Harnessing Emerging Trends for the Future of International Law

Like my co-chairs for the annual meeting of the American Society of International Law, Chantal Thomas and William Aceves, I want to thank Opinio Juris for giving us an opportunity to reach out to the international law community with information on the exciting program planned for next week in Washington. As my co-chairs have pointed out in earlier blog entries, there will be opportunity for some serious and exciting discussions of various areas of jurisprudence and there will be many offerings examining where practice will be headed in the future. In addition, there is always plenty of time for reconnecting with old friends and making new friends at the annual meeting.

For the international practitioners and government officials there is a very interesting selection of panels covering such issues as Divergence And Harmonization In Private International Law which will move our discussion from the traditional focus on conflicts of law to the emerging issues of harmonizing diverse national laws and adopting new international instruments in various areas of private law. The panel on The Future of Transnational Litigation in U.S. Courts will evaluate development in emerging trends with respect to jurisdiction, choice of law, sovereign immunity and the relevant Hague Conventions. Other examples of the rich selections available are The Future of International Labor Law and the U.N. Sale of Goods Convention: Perspectives on the Current State-of-Play. The opportunity to hear informed discussion on all the topics covered at the annual meeting and to participate in the ongoing conversations generated by the panels is unparalleled.

There will be ample opportunity for interdisciplinary examination of both the substantive legal areas, and the important institutional questions raised by the emerging trends in international relations and international law. There will be examination of the technological innovations as well as the substantive innovations that are emerging in the practice, teaching and scholarship of international law, and there will be a specific focus on the professional responsibilities of international lawyers in this new emerging environment.

We look forward to the real-time discussions at the annual meeting. And we look forward to the online discussion leading up to the annual meeting and following the annual meeting. I hope everyone who is able will be in Washington on March 28th thru the 31st at the Fairmont Hotel. Registration is at www.asil.org/events/am07/about.html.