INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS CULTIVATING CITIZENS OF THE WORLD
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INTRODUCTION Cultivating Citizens of the World At Cincinnati Law, we pride ourselves on the connections we foster across disciplines, between theory and practice, and among communities—local, national, and global. This year we continued to expand those networks, providing students new opportunities to learn and engage with the world. For instance, in the fall, human rights scholars and activists from 22 universities and eight nations converged upon the College of Law to attend the Sir Nigel Rodley Human Rights Conference hosted by our Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights. In the spring, JD students participated in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Competition in Hong Kong. We welcomed our first Colombian students as a part of a collaboration between our LLM program and Javeriana University in Colombia. Our LLM in the U.S. Legal System program ushered in its sixth year by adding students from new countries: Turkey, Venezuela, and Italy. We have educated more than 60 internationally trained attorneys from 26 different countries. Our students are gaining work experience, working as legal interns, going on to start careers in law locally, in New York City and Washington, D.C., and in their home countries, where they practice or teach law with a newly gained expertise in the U.S. system. They also
Verna Williams
contribute to our community by working in our Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic, which allows our law students to obtain hands-on experience representing local small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs on transactional legal issues critical to their success, helping free wrongfully convicted persons through the Ohio Innocence Project, or assisting unrepresented persons in navigating the legal system by volunteering at the newly launched Help Center at the Hamilton County Municipal Court. This report spells out in colorful detail the many strides our international programs have made this past year. Building upon our pathbreaking Urban Morgan Institute, we are educating and inspiring global leaders and citizens of the world. —Verna Williams
Interim Dean, College of Law 2017–18 LLM students hail from 26 countries
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The Honorable Unity Dow, Minister of Education, Botswana, Former Chair of the Executive Committee of the International Commission of Jurists, speaking at the Sir Nigel Rodley Human Rights Conference at UC Law.
Professor John Pinney, International Vis Moot Team Leader and Adjunct Professor, with traveling team members in Hong Kong.
Javeriana University dual degree students Alejandro Fernandez Gomez and Nasser Obando Redondo with visiting Javeriana law professor Ildiko Szegedy-MaszĂĄk.
University of Graz Law School Dean Stefan Storr speaking with our LLM students.
The University of Quebec at Montreal’s Dr. Mirja Trilsch presenting a workshop on human rights law in action. INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS 3
LLM CLASS Martin joins UC Law from Ghana, where he earned his law degree at Mountcrest University College in Accra and his MBA at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. Martin plans to pursue a PhD after his LLM.
Martin Kofi Aflo Ghana
Born in Kuwait, Mubarak grew up in Saudi Arabia in a family where two brothers entered the law profession before him, including a UC Law LLM alumnus. He earned his LLB from Cairo University in Egypt and hopes to work with multinational corporations that partner with humanitarian organizations. Mubarak Aldousari Kuwait/Saudi Arabia/Egypt
Abdulrahman earned his Bachelor of Laws degree with honors at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has interned in the area of legal consulting and worked as a teaching assistant in law at the University of Ha’il (UoH). After his time in the LLM program focusing on business law, he plans to obtain his SJD. Abdulrahman Alhenaki Saudi Arabia
Rawan obtained her LLB at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she graduated with honors. She participated in our Domestic Violence Clinic. Her studies included a focus on business law; she hopes to start her own business in Saudi Arabia in the future. Rawan Alsaeed Saudi Arabia
Anjana earned her LLB degree at the Kathmandu School of Law in Nepal. Anjana’s areas of interest include business, energy, and environmental law. When she returns to Nepal, Anjana plans to serve her local community by supporting and advocating for Nepali women’s and children’s rights.
Andrea earned his LLB at the University of Florence and is a practicing civil and criminal lawyer in Italy. He hopes to gain special knowledge of U.S. and international corporate and trade law to expand his specialty areas when he returns home to his law firm. Andrea Brachini Italy
Elif Dalboy Turkey
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Anjana Chapagain Nepal
Elif joins us from Turkey, where she obtained her LLB from Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir and her Master of Laws in Private International Law from Ankara University, where she focused on refugee rights. She volunteers at our Hamilton County Municipal Court Help Center, and her main interests are international loan agreements and refugee and asylum law.
Alejandro Fernàndez Gomez Colombia
Alejandro is one of two students with us this year as a part of our new dual degree agreement with the University of Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia. After completing his year at UC Law and passing his LLB exams, he will graduate with both his LLB from Javeriana and his LLM from UC Law. Alejandro is a participant in our Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic.
LLM CLASS
Francesca Gottardi Italy
Andrés Mariño Rosales Venezuela
Francesca comes to Cincinnati from Italy, where she graduated with a Master’s in European and Transnational Law from the University of Trento. She is fluent in Italian, English, Spanish, and German. After graduating with her LLM, Francesca plans to practice in the U.S. Francesca was one of four UC Law students chosen as a member of the International Vis Moot Team to travel to Hong Kong for an international competition in March.
Andrés joins UC Law as our first Venezuelan LLM student. He earned his LLB at the University of Santa María and his postgraduate law certificate in criminal law from the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas. He is a practicing lawyer in Venezuela, where he advises foreign investment companies and is involved in civil and criminal litigation.
Ömer was born in New York City, but grew up in Turkey and earned his law degree at the TOBB University of Economics and Technology in Ankara. He has participated in international moot court competitions and was an oralist at the 2013 Jessup Moot Competition. He plans to take the New York bar exam and practice law in New York City. Ömer Kahya US/Turkey
Salama Nakami Uganda
Nasser joins us under the auspices of our dual degree agreement with the University of Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia. Nasser’s areas of interest are economics and business law. He is working in UC Law’s Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic.
Nasser de Jesús Obando Redondo Colombia
Yesim Onat Salahifar U.S./Turkey
Richard Kwame Obeng Ghana
Yesim resides in Cincinnati, but is originally from Turkey. She earned a law degree at Başkent University in Ankara, an LLM in Human Rights and Intellectual Property Law at the University of Lund in Sweden, and The New Europe Master in Banking and Entrepreneurship from the Fondazione Cassamarca and UniCredit S.p.A. in Treviso, Italy. Yesim has nearly 10 years of experience as an attorney in the banking industry.
Salama earned her LLB at the Islamic University in Uganda in Mbale, where she graduated with high honors. She has a special interest in advocating for the rights of those who have been victimized and providing legal counseling services to those in need. Salama is currently working in the Domestic Violence and Civil Protection Order Clinic at Legal Aid Cincinnati.
Kwame joins us from Ghana, where he earned his BBA and LLB degrees as well as his MBA with specialization in finance from the Ghana Institute of Management & Public Administration, Accra. His special area of interest is corporate law. He is a practicing lawyer in Ghana, where he works in commercial litigation and corporate legal services. He plans to obtain a PhD in the future.
Corey comes to us after having recently graduated with an LLB from the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Corey is especially interested in business law and international human rights law. She is working in our Ohio Innocence Project clinic.
Corey Alexandria Reid Jamaica
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LLM CLASS
Jenny Wang China/US
Jenny is a current Cincinnati resident and is originally from China. She received a BA in English from Xiamen University, a Master’s of Public Administration from Renmin University with a concentration in Human Resources Management, and an LLB from East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai, where she focused on administrative law. Jenny has substantial experience working in immigration in China. Abdulrahman Alhenaki, LLM ‘18, and Rawan Alsaeed, LLM ‘17, present to the UC community on the structure and common misconceptions about the Saudi legal system.
LLM student Mubarak Aldousari takes the bench during a visit to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Jody M. Luebbers’ courtroom to learn about the U.S. court system. 6 CINCINNATI LAW
Visit with attorneys at P&G.
Hong Kong, China
WILLEM C. VIS MOOT INTERNATIONAL TEAM Hong Kong—In March 2017, John Pinney, adjunct professor and partner at Graydon Head & Ritchey LLP, led his first team of UC Law students to compete “against the world” in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. This March, a new team of JD and LLM candidates researched and prepared written memoranda supporting each side of a hypothetical commercial dispute. Four students
traveled with Professor Pinney to Hong Kong for oral arguments. While in Hong Kong, the team members networked with and competed against students from every continent. Former team members remarked that Moot participants take part in a “level of oral advocacy beyond description,” designed to test “just how creative you can be.”
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SIR NIGEL RODLEY HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE Last fall, the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights celebrated the work of one of the giants in the human rights field, the late Sir Nigel Rodley. Cincinnati Law Professor Bert Lockwood and distinguished civil and human rights lawyer Paul Hoffman co-sponsored the Sir Nigel Rodley Human Rights Conference, which attracted leading human rights scholars, many of whom were Rodley’s friends and colleagues, to pay tribute to Rodley and to discuss areas of human rights that were important to Rodley and address challenges currently facing the international human rights community. Rodley’s contributions to the field of human rights, particularly in the legal fight to eradicate torture, were extraordinary. Rodley founded and led the legal office of Amnesty International for 17 years, transforming the organization’s work from letter-writing to the use of legal tools with real consequences. He established the UN mandate for Special Rapporteur on Torture and served in that role for several years while helping to establish a practical approach to the study of human rights law as a faculty member at the University of Essex. Rodley also served as president of the International Commission of Jurists. The conference opened with a moving video tribute prepared by Arthur Russell Morgan Fellow Caroline Drennan that included remarks offered by another human rights icon, Professor Theo van Boven. Formal panel discussions were often preceded by poignant personal recollections of Nigel as friend. Drawing this caliber of human rights advocates from around the country and world gave opportunity for important dialogue to take place—whether during the formal program or informal moments at breaks, receptions, and over dinner—and attendees continuously reflected throughout the conference that the level of discourse was such that Rodley would have been proud. The Institute was particularly honored to have Lyn Rodley, Nigel’s wife, in attendance. 8 CINCINNATI LAW
Top: Sir Nigel Rodley Bottom: Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights Director, Professor Bert B. Lockwood, speaks at the conference
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Gaborone, Botswana
The Hague, the Netherlands
SUMMER 2017 HUMAN RIGHTS EXTERNSHIPS Kathleen Norris Embassy of the United States Rabat, Morocco
Natalia Trotter International Justice Mission (IJM) Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Ronique Padda Special Tribunal for Lebanon The Hague, Netherlands
Monica Welker Uganda Christian University Kampala/Acid Burns Victims Group Kampala, Uganda
Patrick Parkinson Unity Dow, Ministry of Justice Gaborone, Botswana Brittany Triggs Universidad Pontificia Comillas Madrid, Spain
Caleb Williamson Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Bogotรก, Colombia
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GLOBAL INFLUENCE As director of the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, Professor Bert Lockwood naturally has a global perspective. Although he has taught and served students and the community in Cincinnati for almost four decades, his job often involves working abroad. In the summer of 2017, Lockwood traveled to Botswana, Uganda, and China. In each of these countries, and wherever he goes, he works to educate and forge partnerships toward a better understanding and realization of international human rights. Lockwood visited Botswana as part of the partnership between UC and the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST). He was invited by his close friend, Unity Dow, Botswana’s Minister of Education and Skills Development. Lockwood has been sending law students to work for Dow, former judge on the High Court of Botswana and first woman to serve in that position, for more than 20 years. After visiting BIUST, Lockwood concluded that the partnership with UC is a continued success. From Botswana, Lockwood traveled to Uganda, where his work concerned an unsettling subject in human rights: acid attacks. Acid attacks generally target women who practice a nontraditional lifestyle and women who choose to become independent professionals. The attacker, often a family member, splashes a dangerous acid on the victim, leaving her face permanently disfigured. These attacks are a pervasive problem in some parts of the world, including Uganda. Raj Mehta, UC’s Vice Provost for International Affairs, accompanied Lockwood in Uganda. Mehta is working to establish a partnership between UC and Uganda Christian University—“the UCUCU partnership,” Lockwood jokes. Lockwood met with victims of acid attacks and Dr. Angie Vredevald, Director of RISE, a Cincinnati-based organization dedicated to ending acid violence. He also met with Cincinnati Law LLM graduate Arnold Abaga, who is collaborating with a graduate of Uganda Christian University (UCU) in UCU’s new human rights institute. Abaga and the institute are working with government officials to draft and pass legislation that will restrict the sale of acid. Setting aside the gloom of acid attacks, Lockwood observed that Uganda is the host to one 10 CINCINNATI LAW
Professor Bert B. Lockwood, University of Cincinnati
of the largest refugee populations in the world (most fleeing from Sudan), and that, in contrast to much of the world, Uganda wins praise for its treatment of refugees. Lockwood also met with Chief Justice of the Ugandan Supreme Court, Bart Magunda Katureebe. Following the meeting, UC Law invited Katureebe to be Judge in Residence, and he will be guest lecturing at UC soon. Finally, Lockwood visited Beijing. At the China University of Political Science and Law, he delivered four lectures (each about three hours in length) to 75 students from about 25 law schools. The topics of the talks were women’s international human rights; economic, social, and cultural rights; the U.S. and human rights; and nongovernmental organizations and human rights. Students responded with great enthusiasm to Lockwood’s lectures. A number of them even invited the professor to visit their hometowns. While in Beijing, Lockwood appeared on “China TV,” which he said is more or less the equivalent of “60 Minutes.” He noted that “the situation of human rights lawyers in China today is very difficult,” but stated that he was candid in criticism of both the U.S. and China’s records on human rights and that his talks faced no censorship of any kind. He said he believes that candor has something to do with the warm reception that the Chinese students gave him. Lockwood has been invited to teach again next summer at the China University for Political Science and Law. He said he looks forward to returning. Ever interested in opening new doors to UC students, Lockwood speculated that there soon will be opportunities for internships and studying experiences in Beijing.
PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS Cincinnati Law professors are actively engaging in the international legal field. Here’s a sample of recent activities: Timothy K. Armstrong
Professor Armstrong joined more than 80 other international academics and representatives of civil society organizations in signing the Washington Principles on Copyright Balance in Trade Agreements, which aim to provide pro-innovation policy guidance to international trade agreement negotiators.
Jennifer Bergeron
In March 2018, Professor Bergeron gave a talk on work done by the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) at the University of Graz, Austria. Professor Bergeron spoke to a group of lawyers from Macedonia in December 2017 about OIP through the International Visitor Leadership Program and the Greater Cincinnati World Affairs Council. In November 2017, Professor Bergeron gave a presentation on OIP to visiting police inspectors and commissioners from India via the U.S. Department of State’s International Leadership Program.
Felix Chang
Professor Chang presented or will present at the following:
• “Critical Approaches to Romani Studies” Conference, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, May 2017. • Professor Chang’s article, “Roma Integration ‘All the Way Down’: Lessons from Federalism and Civil Rights,” is forthcoming in the journal Critical Romani Studies.
Jacob Cogan
Professor Cogan served as co-chair of the 112th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, April 4–7, 2018, in Washington, D.C. He is currently organizing a conference in honor of Professor Hendrik Hartog, which will take place October 12–13, 2018, at Princeton University. At its recent Annual Meeting, Professor Cogan was elected to the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law. Professor Cogan recently published: Book Review, 28 European Journal of International Law 1415 (2017) (reviewing Guy Fiti Sinclair, To Reform the World: International Organizations and the Making of Modern States (2017)).
He has completed two book chapters that will be published later this year: • Younger Scholars Forum in Comparative Law, Quadrennial Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law, “Article 44,” in The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A Commentary (Ilias Fukuoka, Japan, July 25, 2018. Bantekas, Michael Stein, & Dimitris Anastasiou eds., Oxford University Press, forthcoming • Professor Chang’s article, “Asymmetries 2018). in the Generation and Transmission of Wealth,” forthcoming in the Ohio State Law “International Organizations,” in Concepts for Journal, was reviewed by Kent Schenkel International Law—Contributions to Disciplinary in “Trusts and Estates Law and the Thought (Jean d’Aspremont & Sahib Singh eds., Redistribution of Wealth,” JOTWELL, Nov. 9, Edward Elgar Publishing, forthcoming 2018). 2017.
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PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
James Hart
James Hart’s article, “UPDATE: International Human Rights,” was published in the GlobaLex November/December 2017 issue.
Brian Howe
Professor Howe traveled to Dubrovnik, Croatia’s Zagreb University in March to speak about the Ohio Innocence Project at the Crime Prevention Through Criminal Law Conference.
Ronna Schneider
Professor Schneider spent a week in October teaching French students and interacting with French colleagues regarding U.S. constitutional law, particularly with regard to the First Amendment.
Michael Solimine
Professor Solimine published “Game Theory and Private International Law” in The Encyclopedia of Private International Law (Jürgen Basedow et al., Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017).
Sandra Sperino
Professor Sperino gave a presentation at Western Law in Ontario, Canada, in November as part of the “Precarious Work, Uncertain Rights and the Role of Workplace Law” symposium on precarious workers.
Joseph Tomain
• Professor Tomain was a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome this spring. • In March, Professor Tomain gave the keynote presentation, “The Democratization of Energy in the U.S.,” at the Just Transition Conference 2018 at the Royal Scots Club in Edinburgh, Scotland. • In October, Professor Tomain presented the keynote presentation, “The Status of U.S. Climate and Clean Energy Policy,” at the 4th World Conference on Climate Change in Rome, Italy. 12 CINCINNATI LAW
Yolanda Vázquez
• Professor Vázquez co-edited a book, Race, Criminal Justice and Migration Control: Enforcing the Boundaries of Belonging, which is now in print from Oxford University Press. Included in the book is the chapter she wrote and presented at the University of Oxford, Faculty of Law, Centre for Criminology, Nov. 17, 2016, titled “Race and Identity in Legal Institutions: Enforcing the Politics of Race in Immigration and Crime Control.”
• Professor Vázquez wrote a book review on Race, Criminal Justice and Migration Control: Enforcing the Boundaries of Belonging, on the ImmProf Blog, posted on Dec. 7. • Professor Vázquez also made the following presentations: • “The Impact of Removal from the U.S. on Guatemala and Its Nationals,” 2018 SNX, Antigua, Guatemala (May 19, 2018). • “Migration, Crime and the Chinese Exclusion Act: Inequity Wrapped in Terms of Dangerousness,” University of Kansas Law Review Symposium on the topic of Inequity and the Law, Oct. 20, 2017. • “Enforcing Racial Subordination Across the Globe Through U.S. Crime and Migration Policies,” International Meeting on Law and Society, Mexico City, Mexico, June 20, 2017.
INTERNATIONAL LAW COURSES In addition to opportunities abroad, Cincinnati Law offers a range of courses examining various aspects of international law.
• Advanced Problems in Human Rights: Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, taught by
Bert Lockwood, Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Director, Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights
• Advanced Topics: Reparations at the International Criminal Court, taught by Erin
Rosenberg, Adjunct Professor of Law, Associate Legal Officer, International Criminal Court (ICC), The Hague, Netherlands
• Advanced Topics in Constitutional Law: Children and War, taught by Erica Hall, Adjunct
Professor of Law, Senior Child Rights Policy Advisor, World Vision UK
• Crimmigration, taught by Yolanda Vázquez, Associate Professor • Current Problems in Women’s International Human Rights, taught by Bert Lockwood,
Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Director, Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights
• Human Rights Seminar, taught by Julie (Arostegui) LeMaster, Adjunct Professor of Law,
Executive Director/Attorney, Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, Cincinnati
• Human Rights Seminar: The Human Rights City, taught by Bert Lockwood, Distinguished
Service Professor of Law and Director, Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights
• Immigration Law and Policy, taught by Yolanda Vázquez, Associate Professor • Immigration Law Seminar, taught by Nancy Ota, Visiting Professor • International Business Transactions, taught by Jacob Cogan, Judge Joseph P. Kinneary
Professor of Law
• International Commercial Arbitration, taught by John Pinney, Attorney, Graydon Head &
Ritchey, Cincinnati
• International Intellectual Property Law, taught by Timothy K. Armstrong, Professor of Law • International Tax, taught by Jacob Cogan, Judge Joseph P. Kinneary Professor of Law • International Trade Law, taught by Ildiko Szegedy-Maszák, Visiting Professor of Law,
Javeriana University, Colombia
• Practical Applications of Immigration Law Topics, taught by Maria T. Schneider, Attorney,
Musillo Unkenholt, Cincinnati
• Public International Law, taught by Jacob Cogan, Judge Joseph P. Kinneary Professor of Law
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