Balkinization: International Law Weekend 2013

International Law Weekend 2013

Guest Blogger

Ruth Wedgwood

International Law Weekend 2013 -- the world-famous autumn festival of the migratory flock of international lawyers, brought to you by the American Branch of the International Law Association and the International Law Students Association -- begins on Thursday night, October 24, 2013, at the Great Hall of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, 42 West 44th Street, NYC, and continues at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday, October 25-26, at the Lincoln Center facilities of Fordham Law School, at 140 West 62nd Street, NYC. Advance Registration is available at http://ila-americanbranch.org/ or http://www.ilsa.org/conferences/16-conferences/16-ilw-new-york.

As always, admission is free for all students, faculty, lawyers, and staff from co-sponsoring institutions, as well as all members of the American Branch of the International Law Association, the International Law Students Association, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Staff members of the United Nations and Permanent Missions to the United Nations can also attend for free. The registration fee remains a modest $175 for the two days combined for all other practicing lawyers and members of the public. And for the first time, there will be 14 hours of Continuing Legal Education credit available to all lawyers in attendance, accepted by New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The CLE credits are also provided free.

This year's theme is the "Internationalization of Law & Legal Practice." Academics and practitioners -- and those who follow foreign policy -- will enjoy the Weekend's cornucopia of controversies in public and private international law and politics.

A blue ribbon opening panel begins the tempest at 6:30 p.m. Thursday night at the City Bar, debating and dissecting the proposed United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (recently signed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, but still controversial with some in the U.S. Senate as well as the Prime Minister of Canada). The panel will feature the U.N.'s undersecretary for disarmament affairs, the executive director of PEN, high ranking officials from the State Department and supporting countries, and a critic or two. All fences will be mended afterwards, in a wine and cheese reception sponsored by the Mission of Mexico.

On Friday, a panoply of panels will percolate all day long at the Lincoln Center Fordham atrium -- with public international law discussions including, inter alia, the Well-Being of Children affected by Armed Conflict, the Global Future of Same Sex Marriage, Combatting Human Trafficking, Reform of the Inter-American Human Rights System, Teaching Law Outside Law Schools, and practical panels on private international law, including Updates in European Union Law, a General Counsel's Roundtable on the challenges faced by in-house counsel, international discovery and privacy conflicts in litigation, investment arbitration's standards of review in regard to government regulatory conflict, the race to the North Pole and delineation of Arctic maritime boundaries, and a user's guide to Marine Boundary Claims and Admiralty Practice. A keynote address will be given by international arbitrator Donald Donovan, current president of the American Society of International Law.

Panels on Saturday include "Web War 3.0" on the fight over the independence of the internet currently waged between the United Nations and the original architects of the Web, how corporations can cope with the market in conflict minerals, the revision of the U.S. "Restatement" of Foreign Relations Law, the new "Regime of Rocks and Islands" in maritime boundary disputes (see the contest over the South China Sea), bringing terrorists to justice, and forging a convention on Crimes Against Humanity. And then, all students will adjourn to focused career panels -- with three tracks on careers in international human rights and development, careers in advising small to medium sized companies, and careers in international art law, followed by informal networking with other attendees.

We have a record number of co-sponsors this year, whose generous contributions make the event possible. Though some law firms have pleaded hard times, we have new firms and new law schools on board, and a host of faithful friends. Further information and registration is available at www.ila-americanbranch.org or www.ilsa.org, or at the door.

Come join us -- it's a contentious lawyer's marathon.

Best wishes, Ruth Wedgwood,

for the American Branch of the International Law Association, partnering with the International Law Students Association, the Leitner Center of Fordham Law School, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York

Ruth Wedgwood is Edward B. Burling Chair in International Law and Diplomacy at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. You can reach her by e-mail at rwedgwood at jhu.edu

Posted 9:10 PM by Guest Blogger [link]