Education

Law School/Year: Harvard Law School

College/Year: University of Louisville

Bar Admissions

California (inactive); D.C. (resigned after relocating to California)

Practice Areas

International

Major Cases

The best known case in which I was involved was the claim filed against the United States by Nicaragua before the International Court of Justice. I was part of a team representing the United States and wrote the argument on the Vandenberg Amendment, on which the United States prevailed. I also represented 4,000 private citizens before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague in claims arising out of the Islamic Revolution. I have served as an expert witness in multiple international arbitrations. In private practice, my biggest case was a $30 million claim against a defendant represented by David Boies.

Professional Background

I spent four years in private practice, three at the Washington, D.C., office of a major New York firm and one at a San Diego firm, where I was a litigator and served as counsel for several American Indian tribes. I spent six years practicing international law at the U.S. Department of State, including international litigation, international arbitration and treaty negotiations. I have published one book on international investment law and a second book called “Thinking Like a Lawyer.” I am writing two other books on international investment law due to be published by Oxford University Press during the next year.

Professional Affiliations

I am a law professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, where I served as dean from 1994 to 2005, during which time the law school separated from Western State University, obtained ABA accreditation, and converted to a nonprofit educational institution. I also serve as a pro bono consultant on international law to the United Nations and various other international organizations and foreign governments.

Personal Affiliations

I am active as a volunteer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In the past two years, my daughter and I have participated in two bike rides through Death Valley in which we raised a combined total of $20,000. Since February 2007, I have been active in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

Personal Background

I am a native of Kentucky, where I lived until the age of 22. I moved to Massachusetts to attend law school and then moved to Washington, D.C., where I met my wife, Lidia, who had moved there from Mexico four years before. When we were ready to start a family, we moved to San Diego. Our older daughter, Jenny, is a junior at SDSU and our younger daughter, Shelly, is a junior at Westview High School. Our Shetland sheepdog, Cinnamon, and our border collie, Striker, do not currently attend school.