University of Houston Law Professor Stephen Zamora recently received the Order of the Aztec Eagle from Mexico’s recently retired president, Vicente Fox.  This is the highest award given to a non-Mexican national.  As Director of the Mexican Legal Studies Program at the University of Houston Law School, Professor Zamora has long worked to promote understanding between those working in the legal systems of the US and Mexico.  

When I taught a class in international trade as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Law Center in 1991, I worked under Professor Zamora–who then served as the school’s dean. I have always been impressed by his interest in and openness to other legal systems. Professor Zamora was quoted in a recent Houston Business Journal article as saying that he approaches the Mexican legal system with ”…appreciation of the complexity and value of the whole, rather than a criticism of some particular element of Mexican society that I find wanting because it does not conform to U.S. models.”

Good lesson:  Approach foreign laws with appreciation, not with negativity. Foreign laws may not conform to US standards, and so even if you disagree with certain foreign laws, try to view them as a whole and with appreciation.  This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t disagree or criticize the foreign laws–but do so in a culturally sensitive manner. An open and interested attitude about another culture’s laws will keep you from seeming patronizing.