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Friends and Colleagues, It is my sad duty to report that former Section Chair, Henry King, a true giant in the field of international law and a friend to many of us, passed away recently. Please see the memorial to Henry just below. Although we have thanked them before, I would like to express my gratitude once again to our sponsors, our committees, and everyone else who made our 2009 Spring Meeting this past month such a great success. The Planning Committee, and especially the Meeting Co-Chairs, Meaghan McGrath-Beaumont, Lori Sostowski and Marcy Stras, did a fantastic job. A week after the Spring Meeting, I had the privilege to lead another very successful ILEX delegation; this time to Brazil and Peru. I cannot overstate the importance of our ILEX outreach efforts to the international legal community. ILEX forms an integral part of our multi-dimensional, global interaction with the world’s bar leaders, with our members in over ninety countries around the world, and with government officials, law firms, corporations and NGO’s. Special thanks go to the local planning committees in Sao Paulo and in Lima, and in particular to Erik Wulff, chair of our ILEX Committee, and Marcelo Bombau, Chair of our Americas/Middle East Division for organizing the trip, as well as to the members of the delegation, who were all great ambassadors for the Section. We set a record this bar year, with ILEX delegations to the Hague, to India and to Brazil and Peru. Other key components of our outreach include
A number of our committees are taking the initiative to plan substantive, and in some cases, plain social get-togethers in cities in which they live. Thousands of you live outside the US. Thank you for your initiatives to organize committee meetings and get-togethers where you live. They help us remain a strong and cohesive professional force, and they generate additional pride in our membership. In the next month, we are pleased to collaborate with the International Bar Association Litigation Committee in producing a two-day event in Vienna entitled “The Future of Transnational Litigation” June 4-5. Then, in Hamburg June 19-20, we are co-sponsoring a program with our good friends at AIJA, entitled “The Global Employer – Expatriation Into and Out of the EU”. In May and June, I will be meeting, and cementing ties with, our colleagues at the CCBE, the German Bar, the Israeli Bar, the Danish Bar, the Swedish Bar and finally, in Rome with the Italian Bar Council, where I will be speaking on “Human Rights, the Just Rule of Law and the Role of the Lawyer” in this continuing series on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that we launched in November in New York and continued in Paris in December. At all of these meetings, the Section represents the international outreach of the ABA and enhances our continuing contacts with the leaders of the world’s bar associations. We are now looking forward to Summer, and to the Section Leadership Retreat at beautiful Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (just an hour and a half drive from Chicago) July 28-30 and the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago July 30-August 2. I look forward to seeing all of our leadership — and those of you who are interested in becoming leaders — at the Retreat – it’s educational and it’s fun (for you and for your family). I encourage you to register by the end of June to get the early bird rate of $175. If you’ve never attended a Section Retreat, this could be the most important thing you’ve done in years to advance your professional career. Following the Retreat, the Section is offering a full slate of programs at the ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago, including programs on the International Court of Justice, the Financial Meltdown, Doing Business in India and International Asset Recovery, to name a few. Finally, we are all eagerly looking forward to our 2009 Fall Meeting, which will take place in spectacular Miami Beach. Registration for that meeting is already open. We have several plum sponsorship opportunities available for what promises to be a stellar event, and I encourage you to contact Jenny Abreu (abreuj@staff.abanet.org) to seize the best sponsorship spots for your firm. Enjoy the summer months. See you at the Retreat!
In Memoriam — Henry T. King, former Section Chair Our dear colleague and 1977-1978 Chair, Professor Henry T. King, Jr. died on Saturday, May 9, 2009 (just a few weeks before his 90th birthday). Henry’s passing is a great loss for the profession and for all who knew him. For the past 30 years, Henry served as a Case Western Reserve University School of Law Professor and Chair of our Canada-United States Law Institute. Right up to the end, he was energetically teaching, publishing, and organizing conferences. At the age of 25, fresh out of Yale Law School (B.A. 1941, LL.B. 1943), Henry was hired as the youngest Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials. At Nuremberg, Henry worked on the Justice and Ministries cases, led the prosecution of former Luftwaffe Field Marshall Erhard Milch, deputy head of the Luftwaffe under Hermann Goering, in the High Command trial. Henry interrogated many of the major Nuremberg defendants, including Albert Speer, who Henry later chronicled in a critically acclaimed book, The Two Worlds of Albert Speer: Reflections of a Nuremberg Prosecutor. (http://www.lauferfilm.com/king/) Upon returning to the United States, Henry served as director of the Agency for International Development during the Eisenhower Administration, and worked as a chief corporate international counsel for more than twenty years with TRW Inc., and later was of counsel at Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP. He then joined the faculty of Case Western Reserve, where he taught International Business and International Arbitration, both favorites of our students that consistently had long wait lists. Through the conferences he organized in the late 1980s as Chairman of the Canada-United States Law Institute, Henry played an integral role in facilitating the drafting and negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In 1998, Henry and two other 80-something-year-old former Nuremberg prosecutors, Whitney Harris and Ben Ferencz, participated in the Rome diplomatic conference to create a permanent international criminal court and used their unique moral authority, dogged persistence, and skills of persuasion to convince the delegates to include the crime of aggression in the Court’s statute (pending agreement on a definition and trigger mechanism). Last fall, in cooperation with the President of the ICC Assembly of States Parties, Henry co-chaired a conference and experts meeting on “The ICC and the Crime of Aggression” at Case Western Reserve, which developed proposals that significantly advanced the effort to define the crime and the conditions under which the Court could exercise its jurisdiction over it. Henry was an influential leader of the American Bar Association, serving as a member of the ABA’s special task force on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. In addition he was the U.S. chairman of a joint working group, organized by the American, Canadian, and Mexican bar associations, on the settlement of international disputes. Henry also founded the 200-member Greater Cleveland International Lawyers Group. In 2005, the ABA Section of International Law organized a program to commemorate the anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials at the urging of Henry King. To view the program, click on the links below. Part 1 (.AVI, 62 MB)
MEMBER NEWS Former Section Chair and Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Jim Silkenat will be honored on May 27th by the New York City Bar with its 2009 Diversity Champion Award. In selecting Jim, the Bar notes that he is a “tireless advocate concerning the need for and the importance of diversity in the legal profession, especially through his role in the creation, funding and operation of the American Bar Association’s Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund, which is intended to make sure that the legal profession mirrors the public it serves. Congratulations Jim! Congratulations also go to Lalit Bhasin, Co-Chair of the Section’s India Committee, for having been nominated by the new President of Confederation of Indian Industry as Chairman of its Legal Services Committee for 2009-10.
NEW LAWYERS LIFESTYLES TASK FORCE – BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION! The ABA Section of International Law is proud to announce a new task force, the Lawyers Lifestyles Task Force. The task force is comprised of both new and experienced practicitioners, who focus on exploring the difficulty today's lawyers face in balancing a successful career and a fulfilling family and personal life. The Taskforce will explore these issues from an international standpoint examining the practice of law around the world. The Taskforce will be a global forum to raise awareness and facilitate an open discourse on lifestyle issues we face throughout our careers. You can become part of the solution in providing strategic advice to implement practical changes in the profession for the wellbeing of all of our members. >>> Click Here to Join the Task Force Today! <<<
ELECTION OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL The Section’s 2005 policy on the UN Human Rights Council is having effect. Read the press release below. Today the United Nations General Assembly elected the United States to a three-year term on the UN Human Rights Council. The promotion and protection of human rights is a fundamental value for our own society and, as such, an integral element of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice are pleased with the outcome of the election and eager to take up the important work of the Council. When the United Nations was formed, it sent a powerful and historic message by placing human rights at the very core of its charter. To fulfill that mission, we strongly believe that all member states must work to ensure that the United Nations offers a credible, balanced and effective forum for advancing human rights. The United States sought a seat on the UN Human Rights Council at this time to underscore our commitment to human rights and to join the efforts of all those nations seeking to make the Council a body that fulfills its promise. We deeply appreciate the support of all UN member states that endorsed our bid. We pledge to work closely with the international community to ensure that together we address the pressing human rights concerns of our time. Ian Kelly, Department Spokesman, Washington, DC, May 12, 2009
For updates on programming and events, visit our Section calendar on-line at www.abanet.org/intlaw/calendar.
OTHER PROGRAMS OF INTEREST
NEW STUDENT ASSOCIATE CATEGORY OF MEMBERSHIP The Student Associate category of membership that the Section brought before the ABA House of Delegates along with the support of Business Law and 13 other Sections has now been implemented. The category is applicable to any person not eligible for Lawyer or Law Student membership in the ABA who is currently enrolled in a post-secondary education program. Individuals likely to seek this membership category include those enrolled in LLM programs, Non-ABA Accredited Law Schools, Paralegal programs, and Undergraduate programs. Members enrolled in this category will receive the same benefits as an Associate member. To join as a “Student Associate” call the Service Center at 1.800.285.2221, or go online to http://www.abanet.org/join/ . N.B.: Membership in the Section of International Law is not automatic. You MUST be sure to indicate that you are not only joining the ABA; you are also joining the Section of International Law! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Membership Director, Angela Benson, at BensonA@staff.abanet.org/intlaw.
PATHWAYS TO EMPLOYMENT IN INTERNATIONAL LAWPathways Programs bring experienced international lawyers together with law students and young lawyers to share career paths and options. We encourage members to join Pathways panels at their local law schools. If you are interested in being a speaker at any upcoming programs, please contact Membership Director Angela Benson at bensona@staff.abanet.org or by phone at (202) 662-1664. Upcoming programs include:
ABA INTERNATIONAL CLE TELECONFERENCES ABA International hosts CLE teleconferences every month. We need your suggestions and ideas for future events. For more information about the Section’s CLE teleconference program, please contact Committees Coordinator Tally White at whitet@staff.abanet.org or by phone at (202) 662-1672.
PUBLICATIONSThe International Law News Vol. 38 No 2 Spring 2009 is now posted to the section website, to view the new issue please visit the International Law News website. The International Law Student News just launched its inaugural issue for Spring 2009. The newsletter is now posted on the Student Headquarters website.
KEY UPCOMING DEADLINES International Law News: June 24: Fall 2009 (Focus on Islamic Law and Finance)
For the latest information on Committee programs and activities including brownbag lunches, seminars and webcasts please visit our Committee Homepage at: http://www.abanet.org/intlaw/committees/home.html We invite you to visit all of our Committee home pages — not only will you find highly relevant and valuable information relating to your field, you will also find updated leadership rosters. Recently updated Committee home pages include:
ABA INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE NEWSLETTERSABA International has more than 25 substantive newsletters. Our latest committee newsletters are listed below: We encourage you to click on each link.
ABA INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE PROGRAMSABA International committees organize a variety of committee programs that occur every month. Programs are organized for both live and teleconference participation. For more information, please contact Committees Coordinator Tally White at whitet@staff.abanet.org. Mark your calendars for these upcoming programs:
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