mariska Sanders, one of the lawyers of Bird & Bird, specialized in EU Competition Law started her lecture about Geo-Blocking. A lot of us didn’t have any idea about Geo-blocking on beforehand so when she told us more about what it is about it really captured the imagination. We found out that the rulings are about things you come across on a day-to-day basis, when surfing on the internet.

The lecture ended with a quiz to check if everybody listened and understood the Regulation well. We can all say that we are a lot wiser now about the Geo-Blocking Regulation and its developments to the greater aim of the EU of creating a digital single market. In the end our participating students got the chance to ask questions which could all be answered by Mariska.

After the lecture we were brought to a room where the Birds, how employers of Bird & Bird are called, normally have coffee or drinks. We were offered some nice sandwiches, fruits and drinks and got the opportunity to talk with more Birds. They were really open, friendly and eager to talk with us. We enjoyed our lunch and the chats and by then it was already time to leave.

We can look back on an educative lecture and a interesting law firm visit. We’ve come to known a lot more about Bird & Bird by this visit and we are very happy we could arrange this event this year!