Month: February 2020

Georgia Law Prof Amann among scholars at Temple Law roundtable on new international criminal law book

University of Georgia Law Professor Diane Marie Amann was one of a dozen scholars from the United States, Canada, and Italy who took part in a book roundtable Friday at Temple University Beasley School of Law in Philadelphia.

Organized by Temple Law Professor Margaret M. deGuzman, the roundtable focused on Justice in Extreme Cases: Criminal Law Theory Meets International Criminal Law, a forthcoming Cambridge University Press volume by Professor Darryl Robinson of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Scholars touched on issues including both the interrelation of international criminal law with other fields of law and the methodologies of interpreting international criminal law – and how these considerations affected doctrines like mens rea and command responsibility. Contributions to the roundtable are due to be published in a future issue of Temple’s international law journal.

Professor Amann is the Emily & Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law and a Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center here at Georgia Law. Her prior work on command responsibility includes writings here and here.

(Roundtable photo above thanks to another scholar-participant, Mark Kersten)

Foreign media quote Georgia Law Professor Elizabeth Burch on mass tort suits against Bayer herbicide Roundup

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, an expert on mass torts and complex litigation, recently was quoted in overseas news media regarding ongoing lawsuits against Bayer AG, the Germany-based multinational corporation.

The reporting centered on negotiations to end U.S. litigation in which tens of thousands of plaintiffs have alleged that glyphosate, an ingredient in the Bayer herbicide Roundup, is a carcinogen that causes non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In an article entitled “Bayer vor Glyphosat-Einigung – So sieht der teure Plan aus” (“Bayer before the Glyphosate Agreement – This Is What the Expensive Plan Looks Like”), reporters Bert Fröndhoff and Katharina Kort wrote:

“Legal expert Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, professor at the University of Georgia, thinks it makes sense in principle to withdraw the product from the market beyond agricultural use. ‘But even that doesn’t solve the problem of complaints that can come from those who have already used the product,’ warns the lawyer.”

(Translated from the original German.) The article appeared in Handelsblatt, a business newspaper headquartered in Düsseldorf.

A separate article on the same subject, “Q&A – What Are the Obstacles to Bayer Settling Roundup Lawsuits,” appeared in Israel’s Haaretz. It this article, Reuters reporter Tina Bellon wrote:

“Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on average can take up to 10 years to emerge, increasing the likelihood of claims being filed after the litigation has settled. Product liability settlements generally include a cut-off date for future claimants and need to be properly funded for a court to approve the agreement.

“As long as the product continues to be sold without changes to the label, plaintiffs may continue to file lawsuits, said Elizabeth Burch, a law professor at the University of Georgia.”

Professor Burch, holder of the Fuller E. Callaway Chair of Law here at the University of Georgia School of Law,  is the author of Mass Tort Deals: Backroom Bargaining in Multidistrict Litigation (Cambridge University Press 2019). In 2017, she presented at an international conference held by Tel Aviv University.

Expert in international migration law and policy, Oslo-based Tom Syring, gives talks at Georgia Law

Migration and the rule of law, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, was the topic du jour yesterday at the University of Georgia School of Law, thanks to guest lectures by Tom Syring, Chairman of the Human Rights Research League, based in Oslo, Norway.

As the 2020 American-Scandinavian Foundation Visiting Lecturer, Syring is an expert in international refugee and migration law and policy, and co-editor, with Boston University Law Professor Susan Akram, of Still Waiting for Tomorrow: The Law and Politics of Unresolved Refugee Crises (2014). His visit to Georgia Law was part of a 2-month lecture and teaching tour that also includes stops in U.S. locations including Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Texas.

Following his public, lunch-hour talk on “Refugees, Forced Migration, and Africa,” Syring met with students in the Refugee & Asylum Law seminar (pictured above) led by Georgia Law Professor Diane Marie Amann.

Together, the talks set forth:

Syring ended on a high note, pointing to the promising potential represented by countries in Africa, a continent rich in resources and a young, vibrant populace.

Cosponsors of the visit, in addition to Georgia Law’s Dean Rusk International Law Center and the American-Scandinavian Foundation, included two University of Georgia units, the African Studies Institute and the School of Public & International Affairs.

Special thanks are due to all those affiliated with Georgia Law who supported Syring’s visit: Mandy Dixon, Catrina Martin, Brad Grove, Sarah Quinn, Heidi Murphy, and Laura Kagel, as well as Professors Lori Ringhand and Harlan Cohen.

Georgia Law Professors Cohen, Durkee present at Miami Law for ASIL international economic law biennial

Two international law experts here at the University of Georgia School of Law presented their scholarship and took part in panel discussions at “Designing International Economic Law: Challenges and Opportunities,” an American Society of International Law biennial conference held last week at the University of Miami School of Law.

Harlan G. Cohen, Gabriel M. Wilner/UGA Foundation Professor in International Law and Faculty Co-Director of our Dean Rusk International Law Center, presented “Nations and Markets,” and also participated in a roundtable on “Critical Perspectives on International Economic Law.”

Professor Melissa J. Durkee, J. Alton Hosch Associate Professor of Law, presented “Interpretive Entrepreneurs and the Re-Design of International Economic Law.”

The 2-day conference included scholars and practitioners from Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, South Africa, Switzerland, and Turkey, as well as the United States.

(photo credits here and here)

Georgia Law Community HeLP Clinic seeks immigration law staff attorney

The University of Georgia School of Law welcomes applications for the position of full-time staff attorney at our Community Health Law Partnership Clinic, which, as indicated in this prior post, represents noncitizens and low-income persons, primarily in the areas of immigration law and public benefits law.

Known as Community HeLP, this clinic has operated since 2014 as a medical-legal partnership serving the Athens, Georgia, area. It is one of Georgia Law’s 19 clinical and externship initiatives, several of which engage staff attorneys or legal fellows.

The Community HeLP staff attorney will work with the Clinic’s Director, Jason A. Cade, J. Alton Hosch Associate Professor of Law (prior posts), as well as administrative staff and community partners, to ensure the effective management of the clinic.

Based on a clinical practice model, the staff attorney’s duties will include:

  • Helping to supervise law school students enrolled in the Community HeLP Clinic, who are representing clients or engaging in advocacy projects, and further assisting with the Clinic seminar (pictured above) for those students;
  • Building and maintaining community partnerships and referral relationships.
  • Assuming primary responsibility for cases that either begin outside of, or do not conclude during, the academic year; or that exceed the capacity of students to handle during the academic year.

Qualifications sought include:

  • Possession of a J.D. degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association and of a license to practice law in at least one U.S. state. Candidates admitted to a state bar other than Georgia will be expected to seek admission to the Georgia Bar within six months of hire.
  • Outstanding skills in administrative advocacy; excellent written and oral communication abilities; a demonstrated commitment to public interest law and working with underserved populations; strong organizational and time-management skills; an ability to supervise law students effectively; and an ability to build and maintain community relationships.

Preference will be given to applicants who are fluent in both Spanish and English and who have at least two years’ practice experience in immigration law, ideally including some representation of clients in detention or removal proceedings.

For further information, contact Professor Cade at cadej@uga.edu.

Applications may be submitted here. Those received by March 16, 2020, will be assured consideration; thereafter, applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

Cohen presents “Nations and Markets” at Michigan Law workshop

Harlan G. Cohen, Gabriel M. Wilner/UGA Foundation Professor in International Law and Faculty Co-Director of Dean Rusk International Law Center, recently presented “Nations and Markets” at the International Law Workshop at the University of Michigan Law School.

Led by Michigan Law Professor Monica Hakimi, this course features presentations and discussions of works in progress by leading international legal scholars. In addition to Professor Cohen, the Spring 2020 course will include presentations by professors from Cornell Law, Max Planck-Hamburg, Temple Law, University College London, Northwestern Law, California-Berkeley Law, and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

Georgia Law Professor Walter Hellerstein takes part in EU Court of Justice tax law conference in Vienna

Walter Hellerstein, Distinguished Research Professor & Shackelford Distinguished Professor in Taxation Law Emeritus here at the University of Georgia School of Law,  took part in “Court of Justice of the European Union: Recent VAT Case Law Conference“, held last week at the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law, Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Hellerstein was a member of the panel on “Fundamental Principles and VAT,” and chaired two additional panels.