public diplomacy

Melanie Moltmann, German Consul General in Atlanta, speaks at Georgia Law

This week, the German Consul General in Atlanta, Melanie Moltmann, delivered a lecture at the University of Georgia School of Law entitled: “Germany’s Bilateral Relations with Georgia and the United States.” This event was the most recent installment of the Center’s ongoing Consular Series, which presents students, staff, and faculty with global perspectives on international trade, cooperation, development, and policy.

Moltmann spoke with students about her diplomatic career, including her previous roles in Germany, Uzbekistan, and Armenia. She discussed the historic economic and cultural ties between the United States and Germany, as well as those between the state of Georgia and Germany. Moltmann assumed her current position in Atlanta in September 2021, overseeing a consular district that includes Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. She was joined by Josephine Hertzberg, who is currently completing a legal internship at the German Consulate General in Atlanta.

After her lecture, Moltmann and Hertzberg had a lunch in the Center’s Louis B. Sohn Library with several Georgia Law students who have connections with Germany: Alexis Bartholomew (J.D. ’26), who completed a semester-long Global Externship Overseas (GEO) in fall 2025 in Stuttgart, Germany; Megan Greeley Bradford (J.D. ’26), who completed a summer 2025 GEO in Cologne, Germany; Pace Cassell (J.D. ’26), who completed a semester-long GEO in spring 2025 in Hamburg, Germany with the support of a grant from the Halle Foundation; and Daniel Köhl (LL.M. ’26), a current LL.M. student originally from Germany.

Georgia Law Professor Desirée LeClercq and former U.S. diplomat Christina Hardaway discuss careers in public international law and diplomacy

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Desirée LeClercq and former U.S. diplomat Christina Hardaway discussed their career trajectories and experiences working internationally in a recent law school panel discussion, “Working in Public International Law and Diplomacy.”

After introducing themselves and outlining their academic and professional paths, LeClercq and Hardaway took questions from the audience. They talked about the importance of soft skills in diplomatic work, how to develop your expertise in domestic affairs to make yourself more marketable overseas, the challenges of living abroad, and detailed both the rewards and complexities of committing to a career in public service.

Hardaway is a former diplomat (Foreign Service Officer) for the U.S. Department of State with a 14-year career spanning Latin America, Europe, and Africa.  She most recently completed a diplomatic assignment at the U.S. Consulate General in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where she advanced U.S. economic, security, and commercial priorities on the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to that, Hardaway served as Deputy Chief of the Political-Economic Section at the U.S. Embassy in Cameroon leading the mission’s economic and commercial portfolio. Her previous assignments include gender and entrepreneurship officer in the Bureau of African Affairs, energy and environment officer at the U.S. Embassy in The Hague, consular officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey, Mexico, and a detail at the U.S. African Development Foundation.

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, International Law and 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. From 2016 to 2020, she served as a director of labor affairs in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Before joining USTR, LeClercq worked for nearly a decade as a legal officer at the International Labor Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and served as staff counsel for the chairman of the National Labor Relations Board.

This event was part of the Dean Rusk International Law Center’s ongoing Consular Series, which presents students, staff, and faculty with global perspectives on international trade, cooperation, development, and policy.