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Amal Clooney Will Teach At Columbia Law School
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 7, 2015
Modified Mar 7, 2015
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Pacific Coast News
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 7, 2015
Modified Mar 7, 2015
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Noted human rights lawyer Amal Clooney will be lecturing at Columbia University Law School this spring. Which is extremely convenient since her husband George Clooney is filming a movie in NYC and hitting the town with Bill Murray.
Columbia's press release refers to Clooney as "visiting faculty" and Professor Sarah H. Cleveland, the Louis Henkin Professor of Human and Constitutional Rights and faculty co-director of the Human Rights Institute said, ""We are privileged to have an international human rights practitioner of Amal Clooney’s stature join our faculty. Her extensive experience advocating before U.N. and regional human rights mechanisms complements our existing offerings and will enrich the experience of our students."
Clooney, who went to NYU Law School, said, "It is an honor to be invited as a visiting professor at Columbia Law School alongside such a distinguished faculty and talented student pool. I look forward to getting to know the next generation of human rights advocates studying here." More of the press release is below. And Tina Fey really said it best:
Amal Clooney, a London-based barrister specializing in international law and human rights, will lecture on human rights law at Columbia Law School this spring as a visitor to the faculty and as a senior fellow with the Law School’s Human Rights Institute. “It is an honor to be invited as a visiting professor at Columbia Law School alongside such a distinguished faculty and talented student pool,” said Clooney. “I look forward to getting to know the next generation of human rights advocates studying here.” Clooney served as a senior adviser to Kofi Annan when he was the U.N.’s envoy on Syria, and she represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in extradition proceedings. Clooney has also handled cases before the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as in domestic courts in the U.S. and the U.K. Recently, Clooney helped win release of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a case challenging her detention on allegations of abuse of power. The European Union considered Tymoshenko to be a political prisoner. “We are privileged to have an international human rights practitioner of Amal Clooney’s stature join our faculty,” said Professor Sarah H. Cleveland, the Louis Henkin Professor of Human and Constitutional Rights and faculty co-director of the Human Rights Institute. “Her extensive experience advocating before U.N. and regional human rights mechanisms complements our existing offerings and will enrich the experience of our students.” At Columbia Law School, Clooney will lecture in Cleveland’s Human Rights course and speak about human rights litigation strategies to students in the Human Rights Clinic, directed by Professor Sarah Knuckey. “Amal Clooney’s dedication to public service and her diverse human rights litigation experience will inspire and guide our students as they learn how to use the law to advance social justice,” said Knuckey, the Lieff Cabraser Associate Clinical Professor of Law and faculty co-director, with Cleveland, of the Human Rights Institute. “We are thrilled to welcome her to Columbia Law School’s community of international law scholars, practitioners, and students.” In addition to advising governments on international law, Clooney previously served as counsel to the U.N. inquiry into the use of armed drones led by Ben Emmerson, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights. She is a member of the U.K.’s team of experts focused on preventing sexual violence in conflict zones and was recently appointed to the U.K. attorney general’s expert panel set up to advise and represent the government in cases involving public international law.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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