Christopher A. Whytock
Joint appointment in Law and Political Science
Co-Director, Center in Law, Society and Culture
Expertise:
Transnational litigation, international law, conflict of laws, empirical legal studies
Background:
Christopher Whytock is Vice Dean and Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, and Co-Director of the UCI Center in Law, Society and Culture.
In 2013, the American Law Institute appointed Professor Whytock to serve as an adviser on the new Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States, and in 2014 the ALI appointed him to serve as an associate reporter for the new Restatement (Third) of Conflict of Laws.
Professor Whytock’s research focuses on transnational litigation, conflict of laws, international law, and the role of domestic law and domestic courts in global governance. His scholarship has appeared in law journals including Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, New York University Law Review and University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and peer-reviewed social science journals including International Security. His books include Research Handbook on the Politics of International Law (co-edited with Wayne Sandholtz), Transnational Law and Practice (with Donald E. Childress III and Michael D. Ramsey) and Understanding Conflict of Laws (Fourth Edition) (with William M. Richman & William L. Reynolds).
Professor Whytock has taught courses on international law, civil procedure, conflict of laws, foreign relations law, international relations theory, and business associations.
Professor Whytock previously taught at the University of Utah College of Law and practiced law as an associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP and Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Duke University; his J.D. and M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow in Public International Law; and his B.A. in political science from UCLA.
Current Courses:
Prior Courses:
Procedural Analysis, Business Associations, Civil Procedure, Foreign Relations Law, International Law, International Legal Analysis, International Relations Theory, Conflict of Laws, Advanced Public International Law, Introduction to American Law (LL.M.),
- Christopher A. Whytock, Causal Inference in Constitutional Law, in Research Methods in Constitutional Law (David S. Law & Malcolm Langford eds.) (Edward Elgar, forthcoming 2020).
- Christopher A. Whytock, The Concept of a Global Legal System, The Many Lives of Transnational Law: Critical Engagements with Jessup’s Bold Proposal (Peer Zumbansen ed.) (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2019).
- Christopher A. Whytock & Seth Davis, State Remedies for Human Rights, 98 Boston University Law Review 397 (2018).
- Peter Hay, Patrick J. Borchers, Symeon C. Symeonides & Christopher A. Whytock, Conflict of Laws (6th ed., 2018).
- Christopher A. Whytock, From International Law and International Relations to Law and World Politics, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics: The Politics of Law and the Judiciary (William Thompson & Keith E. Whittington eds., 2017).
- Research Handbook on the Politics of International Law (Wayne Sandholtz & Christopher A. Whytock eds., 2017).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Toward a New Dialogue Between Conflict of Laws and International Law, 110 Am. J. of Int’l L. Unbound 150 (2016).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Conflict of Laws, Global Governance, and Transnational Legal Order, 1 UC Irvine J. of Int’l, Transnat’l, & Comp. L. 117 (2016).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Enforcement of Foreign Judgments: Governance, Rights, and the Market for Dispute Resolution Services, in The Transformation of Enforcement: European Economic Law in Global Perspective 47-68 (Hans-W. Mickitz & Andrea Wechsler eds., 2016).
- Tarik Hansen & Christopher A. Whytock, The Judgment Enforceability Factor in Forum Non Conveniens Analysis, 101 Iowa L. Rev. (2016).
- Adam S. Chilton & Christopher A. Whytock, Foreign Sovereign Immunity and Comparative Institutional Competence, 163 U. Pa. L. Rev. 411 (2015).
- Donald E. Childress III, Michael D. Ramsey & Christopher A. Whytock, Transnational Law and Practice (2015).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Faith and Scepticism in Private International Law: Trust, Governance, Politics, and Foreign Judgments, 7 Erasmus L. Rev. 113 (2014).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Foreign State Immunity and the Right to Court Access, 93 B.U. L. Rev. 2033 (2013).
- William M. Richman, William L. Reynolds & Christopher A. Whytock, Understanding Conflict of Laws (4th ed. 2013).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Some Cautionary Notes on the “Chevronization” of Transnational Litigation, 1 Stan. J. Complex Litig. 467 (2013).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Donald Earl Childress III, & Michael D. Ramsey, Foreword, After Kiobel: International Human Rights Litigation in State Courts and Under State Law, 3 UC Irvine L. Rev. 1 (2013).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Kiobel Insta-Symposium: After Kiobel: Human Rights Litigation in State Courts and Under State Law, Opinio Juris (2013).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Transnational Judicial Governance, 2 St. John's J. Int'l & Comp. L. 55 (2012).
- Christopher A. Whytock & Cassandra Burke Robertson, Forum Non Conveniens and the Enforcement of Foreign Judgments, 111 Colum. L. Rev. 1444 (2011).
- Christopher A. Whytock, The Evolving Forum Shopping System, 96 Cornell L. Rev. 481 (2011).
- Marcus S. Quintanilla & Christopher A. Whytock, The New Multipolarity in Transnational Litigation: Foreign Courts, Foreign Judgments, and Foreign Law, 18 Sw. J. Intl. L. 31 (2011).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Private-Public Interaction in Global Governance: The Case of Transnational Commercial Arbitration, 12 Bus. & Politics (2010).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Foreign Law in Domestic Courts: Different Uses, Different Implications, in Globalizing Justice: Critical Perspectives on Transnational Law and the Cross-Border Migration of Legal Norms (Donald W. Jackson, Michael Tolley & Mary Volcansek eds., 2010).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Myth of Mess? International Choice of Law in Action, 84 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 719 (2009).
- Christopher A. Whytock, Domestic Courts and Global Governance, 84 Tul. L. Rev. 69 (2009).
- June 2019:
Presenter, “Bias and Calibration in Foreign Judgment Recognition and Enforcement,” Private International Law Roundtable, University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, NCDecember 2018: Invited Commentator, International Relations-International Law Graduate Workshop, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA - November 2018:
Presenter, “No Longer the Light for the Moth? The Declining Role of U.S. Courts in Transnational Litigation,” Vanderbilt Law School International Legal Studies Roundtable - April 2018:
Presenter, “Judicial Parochialism and Cosmopolitanism: Foreign Judgments in U.S. Courts,” Southern Methodist University School of Law, Dallas, TX - May 2017:
Presenter, “Judicial Parochialism and Cosmopolitanism: Foreign Judgments in U.S. Courts,” Korea University Law School, Seoul, South Korea - April 2017:
Discussant, Practitioners and Scholars in Dialogue: What Do We Know About the Civil Justice System, Civil Justice Research Institute, UCI Law, Irvine, CA - April 2017:
Presenter, “Judicial Parochialism and Cosmopolitanism: Foreign Judgments in U.S. Courts,” International Law Colloquium, Center for Law and Global Affairs, Arizona State University College of Law, Phoenix, AZ - April 2017:
Presenter, “Judicial Parochialism and Cosmopolitanism: Foreign Judgments in U.S. Courts” (co-authored with Samuel Baumgartner), UC Irvine Socio-Legal Studies Workshop, Irvine, CA - February 2017:
Discussant, Southern California International Law Scholars Workshop, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA - November 2016:
Introductory Remarks and Panel Chair, Conference on International Conflict of Laws and the Third Restatement, Duke Law School, Durham, NC - July 2016
Presenter, “Transnational Law and the Global Legal System,” Conference on Jessup’s Bold Proposal: Engagements with ‘Transnational Law’ after Sixty Years, King’s College London School of Law - April 2016
Presenter, “State Remedies for Human Rights,” Colloquium on International and Comparative Law and Politics, UC Berkeley School of Law - February 2016
Presenter, “Harmonization of EU Procedural Law: Is the US a Positive or Negative Model?” Conference on Common Rules and Best Practices in European Civil Procedure, Rotterdam, Netherlands - February 2016
Discussant, Southern California International Law Scholars Workshop, UC Irvine School of Law
- Courts Law JOTWELL: Profs. Whytock, Davis make compelling case in journal article on state remedies for human rights violations
- Human Rights at Home Blog: Prof Whytock writes on Jesner v. Arab Bank, the future of human rights litigation
- UCI Law Press Release: Two UCI Law Faculty Members Appointed Associate Reporters for American Law Institute’s Restatements of the Law
- Article by Prof. Whytock cited in Supreme Court Ruling