Dean Rusk

Georgia Law student attends 2026 ASIL Annual Meeting through professional development scholarship

This year, University of Georgia School of Law student N’Guessan (“Clement”) Kouame (LL.M. ’24, J.D. ’26) attended the 120th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law in Washington, D.C. This year’s ASIL Annual Meeting convened with the theme “Advancing and Defending The Rule of Law.”

Kouame received a Louis B. Sohn Professional Development Fellowship to support his attendance of this conference. Awarded by the law school’s Dean Rusk International Law Center, Sohn Fellowships enable students to attend professional development opportunities related to international law.

Kouame attended numerous panel discussions addressing a range of topics in international law. He met with D.C.-based Georgia Law alumni, including Caroline Bailey (J.D. ’24) and Sandon Fernandes (J.D. ’24), both pictured above with Georgia Law Professor Desirée LeClercq, also in attendance.

Reflecting on the conference, Kouame stated:

My favorite panel discussion was the one titled “The Great AI Race: Whiter Human Rights in the AI Supply Chain.” This topic is timely and critical for the future of humanity, as AI R&D affects all human beings by harming the environment and infringing on human rights. Attending the ASIL Annual Meeting deepened my understanding and perspective on human rights protection and the use of forced and child labor from the global south in multinationals’ supply chains for AI R&D.

To read prior posts about Georgia Law students using Sohn Fellowships to attend professional development opportunities, please click here and here.

Georgia Law Professor Pamela Foohey presents at Osgoode Hall Law School (Canada)

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Pamela Foohey’s co-authored book, Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy (University of California Press, 2025), served as the central topic of a recent conference hosted by Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada.

Organized by Stephanie Ben-Ishai, Full Professor, York University Distinguished Research Professor, and York Research Chair in Law, Finance and Debt, the panels “…invite[d] Canadian scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to rethink the role of bankruptcy and insolvency law not just as technical legal regimes, but as critical indicators of how modern societies allocate risk, security, and dignity in everyday economic life.”

Foohey joined Georgia Law faculty as a full professor in 2024. She currently holds the Allen Post Professorship and teaches Bankruptcy, Secured Transactions and a Bankruptcy Practice Seminar. Specializing in bankruptcy, commercial law, consumer finance and business law, Foohey’s scholarship primarily involves empirical studies of bankruptcy and related parts of the legal system. She presently is a co-investigator on the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, a long-term research project studying persons who file bankruptcy. Data from this project serve as the basis of her co-authored book Debt’s Grip: Risk and Consumer Bankruptcy (University of California Press, 2025). Her work in business bankruptcy focuses on nonprofit entities, with a particular emphasis on how religious organizations use bankruptcy. Data from this project are included in her forthcoming book Forgive Us Our Debts: How Black Churches Use Bankruptcy to Survive (University of Chicago Press, September 2026).

Georgia Law Professor Walter Hellerstein serves as visiting professor at Vienna University of Economics and Business

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Emeritus Walter Hellerstein served as a visiting professor teaching a three-day mini-course on U.S. state taxation of foreign taxpayers at the Vienna University of Economics and Business in Austria during March.

Hellerstein is the Distinguished Research Professor & Francis Shackelford Distinguished Professor in Taxation Law Emeritus. He is a recipient of the National Tax Association’s Daniel M. Holland Medal for outstanding lifetime contributions to the study and practice of public finance, is widely regarded as the nation’s leading academician on state and local taxation. He has authored numerous books, textbooks, and law review articles, and has practiced extensively in the field. Hellerstein is currently a Visiting Professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and he remains actively involved in his scholarship, consulting, and, in particular, his work as an academic advisor to the OECD.

Rusk Center Associate Director Taher Benany participates in interdisciplinary panel discussion about Iran

Taher Benany, Associate Director of the University of Georgia School of Law’s Dean Rusk International Law Center, recently participated in an interdisciplinary panel discussion entitled: “The Iran War: Causes, Costs, & Future.” Organized by UGA’s chapter of The Alexander Hamilton Society (AHS), a non-partisan, student-led organization promoting debate on foreign policy.

Panelists included Jeffrey D. Berejikian, a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Georgia, and Professor in the Department of International Affairs; Tim Samples, Professor of Legal Studies at the Terry College of Business; and Eli Sperling, Israel Institute Teaching Fellow at the School of Public and International Affairs. The panel was moderated by Wells Benjamin, Vice President of AHS. They examined the causes of the war, assessed its consequences both for humans and foreign policy strategy, and explored future directions for the Middle East and the rules-based international order.

Benany joined the Rusk Center in 2025. In this role, among other things, he oversees global international training programs as well as plans and implements international law research initiatives, events, and conferences. He acted as a public international law lecturer at the British University in Egypt and served as a public international law expert for the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation. He also served as a legal fellow for the United Nations Human Rights Council and advised an African state on the Council.  

Georgia Law students finish as semifinalists at the Tulane International Fútbol Negotiation Competition

University of Georgia School of Law students Elisa Lara (J.D. ’27) and Supreme Unukegwo (LL.M. ’22, J.D. ’26) finished as semifinalists at the Tulane International Fútbol Negotiation Competition. Vernesha Brown (J.D. ’27) and Porter Tynes (J.D. ’27) also participated in the competition, which was hosted by Tulane University during March.

The competition is a “simulated contract negotiation competition using real-life international soccer/fútbol clubs and players in hypothetical scenarios.”

Both teams were coached by Sports Law Program Director Myles B. Solomon and Negotiation Team Coach Noël Couch (J.D. ’18).

Georgia Law Professor Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge presents at the London School of Economics

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge presented “Arbitration and Peace” at The London School of Economics Law School during March. 

Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge holds the Talmadge Chair of Law. From 2015 through 2024, he served as dean of the University of Georgia School of Law. He is the author of the book Arbitration and the Constitution and co-author with Gary Born of the book International Civil Litigation in United States Courts. His works have been published by the Yale University Press, the Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press, and his articles have appeared in a diverse array of journals such as The University of Chicago Law Review, the Vanderbilt Law Review and the Journal of International Arbitration. He also regularly advises parties on matters of international dispute resolution (litigation and arbitration).

Georgia Law finishes near the top at Jessup international competition

Earlier this month, the University of Georgia School of Law finished in the top half of the international rounds and in the top 10% worldwide of the 2026 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. Their memorial ranked in the top third at the international rounds. This year’s team included Georgia Law students Emma Hopkins (J.D. ’27), Jacob Levy (J.D. ’27), Lionel Rubio (J.D. ’27), Nathan Whisamore (J.D. ’27), and Morgan Pfohl (J.D. ’26). Jessup is the world’s largest moot court competition, bringing together students from across the globe to engage with pressing international legal challenges.

Georgia Law’s team advanced to the international rounds after finishing eighth in the first U.S. Super Regional Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

Georgia Law student Marion Kronauge (J.D. ’26) served as a student coach, while Caleb Grant (J.D. ’23) served as the alumni coach. Taher Benany, Associate Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center, also served as a coach for the team.

The Jessup competition is the world’s largest moot court tournament that typically fields teams from roughly 800 law schools in 100 countries and jurisdictions around the globe. Georgia Law’s past performances in Jessup competitions can be found here.

Georgia Law Professor Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge presents at City University of Hong Kong

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge presented “Arbitration and Peace” as part of the Research Seminar Series at the City University of Hong Kong School of Law during March.  

Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge holds the Talmadge Chair of Law. From 2015 through 2024, he served as dean of the University of Georgia School of Law. He is the author of the book Arbitration and the Constitution and co-author with Gary Born of the book International Civil Litigation in United States Courts. His works have been published by the Yale University Press, the Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press, and his articles have appeared in a diverse array of journals such as The University of Chicago Law Review, the Vanderbilt Law Review and the Journal of International Arbitration. He also regularly advises parties on matters of international dispute resolution (litigation and arbitration).

Georgia Law Professor Desirée LeClercq speaks at the Texas International Law Journal symposium

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Desirée LeClercq presented as part of the Texas International Law Journal symposium titled “Critical Perspectives on AI: Security, Governance, Labor and the Environment,” held in February at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

LeClercq joined the University of Georgia School of Law in 2024 as an assistant professor. She teaches Contracts, International Trade and Workers Rights, International Labor Law, U.S. Labor Law, and Public International Law. She also serves as a faculty co-director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center and as the faculty adviser for the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law and the Labor and Employment Student Association. 

Buddy Parker presents “Follow the Money: Recovering the Proceeds of International Crime” at Georgia Law

The University of Georgia School of Law’s International Law Society recently hosted former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney Wilmer “Buddy” Parker in an event entitled “Follow the Money: Recovering the Proceeds of International Crime.”

After being introduced by Georgia Law student Andrei Niveaux (LL.M. ’26), Parker reflected on the shifting landscape of global asset recovery throughout his fifty plus years of experience in the field. He talked about his professional background and career trajectory litigating high profile criminal cases for both the United States Department of Justice and as a private defense attorney. Parker’s talk spanned the history of asset recovery and discussed contemporary issues in fraud, money-laundering, and forfeiture matters.

Parker entered Government service in 1978 in Washington, D.C., as a Trial Attorney with the Criminal Section of the Tax Division of the Department of Justice. He participated in investigations and prosecutions of tax and related frauds across the country. In 1983, Parker transferred to the U.S. Attorneys office for the Northern District of Georgia. During his tenure as an Assistant United States Attorney in Atlanta, Parker participated in hundreds of investigations and prosecutions of complex financial activities involving money laundering/fraud and racketeering, and international narcotics trafficking. Parker became a supervising Assistant U.S. Attorney managing cases as well as maintaining his own trial calendar. From his investigations in the Atlanta U.S. Attorneys office, he became one of the pioneers of U.S. money laundering prosecutions with their attendant forfeitures. Through the international aspects of these investigations, he became a recognized expert on money laundering and U.S. forfeiture law, making numerous presentations throughout Europe, North America and the Caribbean.

Since 1997, Parker has primarily represented individuals and corporations in far-reaching criminal investigations and prosecutions throughout the United States and internationally. He has also represented individuals in complex civil litigation. He has represented both public and private corporations, lawyers, accountants, corporate officers, bankers and other professionals in various mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, healthcare fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, immigration, public corruption, commercial bribery, RICO and forfeiture investigations and prosecutions. He has also participated in investigations before the Serious Fraud Office (United Kingdom) and acted as a consultant to European lawyers in international matters.