Human Rights Litigation in State Courts and Under State Law

Friday, March 2, 2012
University of California, Irvine School of Law

The practice and study of human rights litigation in the United States has generally focused on federal courts and federal law. Practitioners and scholars have devoted comparatively little attention to human rights litigation in state courts and under state law. Yet this approach to human rights litigation raises important and difficult questions about federalism, foreign relations, jurisdiction, choice of law, extraterritoriality and litigation strategy that have yet to be systematically explored.

This symposium will bring together leading practitioners and scholars with the goal of improving understanding of the challenging issues raised by human rights litigation in state courts and under state law.
Papers will be published in a special issue of the UC Irvine Law Review.

Organizers: Trey Childress (Pepperdine University School of Law), Michael Ramsey (University of San Diego School of Law),
Chris Whytock (UC Irvine School of Law)

Registration fee: $50, includes MCLE credit.
Students and faculty from UC Irvine or other law schools and universities will have the fee waived, but you must request a discount code and register online before February 29. To obtain this discount code for online registration, email your request to events@law.uci.edu from your university or non-profit email account.

To register: Click here to register online

Featured Speakers

Roger Alford
Notre Dame Law School

Patrick Borchers
Creighton Univ. School of Law

Anthony Colangelo
Southern Methodist Univ. School of Law

Lee Crawford-Boyd
Schwarcz, Rimberg, Boyd & Rader LLP

Michael Goldhaber
The American Lawyer

Paul Hoffman
Schonbrun, De Simone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman, LLP

David Kaye
UCLA School of Law

Chimène Keitner
UC Hastings College of Law

Julian Ku
Hofstra Law School

Kristin Myles
Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

Austen Parrish
Southwestern Law School

Michael Robinson-Dorn
UC Irvine School of Law

Beth Stephens
Rutgers School of Law

Edward Swaine
George Washington Law

Symeon Symeonides
Willamette Univ. College of Law

Symposium Schedule

8:00-8:45 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:45 a.m.-9:00 a.m. Welcoming Remarks and Introduction

9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Panel 1
Human Rights Litigation in State Courts and Under State Law: The Experience So Far

  • Michael Goldhaber
  • Paul Hoffman
  • Austen Parrish
  • Moderator: Michael Robinson-Dorn

10:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m. Break

10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Panel 2
Federalism and Foreign Relations Issues Raised by Human Rights Litigation in State Courts and Under State Law

  • David Kaye
  • Chimène Keitner
  • Julian Ku
  • Ed Swaine
  • Moderator: Michael Ramsey

12:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m. Lunch

1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Panel 3
Conflict of Laws and Doctrinal Issues in Human Rights Litigation in State Courts and Under State Law

  • Patrick Borchers
  • Anthony Colangelo
  • Symeon Symeonides
  • Moderator: Trey Childress

3:00 p.m.-3:15 p.m. Break

3:15 p.m.-4:45 p.m. Panel 4
The Future of Human Rights Litigation in State Courts and Under State Law

  • Roger Alford
  • Lee Crawford-Boyd
  • Kristin Myles
  • Beth Stephens
  • Moderator: Chris Whytock

4:45 p.m.-5:00 p.m. Closing Remarks