Dean Paul Schiff Berman will chair a panel on "The Impact of International Law on State Courts" as part of the Conference of Chief Justices' Midyear Meeting at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009.
Panelists include Robert B. Ahdieh, professor of law and Director of the Center on Federalism and Intersystemic Governance at Emory Law School; Donald Francis Donovan, partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York; and Margaret Marshall, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Courts.
"The panel will address the interaction of international law and state law, and seeks to educate state court judges on cutting-edge legal developments in this area," Berman said.
Berman's scholarship focuses on the intersection of international law, conflict of laws, cyberspace law, and the cultural analysis of law. Before becoming Dean at ASU, Berman was the Jesse Root Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Ahdieh's scholarly interests revolve around questions of regulatory design. His particular emphasis has been various non-traditional modes of regulation, including especially those grounded in dynamics of coordination. He has explored these issues in a variety of transactional areas, including corporate and securities law, international trade and finance, and contracts.
Donovan concentrates his practice in international disputes before courts in the United States, international arbitration tribunals, and international courts. Based on surveys of other practitioners, he was recently identified as one of the eight leading international arbitration practitioners in the world by Chambers Global 2008, which called him "one of the world's leading practitioners in both investment treaty and commercial arbitration."
Marshall, a native of South Africa, graduated from Witwaterstrand University in Johannesburg in 1966. She was an associate, and later a partner, in the Boston law firm of Csapler & Bok, and was a partner in the Boston law firm of Choate, Hall & Stewart. Before her appointment to the Supreme Judicial Court, she was Vice President and General Counsel of Harvard University. She was named Chief Justice in 1999, the first woman to serve as Chief Justice.