University of Georgia

Georgia Law students attend 2025 ASIL Annual Meeting through professional development scholarships

This year, six University of Georgia School of Law students attended the 119th Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law in Washington, D.C. This year’s ASIL Annual Meeting convened with the theme “Traditions and Transitions in International Law.”

Attendees included: Annie Bordeaux (J.D. ’27), Jack Buckelew (J.D. ’25), Eleanor Cox (J.D. ’26), Carolina Mares (J.D. ’25), Jalyn Ross (J.D. ’27), and Emma Whitmore (J.D. ’26). They received a Louis B. Sohn Professional Development Fellowship to support their 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.

Each student attended numerous panel discussions addressing a range of topics in international law. Some students were able to meet with D.C.-based Georiga Law alumni/ae as well, including Caroline Bailey (J.D. ’24) and Sandon Fernandes (J.D. ’24).

Reflecting on her biggest takeaways from attending the conference, Bordeaux stated:

The speakers…offered a powerful reminder that, even amid global instability and the uneven application of the rule of law, international law still holds the potential to serve as a means of accountability. The insights shared by brilliant professors, leaders, and researchers substantiated the idea that the role of international law remains instrumental in addressing injustice and shaping governance.

Mares reflected on her favorite session from the conference:

During the session on Grotius’ Legacy: The 400th Anniversary of The Law of War and Peace, former Georgia Law Professor Harlan Cohen and fellow panelists offered a compelling and nuanced exploration of Hugo Grotius’ seminal 1625 treatise. The Law of War and Peace laid the groundwork for modern international law, illuminating the interrelationship between human rights and legal norms, the moral dimensions of law, and the idea of law as distinct from both power and religion. Gaining historical context for today’s legal frameworks was a powerful reminder of the foundational values and enduring principles that continue to guide and inspire practitioners in the field.

Buckelew illustrated the connection between attending this conference and his academic and professional goals:

Attending the ASIL Annual Meeting gave me clarity and encouragement at a pivotal moment in my legal education. Personally, it reminded me that I came to law school with the hope of engaging with serious global issues and to be part of a community that values legal principles as tools for progress. Professionally, it helped me envision a path where I can grow into expertise, not just through formal education, but through ongoing engagement with legal communities like ASIL and others.

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

Georgia Law Professor Christopher Bruner presents at University of Maryland symposium

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Christopher M. Bruner presented on a panel discussing international corporate law forums at the Journal of Business and Technology Law 2025 symposium titled “Corporate Law Forums Outside Delaware.” The symposium was hosted by the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.

Bruner is the Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law at the University of Georgia School of Law and serves as a faculty co-director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center.

Rutgers Law professor Sarah Dadush presents working paper at final session of Georgia Law’s 2025 International Law Colloquium

The University of Georgia School of Law’s spring 2025 International Law Colloquium welcomed Sarah Dadush, Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School, who presented her working paper, “Shared Responsibility in Contract Law.” Professor Christopher Bruner, Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law and Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center at Georgia Law, served as her faculty discussant. Dadush’s presentation marks the conclusion of the 2025 International Law Colloquium.

Dadush’s scholarly focus lies in business and human rights, consumer law, and social enterprise law. She also serves as the Director of the Responsible Contracting Project (RCP), a project designed to advocate for human rights and environmental due diligence in contract drafting. The RCP is located within the Rutgers Law School’s Center for Corporate Law and Governance.

Below is an abstract of Dadush’s working paper:

At first, the notion that there is such a thing as shared responsibility in American contract law may sound fanciful, if not absurd. A key reason why parties contract in the first place is to allocate risks and responsibilities between them and to clarify who must do what to move the collaboration forward. As such, contractual obligations are understood to be binary, belonging either to one party or the other, not both. In practice, this means that, if there is a breach, only the obligated party will be held responsible, not both. And, if remedies are awarded, they will flow only from the breaching to the non-breaching party, not between them. Thus, the notion that the parties might be contractually responsible not just for their own obligations, but also for those of their counterparty, seems incoherent.

And yet, as this Article shows, it is not uncommon for courts to go beyond the express terms of the contract to make the parties share responsibility for the performance of one another’s obligations. Thus shared responsibility: Each party is held responsible for the other’s contractual (non)performance, even in the absence of an express commitment to share responsibility for performance.

This Article “goes fishing” for shared responsibility in three key areas of contract law: The contents of the contract, breach, and remedies. It demonstrates that shared responsibility is brought to bear to resolve contract disputes more often and with greater legal effect than the simple, binary understanding of contract might predict. When it enters the judicial analysis, shared responsibility can drastically change the answers to the questions: Who had the obligation to perform? Who breached? And, finally, whose harm should be remedied and how?

Having shown that shared responsibility is already a prominent, if overlooked, feature of American contract law, this Article argues that, in certain situations, courts should employ shared responsibility as a default rule. Specifically, courts should employ a shared responsibility default (SRD) when the contract was breached, or otherwise failed, and (1) both parties contributed to the failure, and (2) the failure could, or has already, generated high social costs (e.g., public endangerment, human rights violations in supply chains, consumer deception). In such situations, the SRD would activate the tort law principles of comparative negligence and proximate cause in contract, holding both parties accountable for their respective contributions to the contract’s failure and related social costs. In doing so, the SRD would equip courts to resolve contract disputes in a manner that attends to both contract policy and public policy objectives.

This year, Professor Desirée LeClercq led the colloquium, which was designed to introduce students to features of international economic law through engagement with scholars in the international legal field. To view the full list of International Law Colloquium speakers, visit our website.

This program w made possible through the Kirbo Trust Endowed Faculty Enhancement Fund and the Talmadge Law Faculty Fund.

Georgia Law Professor Lori Ringhand presents at York University in Toronto

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Lori A. Ringhand presented at the Glendon Global Dialogue series titled “Foreign Interference in Our Elections: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” last month. The event was hosted by York University’s Glendon School of Public and International Affairs in Toronto, Canada.

In addition to Ringhand, panelists included Francis Garon, Associate Professor of Political Science, Program Director of The Glendon School of Public and International Affairs; Antoine Kernen, Professor, Lausanne University; and Susan Pond, Director Glendon School of Public and International Affairs, York University.

This year’s Global Dialogue series aims to bring together renowned scholars and practitioners in political science, law, and international affairs to explore:

  • How foreign actors manipulate public opinion through disinformation and digital influence
  • The legal and policy frameworks protecting electoral integrity
  • The role of media, governments, and civil society in countering these threats

Ringhand teaches courses on constitutional law and election law. She has been a member of the University of Georgia School of Law faculty since 2008 and was named a Hosch Professor in 2012 and awarded a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professorship, UGA’s highest teaching honor, in 2021. She is a nationally known Supreme Court scholar and the author of two books about the Supreme Court confirmation process: Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings and Constitutional Change (with Paul M. Collins) published by Cambridge University Press; and Supreme Bias: Gender and Race in U.S. Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings (with Christina L. Boyd and Paul M. Collins), published by Stanford University Press. She also is the co-author of Constitutional Law: A Context and Practices Casebook, which is part of a series of casebooks dedicated to incorporating active teaching and learning methods into traditional law school casebooks. Ringhand also publishes extensively on election law related issues, and was awarded a Fulbright Distinguished Chair Award at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland to explore the different approaches to campaign finance regulation taken by the United States and the United Kingdom.

Georgia Law students Franklin Phan (J.D. ’27) and Kara Reed (J.D. ’26) receive UGA Asia-Georgia Internship Connection Scholarship

University of Georgia School of Law students Franklin Phan (J.D. ’27) and Kara Reed (J.D. ’26) were selected to receive funding for legal externships in Vietnam and Japan this summer through the UGA Office of Global Engagement’s Asia-Georgia Internship Connection Scholarship.

Both students’ scholarships will support their Global Externship Overseas (GEO), administered by Georgia Law’s Dean Rusk International Law Center. Phan will extern with KPMG Law in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where will be supervised by Georgia Law alumnus Binh Tran (J.D. ’11), Director at KPMG Law. Reed’s GEO will take place in Tokyo, Japan, where she will extern with Kuribayashi Sogo Law Office under the guidance of Georgia Law alumnus Tsutomu Kuribayashi (LL.M. ’97), Managing Director. This will be Reed’s second GEO; the summer of her first year at Georgia Law, she externed with Baker Tilly in Hamburg, Germany, under the supervision of Georgia Law alumnus Dr. Christian Engelhardt (LL.M., ’01)

In addition to their externships, both students will engage in supervised research projects. Reed will work with Christopher M. Bruner, Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law & Faculty Co-Director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center. Her project will explore the relationships at contract formation in American and Japanese law. Pamela Foohey, Allen Post Professor of Law, will oversee Phan’s research regarding mechanisms for enforcing cross-border contracts.

This scholarship funds student pursuing credit-bearing internships in southeast Asia for a duration of at least four weeks. Preference is given to students traveling to Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Posts about past recipients of this scholarship at Georgia Law can be found here.

Duke Law Professor Rachel Brewster presents working paper at Georgia Law’s International Law Colloquium

The University of Georgia School of Law’s spring 2025 International Law Colloquium welcomed Duke University School of Law’s Professor Rachel Brewster, who presented her working paper, “The Rise of Global FCPA Settlements.” Assaf Harpaz, Assistant Professor of Law at Georgia Law, served as Brewster’s faculty discussant.

Brewster is the Jeffrey and Bettysue Hughes Distinguished Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law. Her scholarly focus lies in international economic law, international dispute settlement, World Trade Organization (WTO) law, anti-corruption law, and international relations theory. Brewster currently serves as the co-director of Duke’s Center for International and Comparative Law and is co-chair of Duke’s JD-LLM in International and Comparative Law Program.

Below is an abstract of Brewster’s working paper:

For the last two decades, the United States has been the dominant enforcer of anti-bribery norms worldwide.  Using the broad extraterritorial jurisdiction granted by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission have prosecuted domestic and foreign corporations for bribing foreign government officials. This transnational enforcement system has been described as a negative comity regime: foreign governments defer to American prosecutions even if the case involves their nationals. This system has created a robust enforcement environment but often faces foreign resistance to the perceived “American dominance” of the regime.

This Article analyzes the recent rise of a new enforcement model: the global FCPA settlement, where multiple governments enter into parallel deferred prosecution agreements or other non-trial resolutions with corporate entities. This enforcement model is now the principal form for concluding “blockbuster” FCPA cases and has significant implications for the evolution of the transnational anti-bribery law regime. The Article argues that the rise of global settlements results from (1) a greater demand by foreign governments to be involved in foreign bribery resolutions when their national firms are on trial and (2) American prosecutors’ willingness to accommodate this demand when it results in more effective prosecutions (i.e., new cases, more claims, or stronger evidence). This Article contends that the rise of global FCPA settlements marks a significant shift in the international anti-bribery enforcement regime, transitioning from a negative comity to a coordinated comity regime. The global resolution model addresses some of the concerns of the negative comity regime by permitting multiple governments to have a voice in negotiating the level of the penalties, the distribution of the penalties, and any structural reforms that the firm will be required to adopt. It also can potentially increase the effectiveness of the enforcement regime by expanding the geographic scope of the investigations and quality of evidence. The Article concludes by discussing the importance of this Article to the Trump Administration’s recent executive order on FCPA enforcement.

This year, Professor Desirée LeClercq is overseeing the colloquium, which is designed to introduce students to features of international economic law through engagement with scholars in the international legal field. To view the full list of International Law Colloquium speakers, visit our website.

This program is made possible through the Kirbo Trust Endowed Faculty Enhancement Fund and the Talmadge Law Faculty Fund.

Georgia Law Professor Christopher Bruner presents on panel discussing sustainability and emerging markets

University of Georgia School of Law Professor Christopher M. Bruner presented on a panel titled “Sustainability and Emerging Markets” at the “Corporate Governance in the Global South” roundtable hosted by George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. The panel was moderated by Rosa Celorio, Associate Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies and Burnett Family Distinguished Professorial Lecturer in International and Comparative Law and Policy at George Washington University Law School.

Christopher M. Bruner is the Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law at the University of Georgia School of Law and serves as a faculty co-director of the Dean Rusk International Law Center.

Georgia Law LL.M. Students Take Professional Development Trip

Last month, the University of Georgia School of Law Master of Laws (LL.M.) class of 2025 traveled to Atlanta for a professional development trip organized by the Dean Rusk International Law Center’s director of international professional education, Dr. Laura Tate Kagel. Students were accompanied by Dr. Kagel, International Professional Education Manager Mandy Dixon, and Center Associate Director Taher Benany.

The group of foreign lawyers was hosted by the law offices of Arnall Golden Gregory, LLP for lunch and a lively discussion with legal practitioners. Abe Schear, a partner in the Real Estate and Leasing practices at AGG, offered the students sound career advice and discussed how his involvement with the International Bar Association helped him grow the firm’s international practice. Theresa Kananen related her career journey and described her current role as partner and co-chair of the Payment Systems & Fintech industry team, offering compelling illustrations of the types of cases that arise in her practice area. Glenn Hendrix, a partner in AGG’s Healthcare Group and the founding president of the Atlanta International Arbitration Society (“AtlAS”), recounted the challenges and advantages of dispute resolution in a global society. Teri Simmons (J.D. ’89), a partner and chair of the firm’s Global Mobility practice and an adjunct professor of law at UGA, and her team members Dorothea Hockel and Naina Bishnoi (LL.M. ’24), explained how they help foreign businesses avoid legal pitfalls when bringing their operations to the United States.

Professional development trips are among many opportunities offered to Georgia Law LL.M. students to foster career connections and gain insight into potential career paths. 

To learn more about the LL.M. program, click here.

Temple Law professor Trang (Mae) Nguyen presents working paper at Georgia Law’s International Law Colloquium

The University of Georgia School of Law’s spring 2025 International Law Colloquium recently hosted Temple Law’s Trang (Mae) Nguyen, who presented her working paper, “Goods’ Nationalities.” Pamela Foohey, Allen Post Professor of Law at Georgia Law, served as Nguyen’s faculty discussant.

Nguyen is an Associate Professor of Law at the Temple University Beasley School of Law and is an Affiliated Scholar at the U.S.-Asia Law Institute at the New York University School of Law. Her research focuses on business law, contracts, transnational law, and international law. Nguyen also previously held research appointments at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law, the National University of Singapore Centre for Asian Legal Studies, and the Singapore Management University Yong Pung How School of Law.

Below is an abstract of Nguyen’s working paper:

Products’ nationalities are at the center of today’s fast-changing global order. The Trump administration’s liberal use of tariffs against friends and foes, sanctions against Russian products, the banning of Chinese goods, and efforts to revitalize American manufacturing, to name just a few, all hinge on classifications of where a product is deemed “from.” But in today’s globalized economy, what exactly makes something “American” or “Chinese” or of any other nationality, for that matter?

This Article reexamines how goods acquire their designated nationalities at a time when such designation matters well beyond traditional commerce. It advances two main arguments. First, a product’s nationality is not fixed; rather, it is malleable and can vary depending upon the substantive legal regime under which the good is regulated—once predominantly trade law but now increasingly through a trade-security nexus and a trade-human rights nexus. Second, such malleability occurs through what I call an “attribute selection” process. In effect, each legal regime pivots the nationality analysis on certain “attributes” of a product, swapping and switching them as befit underlying interests and policy goals. The construction of product nationality thus occurs through mapping two separate sets of variables: first, the bundle of attributes of a product, and second, the “prisms” through which laws place significance on these attributes.

This Article makes several contributions. First, descriptively, it charts an updated account on product nationality’s expanded use, particularly in trade law’s nexus with national security and human rights. Second, conceptually, building on this updated descriptive account, it advances a novel framework—the attribute selection process—to unpack the making of product nationality. Third, normatively, it underscores how the need to use product nationality as proxy fits uneasily with the reality of global production, and how efforts to move away from nationality-based rules are likely vulnerable to similar challenges. Ultimately, while the Article makes clear that the concept of nationality is doing heavy lifting across various legal fields, it does not take a strong normative stand, opting instead to explain why taking a strong normative position is premature during fast evolving developments. Finally, the Article offers some practical considerations for policymakers, businesses, and other stakeholders as they consider product-nationality regulations going forward.

This year, Professor Desirée LeClercq is overseeing the colloquium, which is designed to introduce students to features of international economic law through engagement with scholars in the international legal field. To view the full list of International Law Colloquium speakers, visit our website.

This program is made possible through the Kirbo Trust Endowed Faculty Enhancement Fund and the Talmadge Law Faculty Fund.

Georgia Law alumna Tess Davis (J.D. ’09) featured in documentary titled “LOOT: A Story of Crime and Redemption”

University of Georgia School of Law alumna and Dean Rusk International Law Center Council member Tess Davis (J.D. ’09) was featured in the documentary “LOOT: A Story of Crime and Redemption,” which highlights the illicit art dealings of Western museums.

Below is a description of the film:

From remote Cambodian villages to elite art institutions in New York, LOOT : A Story of Crime & Redemption is a daring look into the underbelly of the multi-billion-dollar art market and the deadly reality behind ​“blood antiquities” filling Western museums today. During Cambodia’s civil war, British ​“adventurer-scholar” Douglas Latchford led an extensive criminal network, looting centuries-old temples hidden within landmine-filled jungles. The film offers access to key players, including ​“Blue Tiger” a former child soldier turned looter who now fights to return stolen artifacts.

The film tells the gripping story of the contrast of rich and poor as viewers learn about multi-million-dollar sales of works looted by Cambodian farmers paid $20.00 per week while risking their lives. LOOT : A Story of Crime and Redemption also takes viewers behind-the-scenes as stolen pieces are returned to Cambodia, including some arriving from New York’s Met Museum in July 2024. With thousands of pieces still overseas, Cambodia’s relentless struggle continues against the most powerful figures in the art world today.

Tess Davis, a lawyer and archaeologist by training, is Executive Director of the Antiquities Coalition, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation and protection of art, artifacts, and cultural pieces. She oversees the organization’s work to fight cultural racketeering and also manages the day-to-day operations of the institute’s staff in Washington, DC, as well as programs overseas. Since 2013, Davis has been affiliated with the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, at the University of Glasgow. She came to Scotland from the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation — a not-for-profit institution based in Washington, DC — where she was Executive Director until 2012. She previously worked for the nongovernmental organization Heritage Watch in Cambodia, first as Project Coordinator, and finally Assistant Director. Her career began at the Archaeological Institute of America.

Over the last decade, Davis has conducted extensive field research on the illicit trade in Cambodian antiquities, as well as legal research on the kingdom’s cultural property law. She also conceptualized and implemented a number of exciting projects in the country, including an exhibition at Angkor Wat about threats facing the temple, a hotline for the public to report archaeological discoveries or looting, and a children’s book entitled “If the Stones Could Speak.” From 2012-2014, she directed a legal internship program in Phnom Penh for international students from the Tulane-Siena Institute, who assist the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts with their legal needs. Davis has been a legal consultant for the Cambodian and US governments and works with both the art world and law enforcement to keep looted antiquities off the market. She writes and speaks widely on these issues — having been published in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, the Huffington Post, and various scholarly publications — and featured in documentaries.