University of Kansas School of Law
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Message from the Associate Dean
Greetings from the University of Kansas School of Law and the International & Comparative Law Program!
We have just wrapped up a spring semester unlike any we've experienced before. Students spent half of the semester doing coursework remotely and navigating the uncertainty created by COVID-19. The situation is changing quickly, and we are paying close attention to the public health experts' guidelines and recommendations.
We understand the added challenges and uncertainties many of our current and prospective international students are experiencing, but we are proud of the hard work our dean and colleagues, KU's International Affairs Office, and so many others have been making to support international students and programs with a view to the future. Thank you for your patience during this unprecedented and challenging time.
In this edition of our International & Comparative Law newsletter, you'll learn about cutting-edge research; faculty service; an exchange student from the University of Aberdeen School of Law's experience at KU Law; three S.J.D. students who recently defended their doctoral dissertations; alumni news and more.
Best regards,
Virginia Harper Ho
Professor and Associate Dean,
International and Comparative Law
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International and Comparative Law Faculty
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Numerous KU Law faculty are involved in international and comparative law, including:
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For more information about
KU Law's International & Comparative Law Program, visit
law.ku.edu/icl
.
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Degrees for international students at KU Law
The University of Kansas School of Law offers a first-class program in international and comparative law. At its core is a menu of courses in the areas most relevant to practice around the world, including international business and commercial law, intellectual property law, environmental law and international dispute resolution. To learn more,
view the informational flier about KU Law's ICL program.
KU Law offers four degree programs, including the J.D., Two-Year J.D., LL.M. in American Legal Studies, and S.J.D.
Learn more about graduate degree programs:
International LL.M. |
S.J.D.
| Two-Year J.D.
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KU Law partners with United Nations to train diplomats on indigenous issues, conflict resolution
Students at the University of Kansas School of Law will have a chance to train diplomats on indigenous issues and conflict resolution as part of a new partnership.
The KU School of Law recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to provide skills development training for diplomats at the UN.
KU Law students and faculty will lead training sessions each semester on topics related to the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goals. The 17 sustainable goals in Agenda 2030 cover issues including eliminating poverty, eliminating hunger, gender equality and quality education.
Professor Shawn Watts is leading the project for the school. Watts has led similar workshops for UNITAR for the past four years.
Read more
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Book outlines how agriculture can be revolutionized, supported by new international bodies
A new book by a KU Law professor outlines how agriculture can be revolutionized and supported by new international bodies.
John Head, the Robert W. Wagstaff Distinguished Professor of Law at KU, has written "A Global Corporate Trust for Agroecological Integrity: New Agriculture in a World of Legitimate Eco-States." Head's book outlines how institutional changes could form entities that oversee agricultural concerns in what he calls "eco-states" instead of nation-states.
The book is the second in a series of three on transforming the world's agricultural practices and the resulting necessary legal reforms. "International Law and Agroecological Husbandry: Building Legal Foundations for a New Agriculture" was published in 2016 and outlines the legal changes necessary, while the second book addresses institutional reforms.
Read more
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Law professor
receives international educator award
KU Law Professor Virginia Harper Ho received the 2019 George and Eleanor Woodyard International Educator Award. The award is coordinated by KU International Affairs.
Harper Ho was recognized for her work to internationalize the curriculum at KU Law, develop cross-border programs with KU's international partners, encourage and facilitate study abroad, and recruit and mentor international students and scholars. She serves as the law school's associate dean for international and comparative law and is an Earl B. Shurtz Research Professor.
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Law school adapts course offerings and policies in response to COVID-19
In response to a shift to online learning and changing circumstances created by the coronavirus, the University of Kansas School of Law has added courses to its summer schedule and temporarily changed some academic policies.
Changes include: additional summer course options for upper-level students; changes to the school's
spring 2020 grading policy, scholarship retention and continuing enrollment policies; increased funding for summer public interest stipends; and flexibility for international student start dates for the 2020-2021 academic year.
"We are in a very different place now than we were when we started the semester," said
Stephen Mazza, dean and professor of law. "Despite that, we have a responsibility to continue to prepare students to practice law, particularly in this time when compassionate and well-trained advocates will be so important."
Read more
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Professor participates in Congressional staff delegation visit to China
Virginia Harper Ho participated in a 10-day Congressional staff delegation visit to China through the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR) in November 2019. While in China, Harper Ho served as a scholar escort and educated a bipartisan group of senior Congressional staff on issues relating to China and U.S.-China relations. The group visited Beijing, Kunming and Pu'er.
Harper Ho was selected competitively to participate in the delegation through her role as a fellow in the NCUSCR's Public Intellectuals Program.
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Exchange student from University of Aberdeen gains international perspective at KU Law while earning LL.B. degree
Ioanna Tsingi participated in an exchange program during the spring semester at KU Law. Tsingi is a third-year law student pursuing a LL.B. degree from the University of Aberdeen School of Law in Aberdeen, Scotland. KU Law has hosted an exchange program with the University of Aberdeen for five years.
Tsingi studies law in the United Kingdom, but she is originally from Famagusta, Cyrpus. She enjoys the opportunity to observe different cultures and perspectives through her studies in both Scotland and the United States.
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S.J.D. graduate joins faculty at university in India
In 2019, Dr. Vivek Sehrawat was appointed as an assistant professor at BML Munjal University in Gurgaon, India, near his hometown of Delhi. After graduating from KU Law with an S.J.D. in 2017, Sehrawat continued his research as a visiting scholar at the University of California Davis School of Law. His scholarship has been published in the
Santa Clara High Technology Journal and the
Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs.
Sehrawat is teaching courses on Indian legal systems, English legal writing, national security, torts, international law and international humanitarian law. Sehrawat said he is enjoying teaching and interacting with students.
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(From left) Lawand Abdulrahman, Ahmed Abdullah and Saud Al-Roweilly defended their S.J.D. dissertations this spring.
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Three scholars defend S.J.D. dissertations
The University of Kansas School of Law is one of the few law schools in the United States to offer a
Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.),
a research doctorate in law. The S.J.D. program is designed for students interested in deep legal research and writing, and a career as a legal scholar or a senior public official.
Iraqi scholar
Lawand Abdulrahman
defended his dissertation, "Refugee Protection in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Current Problems and the Role of National and International Law" in May 2020. Dr. Abdulrahman earned his KU Law Doctor of Juridical Science with honors. Abdulrahman plans to return to the Kurdistan region of Iraq to resume his work as a protection associate for the United National High Commissioner in Iraq. His service at the UNHCR has involved him in attempting to redress one of the most dire refugee crises in the world. For the last several years, Abdulrahman has balanced a more than full-time job with his studies as an S.J.D. student. His return this spring to finish and defend his dissertation involved leaving the refugee crisis in Iraq to return to Lawrence during our current pandemic.
Saudi Arabian scholar
Ahmed Abdullah
defended his dissertation, "Consumers' Personal Data Protection in Saudi Arabia: A Comparative Analytical Study," in March 2020. He earned his KU Law Doctor of Juridical Science with honors. Dr. Abdullah plans to return to Saudi Arabia to teach on the law faculty at Saudi Electronic University.
Saudi Arabian scholar Saud Al-Roweilly
defended his dissertation, "Law and Regulations for New Telecommunications: A Global Survey of Law" in May 2020. Dr. Al-Roweilly earned a KU Law Doctor of Juridical Science with honors. Dr. Al-Roweilly plans to return to Saudi Arabia to resume his career as a legal advisor at the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC).
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(From left) Betsy Donahue, Ryan Gordon,
Eric Brauninger, Sowensky Lumene and
Malika Baker competed at the Jessup Rocky Mountain Regional Championship.
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Students compete in international law moot court competition
3L Malika Baker, 2L Eric Brauninger, 1L Betsy Donahue, 2L Ryan Gordon and 2L Sowensky Lumene put their moot court skills to the test in February as they competed in the Jessup Rocky Mountain Regional Championship in Denver. The team advocated on both sides of a set of disputes between two hypothetical states before the International Court of Justice. The team was coached by KU Law Professors Lua Yuille and John Head.
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Blog: Valeria Carbajal reflects on opportunity to study abroad in Ireland
Seven students, including 2L Valeria Carbajal, participated in KU Law's three-week long study abroad program in Ireland this past summer. They visited Dublin, Limerick and Galway while delving into comparative law and counterterrorism law in the classroom.
"Experiencing the culture was my favorite part of it all, and if there is anything I'll remember about law school in the future, it will be this trip!" Carbajal said.
Read more on the KU Law blog
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Raj Bhala
,
Brenneisen Distinguished Professor, is an active scholar, researcher, and expert in international
and comparative
law.
Bhala is the author of the four-volume International Trade
Law: A Comprehensive Textbook;
the first treatise on GATT in nearly 50 years,
Modern GATT Law;
and a textbook on Islamic Law,
Understanding Islamic Law
(Sharī'a)
. Bhala writes a monthly "On Point" column, which is published by BloombergQuint (India) (
www.bloombergquint.com
). Bhala's recent work in international and comparative law includes:
- Among the world's most widely-recognized International Trade Law scholars, Raj Bhala delivered the Keynote Address at the University of Saint Thomas Law Journal Annual Law Symposium on "Sovereignty in a Fragmenting, Globalizing World." His Address, entitled "Countering Nationalist Trade Policy through Catechesis on Catholic Social Justice Theory and Literary Interpretative Methodology," is the basis for his law review article in the Symposium issue.
- Raj co-authored with Eric Witmer (L'17) the lead article in the Connecticut Journal of International Law, "Interpreting Interpretation: Textual, Contextual, and Pragmatic Interpretative Methods for International Trade Law," volume 35, issue 2, 58-126 (Fall 2019).
- Raj co-authored the "WTO Case Review 2018," 37 Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law issue 1, 49-135 (February 2020) with KU Law alumni Shannon Keating (L'13), Eric Witmer (L'17) and Cody Wood (L'17), and Professor David Gantz (University of Arizona College of Law). Dating from 2000, their annual publication is the longest-running review of WTO Appellate Body jurisprudence in the world.
- Raj's book chapter, "Why the WTO Adjudicatory Crisis Will Not Be Easily Resolved: Defining and Responding to 'Judicial Activism,'" was published in Chief Justice Chang-fa Lo, Taiwan Constitutional Court, Junji Nakagawa & Tsai-fang Chen eds., The Appellate Body of the WTO and Its Reform, Chapter 7, 111-123 (Singapore: Springer, 2020).
- Frequently quoted in international, national, and regional media, Raj appeared on 13 occasions on television, radio, and in print, on Arirang TV (Korea, twice) and TBS eFM (Korea), Euronews Tonight (France), Xinhua (China), BloombergQuint (India), Fortune (U.S., twice), Los Angeles Times, Canadian Bar Magazine (Ottawa), and Hutch Post (Kansas). His monthly "On Point" columns with Bloomberg Quint, which reach through primary distribution approximately 2.9 million readers, plus 400,000 financial market professionals using Bloomberg terminals, were on "The Death Of The Supreme Court Of International Trade," "The World In 2030: Twenty-Somethings Will Define The 2020s," "U.S. Election 2020: Grading America's Foreign Trade Policy," "The Trump-Modi Deal: Trade As A Business Contract," and "COVID-19 And The New "Healthy Trade" Paradigm."
- As the only member at KU of the Council on Foreign Relations, Raj participated in CFR National Conference Calls on the Coronavirus and Its Effects in China," "Iran -The Road Ahead: A Conversation with Tony Blair," "President Trump's Trip to India," "Turbulence in Energy Markets," and "COVID-19 and the Deepening Crises of the Middle East."
- Bhala delivered an online lecture on "International Trade Law and Policy amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond." The webinar was organized by the Vivekananda School of Law and Legal Studies in New Delhi, India. The webinar was arranged by Bhala's friend, Professor Rashmi Salpekar, Dean, Vivekananda School of Law and Legal Studies, Vibekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Affiliate Guru Govind Indraprastha University, Delhi.
- Along with Cody Wood (L'17), Raj presented at a webinar sponsored by the International Relations Council of Kansas City and World Trade Center of Kansas City on "Supplying and Sustaining a Prepared Public Health Infrastructure."
Chris Drahozal is an internationally known scholar whose writing focuses on the law and economics of dispute resolution, particularly arbitration. He is the John M. Rounds Professor of Law at KU Law. Drahozal is the author of multiple books and numerous articles on commercial arbitration. He has given presentations on the subject in Europe, Asia, South America, Canada and the United States, and has testified before Congress and state legislatures on arbitration matters as well. His recent work in international and comparative law includes:
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Drahozal played a key role in recent efforts to clarify U.S. law governing international arbitration. Drahozal served as an Associate Reporter for the Restatement of the U.S. Law of International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration. In June 2019,
the American Law Institute approved the Restatement, which helps guide judges and lawyers in international arbitration cases.
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Drahozal participated in the Dispute Resolution Law Journal's Annual Symposium at Pepperdine University's Caruso School of Law on "The History and Future of the ALI Restatement on International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration" in February 2020.
He co-moderated a panel providing an "Introduction to the ALI Restatement on International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration" and participated in a Reporters' Roundtable on the Restatement.
Virginia Harper Ho
is the Associate Dean for International & Comparative Law, Professor of Law, a past Docking Faculty Scholar, and the Co-Director of the Polsinelli Transactional Law Center. She was named as an Earl B. Shurtz Research Professor in 2019. Her research focuses on the intersections of corporate governance, sustainability and finance from a comparative perspective. She has written recently on financial disclosure, shareholder activism, comparative corporate governance and China's green finance reforms. Her recent work in international and comparative law includes:
- Harper Ho was selected competitively to be only one of seven presenters at the American Society of Comparative Law (ASCL) Annual Comparative Law Works-in-Progress Workshop at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. The event will be in presented in June 2020 in an online format. Harper Ho's paper presents a new theory for how public and private actors can share targeted law and policy solutions to common global problems, like climate change. The article is entitled: "Accelerating Transnational Regulatory Innovation: A Network Production Model."
- Harper Ho's recent publications include the following articles on public company non-financial (i.e. "environmental, social, and governance" or ESG) reporting reform from a comparative perspective: "Non-financial Reporting & Corporate Governance: Explaining American Divergence and Its Implications for Disclosure Reform, Symposium: Non-Financial Reporting for a Sustainable Circular Economy: Towards Greater Policy Coherence, 10 Accounting, Economics & Law: A Convivium (forthcoming); and "ESG Disclosure: Optimizing Private Ordering in Public Reporting," 41 University of Pennsylvania International Law Journal 249 (2019) (with Stephen Park).
- She also has a forthcoming book chapter on "Board Duties: Monitoring, Risk Management & Compliance," in the Handbook of Comparative Corporate Governance, Afra Afsharipour & Martin Gelter, eds. (Edward Elgar).
- Harper Ho participated in a panel at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools on "The Place of East Asian Law Scholars and Teachers at U.S. Law Schools."
- Harper Ho also presented on "China & the Global Economy" to the KU International Officers' Program, a series of briefings on international business and economics in November 2019 that was attended by over 300 military officers from several dozen countries.
- Harper Ho was recently invited by Brazil's Securities & Exchange Commission, the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), and its Chairman to present at an internal agency workshop as part of their efforts to consider possible green finance reforms. The CVM plans to reschedule due to COVID-19. Harper Ho will discuss proposed paths for non-financial or "environmental, social, and governance" (ESG) disclosure reform in the U.S.
John Head
's scholarly books and articles focus mainly on international and comparative law, with emphasis on the legal aspects of international business, international environmental protection and international economic relations. He has also authored or co-authored several books on Chinese law. His current research projects revolve around international agricultural law and policy.
Head is the Robert W. Wagstaff Distinguished Professor at KU Law. His recent work in international and comparative law includes:
- Head made a presentation about international economic relations to the KU International Officers' Program, a series of briefings on international business and economics to about 300 military officers from several dozen countries. His presentation summarized the global system of economic law and institutions.
- He participated in a one-week conference in Hong Kong focusing on Chinese moral psychology. His contribution was a paper and presentation analyzing several instances of teachings (especially Confucianism and neo-Confucianism) that provide a moral content to law in dynastic China. The proceedings of the conference are to be published in a book in 2020.
- Head participated in a three-day Ecosphere Studies gathering at The Land Institute (Salina, KS), where he made a presentation (in person and by Zoom) to colleagues interested (or feigning interest) in his current book project exploring certain legal and institutional reforms to facilitate a transformation of global agriculture to a more "natural-systems" approach.
- Head completed a six-month stint as Interim Associate Dean for International and Comparative Law - but continued with the "ISSI" (International Scholars and Students Initiative) program he had initiated in fall 2019 to provide a welcoming community within Green Hall for persons sharing international background and interests.
- He accompanied KU Law's Jessup international law moot court team to Denver for the regional competition in that program. Head coached the team with Professor Lua Yuille in preceding months.
- Head serves in the capacity of a mentor for a (sophomore) University Scholar interested in law, international affairs and environmental issues, and in that role he participated in the University Scholars banquet.
- Head completed, over spring break, the manuscript for "Deep Agroecology and the Homeric Epics," which is the third book in a three-book series involving international law, agricultural reform and ecological restoration. The manuscript has been accepted for publication by Routledge Press, which published "International Law and Agroecological Husbandry" in 2016 and "A Global Corporate Trust for Agroecological Integrity" in 2019, the first and second books in the series.
Uma Outka
works at the intersection of energy law and environmental law. Outka is the associate dean for faculty and a William R. Scott Law Professor. Her scholarship explores the legal context for the low-carbon energy transition, with particular interests in energy and environmental justice, renewable energy, and electricity regulation as it evolves to accommodate a clean, modern electric grid. Outka's recent work in international and comparative law includes:
- Outka wrote an essay, "Accelerating Energy Transition in India," which is forthcoming in the June issue of the Environmental Law Reporter.
- Outka is also contributing a chapter to an international volume, "Energy Law and Ethics," edited by law professors leading the Energy Law Institute at the Queen Mary University of London, along with contributors from around the globe.
- Outka served as International Faculty Dissertation Examiner, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), School of Law, Dehradun, India (2020) and as provided Peer Review for Oxford University Press (2019).
Lua Kamál Yuille is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work connects property theory, economics, business law, critical pedagogy and group identity. Yuille is a professor of law and an affiliated professor at KU's Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies. Yuille formed part of the legal teams for some of the most important legal events in the last decade, her scholarship has broken ground across many areas, and she maintains a robust pro bono practice consulting on immigration matters and advocating for survivors of domestic violence. Her recent work in international and comparative law includes:
- Yuille presented at "Law and Money, from Past to Future" in 2019 at the University of Manchester School of Law in England. The intensive law and economics institute trained an interdisciplinary group of PhD students from across Europe on matters of governance at the intersection of finance, law and political economy.
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In 2020, Yuille formed a scholarly working group to study the meaning and experience of property in Latin America across a range of disciplines, including history, anthropology, sociology and economics.
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Yuille wrote a book chapter about democracy in international law, which deals with the European Union. The volume, "Tipping Points in International Law,
"
is expected to be published in the American Society of International Law (ASIL) International Legal Theory series with Cambridge University Press 2020.
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John Bowman, L'80, published an article on risk mitigation in international petroleum contracts in the
Georgetown Journal of International Law. Bowman teaches international energy arbitration at Georgetown Law Center. He received KU Law's Distinguished Alumni Award, the school's highest alumni honor, in 2018.
Hale Sheppard, L'98, is a partner in the tax dispute section and chair of the international tax section of Chamberlain Hrdlicka law firm in Atlanta. In 2019, he published 22 articles in major tax journals, including the
Journal of International Taxation.
Devin S. Sikes, L'08, has been named to the U.S. roster for North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Chapter 19 disputes. Sikes serves as international trade counsel at Akin Gump in Washington, D.C.
Jomana Qaddour, L'09, was selected to serve as a nonresident senior fellow and lead the Syria portfolio at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East Programs. Qaddour is currently a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University Law Center and a member of the UN-facilitated Syrian Constitutional Committee's Civil Society Group.
Dr. Vivek Sehrawat, S.J.D.'17, is an assistant professor at BML Munjal University in Gurgaon, India. He
teaches courses on Indian legal systems, English legal writing, national security, torts, international law and international humanitarian law.
Bander Almohammadi, L'18, was appointed as vice chair of membership of the ABA international Law Society's Middle East Committee. He also recently completed a leadership development program through KU's International Support Services.
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