William Slomanson
LL.M., Columbia University;
J.D., California Western School of Law;
B.A., University of Pittsburgh
Prior to law school, Professor Slomanson was a Navy officer and awarded the Navy Achievement Medal for his service in Viet Nam. He was an attorney for a Los Angeles insurance defense firm. In 1992, he was appointed Editor or of the American Society of International Law’s section on the United Nations Decade of International Law−serving as Chair of the section from 1995 to 2006. In 1993, he lectured on the teaching of international law to the United Nations Sixth Committee (legal) at the United Nations in New York. In 1997, he taught the school’s first paperless course, based on his web page and motions submitted via e-mail.
In 1999, Professor Slomanson was appointed to the California Law Revision Commission’s Civil Procedure Panel of Experts. He taught in Kosovo each summer, where he was a Visiting Professor at the Pristina University (2002-2011). Professor Slomanson has lectured on international topics in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, China, Cuba, England, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Kosovo, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and various locations in the United States. In Fall 2007, he was appointed to serve as a Corresponding Editor for the American Society of International Law’s International Legal Materials.
In 2015, he received his twelfth Thomas Jefferson School of Law Student Bar teaching award and the San Diego County Law Library Foundation Bernard E. Witkin Award for Excellence in Legal Education. In 2017, Professor Slomanson received the Marquis Who’s Who Albert Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2018, he received the Student Bar’s Lewis and Clark Award for Innovative Teaching. In 2023, he received the California Western School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award.
Professor Slomanson is listed in the Directory of American Scholars, Who’s Who in American Law and Who’s Who in American Education. He has published extensively in the fields of civil procedure and international law−having authored, co-authored, or edited twenty-eight books. His scholarship has been cited over 4,000 times. He serves on the following boards: San Diego World Affairs Council and the Global Neighborhood Project.
Books
Fundamental Perspectives on International Law 7th ed. (coauthored) (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2022)
Cases and Materials on California Civil Procedure 6th ed. (coauthored) (West Academic, 2022)
Federal Civil Procedure e-book (Vol. 2, 2015) (TJSL 2015)
O'Connor's California Practice: Civil Pre-Trial (David Levine and Michol O'Connor ed. Jones-McClure 2015)
Cases and Materials on California Civil Procedure (with David Levine and Rochelle Shapell (Hastings)) (5th ed. West,2015) and Instructor’s Manual, and Course Web Page https://www.tjsl.edu/slomansonb/CalCivPro.html )
Federal Civil Procedure e-Book (Vol. 1, Fall 2014) (TJSL 2014)
California Civil Procedure in a Nutshell (5th ed. West 2014)
Federal Civil Procedure e-Book www.tjsl.edu/slomansonb/FedCivPro4_e-book (TJSL-2013)
O’Connor’s California Practice: Civil Pre-trial 2014 (with David Levine and Michol O’Connor ed., 4th ed. Jones-McClure, 2014)
O’Connor’s California Practice: Civil Pretrial 2012 (Jones McClure 2012)
Teacher's Manual for Cases and Materials on California Civil Procedure (with David I. Levine and Rochelle Shapell) (Thomson West, 4th ed. 2011)
California Civil Procedure in a Nutshell (4th ed. West 2011)
O'Connor's California Practice: Civil Pre-trial 2011 (with co-ors Julie Capell, David Levine, and Michol O'Connor) (JonesMcClure, 2011)
Fundamental Perspectives on International Law (Thomson Wadsworth, 6th ed. 2010)
California Civil Procedure in a Nutshell (Thomson West, 3rd ed. 2008)
Cases and Materials on California Civil Procedure (with David I. Levine and Rochelle Shapell) (with Teacher’s Manual) (Thomson West, 3d ed. 2008) (Course Web Page online at www.tjsl.edu/slomansonb/CalCivPro.html)
Fundamental Perspectives on International Law (Belmont, CA:Thomson, 5th ed. 2006)
California Civil Procedure in a Nutshell (with online supplements and Instructor’s Manual) (Thomson-West, 2d ed. 2006)
Cases and Materials on California Civil Procedure (with David I. Levine, C. Keith Wingate & Rochelle Wirshup) (with online supplements and Instructor’s Manual) (Thomson-West, 2d ed. 2005). (with online supplements)
Historical Development of Arbitration and Adjudication, in Fundamental Perspectives on International Law 384 (West, 4th ed. 2002) reprinted in L'Histoire en Droit International 277 (Univ. Miskolc Press, 2004)
Fundamental Perspectives on International Law (with online supplements and Instructor’s Manual) (Thomson-West, 4th ed. 2003). (with online supplements)
Fundamental Perspectives on International Law (with Instructor’s Manual) (Boston: West, 3d ed. 1999)
California Civil Practice Handbook: The Choice Between State and Federal Courts, (with Supplement) (St. Paul, MN: West, 1994, 1996)
Fundamental Perspectives on International Law (with Instructor’s Manual) (St. Paul: West, 2d ed. 1995)
California Civil Procedure in a Nutshell (with Keith Wingate-Hastings) (Thomson West, 1992)
Cases and Materials on California Civil Procedure (with Instructor’s Manual) (with David I. Levine, C. Keith Wingate & Rochelle Wirshup) (Thomson-West, 1991)
Fundamental Perspectives on International Law (St. Paul: West, 1990)
International Business Bibliography (Buffalo, NY: Hein, 1989)
Editorships
Editor, American Society of International Law UN21 (Newsletter #44) (2012) (published online, http://www.asil.org/un21)
American Society of International Law, UN21 Newsletter, Issue #42 (Aug. 2011), available at www.asil.org, click Membership, Interest Groups, Interest Group Documents
Member, Editing Council, Ukrainian Y.B. Int’l L., Kiev National Shevchenko University (2009-present)
Corresponding Editor, ASIL Int’l Legal Materials (2008-present)
Editor, American Society of International Law UN21 Newsletter, Issue #36, January 2007, Hosted by Cornell Law School, Available online
Member, Editorial Board, Miskolc J. Int’l L. (Hungary) (published online, http://www.uni-miskolc.hy/~wwwdrint/mjil1.htm) (2004-present)
Editor (1992 - present), UN21 Newsl. (Am. Soc'y Int'l L./UN21 Int. Group, Washington, DC), Oct. 2012 (published online, http://www.asil.org/un21)
Editor, American Society of International Law, UN21 Section Newsletter, (1992-present)
Articles, Book Chapters, And Article-Length Works
State-Federal Court Reporter Comparison, 38 California Litigation Reporter__ (Aug., 2025)
California Gun Violence Restraining Order Blueprint, 38 California Litigation Reporter 28 (May 2025)
Presidential Immunity: Precedential Impunity?, 37 California Litigation Reporter 21 (Dec., 2024)
Navigating the New Legal Landscape for Child Sexual Abuse Civil Litigation in State and Federal Court, 37 California Litigation Reporter 40 (Apr., 2024)
California’s Gun Purchase Waiting Period: A History of the Future, 36 California Litigation Reporter 32 (Sept., 2023)
California-Federal Procedural Contrast: Conjecture About Selected Differences, 32 California Litigation Reporter 21 (Nov., 2019)
Iron River Case: Blueprint for Gun Trafficking Analytics, 56 Suffolk Univ. Law Review 1 (2023)
Second Amendment: The Dozen Yardsticks or Measuring its Scope, 34 CALIFORNIA LITIGATION REPORTER (forthcoming 2021)
California-Federal Procedural Contrast: A Proposal, 327 Federal Rules Decisions 1301 (2018)
Blue Book Rhapsody, 66 J. Legal Educ. 696 (2017)
Crimean Secession in International law, in Hungarian Yearbook of International and European Law, Vol. 3 303 (Eleven International Publishing 2015)
Introductory Note to Georgia v. Russian Federation: 2014 ECHR Judgment Regarding the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 53 Int’l Legal Materials 810 (2014)
Blended Learning: A Flipped Classroom Experiment, 64 J. Legal Educ. 93 (2014)
Unilateral Secession in a Multipolar World (Introductory Remarks), 107 American Society of Int'l Law Proc. 211 (2014)
Nagorno Karabakh: An Alternative Legal Approach to its Quest for Legitimacy, 9 Miskolc J.I.L. 69 (2012), available at http://www.uni-miskolc.hu/~wwwdrint/mjil18/20121slomanson1.pdf
Pouring Skills Content into Doctrinal Bottles, 61 J. Legal Educ. 683 (ed., 2012)
Palestinian Statehood: A Secessionist Dialogue, 8 Miskolc J. Int'l L. 1 (2011)
Legitimacy of the Kosovo, South Ossetia and Abkhazia Secessions: Violations in Search of a Rule, 6 Miskolc J. Int’l L. 1 (2009), available at http://www.uni-miskolc.hu/~www.drint/mjil14/20092slomanson1.pdf, updated version available at http://slomanson.tjsl.edu/2.4_Secession_Legitimacy_Slomanson.pdf; reprinted in 3 Ukrainian Y.B. Int’l L. (2010)
American Judges against Judicial Independence, 11 Ukrainian J. Int’l L. 29 (2008)
Tunkin Centenary Symposium - Alien Detainee Cases and Responsive Legislation: United States Balance of Power Struggle Between the President and Congress versus the Supreme Court, 11 Sudebnik 711 (2007)
Practice and Pleading: Choosing State or Federal Procedure, 27 California Lawyer 37 (published online) (Jan. 2007)
International Humanitarian Law Symposium--Alien Detainee Cases and Responsive Legislation: U.S. Balance of Power Struggle between the President and Congress versus the Supreme Court, 15 Ukrainian J. Int'l L. 23 (2006)
Historical Development of Arbitration and Adjudication, in Fundamental Perspectives on International Law 384 (West, 4th ed. 2002) reprinted in L’Histoire en Droit International 277 (Univ. Miskolc Press, 2004)
State Civil Procedure Elective Plea, 54 J. Legal Educ. 235 (2004)
Legal Scholarship Blueprint, 50 J. Legal Educ. 431 (2000)
Electronic Lawyering and the Academy, 48 J. Legal Educ. 216 (1998)
Fundamental Perspectives On International Law and Instructor's Manual (2d ed.) (St. Paul, MN: West, 1995)
Right to War?, 1 Moscow J. Int'l L. 5 (English-language version 1995) (with Adam Lopatka, Chief Judge, Polish Supreme Court; Yuri Kolosov, Chair, Int'l Law Dept., State Inst. of Int'l Relations, Moscow)
Articulas Interruptus: Forbearing Footnote Folly, 12 Legal References Services Q. 87 (1993)
Book Review, The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (15th ed.), 42 J. Legal Educ. 147 (1992)
A Uniform System of Citation (13th ed.), 68 A.B.A. J. 735 (1992)
Intro to Law: First Year Survival, 11 Legal Ref. Serv. Q. 185 (1991)
Do's and Taboos for Making Law Review: A Law Student's Compass , 11 Criminal Justice Journal 489 (1989)
Do's and Taboos with Law Reviews, 8 Legal Ref. Serv. Q. 225 (1988)
U.S. Supreme Court Position and the Hague Evidence Convention, 37 Int'l & Comp. L.Q. 391 (1988)
Registered Foreign Legal Consultant: The Nonlawyer Lawyer, 34 Dicta 23 (1987)
Registered Foreign Legal Consultant: The Nonlawyer Lawyer, 34 Dicta (San Diego County Bar Journal), Apr. 1987, at 23
Footnote Logic in Law Review Writing: Previously Unaddressed in the Criminal Justice System, 9 Criminal Justice Journal 65 (1986)
International Service of Summons: New Statutory Application of the Hague Service Treaty, 8 Los Angeles Lawyer 38 (1986)
Civil Action for Return of Property: "Anomalous" Federal Jurisdiction in Search of Justification, 62 Denv. U. L. Rev. 741 (1985)
Civil Actions Against Interpol: A Field Compass, 57 Temple L. Q. 553 (1984)
Current American Legal Citations (2d ed.), 52 Fordham L. Rev. 428 (1984)
Dismissal for Failure to Serve and Return Summons in State and Federal Courts in California, 19 Cal. W. L. Rev. 1 (1982)
Supplementation of Discovery Responses in Federal Civil Procedure, 17 San Diego L. Rev. 233 (1980)
Real Property Unrelated to Claim: Due Process for Quasi in Rem Jurisdiction?, 83 Dickinson L. Rev. 51 (1978)
Emergence of the "Tender Years" Doctrine: Too Young to Drink but Capable of Escaping the Civil Consequences?, 5 Pepp. L. Rev. 1 (1977)
I.C.J. Damages: Tort Remedy for Failure to Punish or Extradite International Terrorists, 5 Cal. W. Int'l L.J. 121 (1975)
Foreign Legal Consultant: Multistate Model for Business and the Bar, 39 Alb. L. Rev. 199 (1975)
Judicial Review of War Renunciation in the Naganuma Nike Case: Juggling the Constitutional Crisis in Japan, 9 Cornell Int'l L.J. 24 (1975)
Free Transit in Territorial Straits: Jurisdiction on an Even Keel?, 3 Cal. W. Int'l L.J. 375 (1973)
Download a list of Shorter Work for Professor Slomanson
Introduction to the International Bill of Human Rights , San Diego County Legal Aid Society MCLE seminar, San Diego, CA, Zoom (July 28, 2020)
Crimean Secession in International Law, Atma Jaya Catholic University, Jakarta, Indonesia (April 15, 2016)
US Perspectives on International Law (short course), Islamic University of Indonesia, Yogyakarta, Indonesia (April 8, 2016)
The Teaching of International Law: Tri-national Perspectives , , Pazmany Peter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary (June 8, 2015)
Crimean Annexation in International Law, Debrecen University, Debrecen, Hungary (June 4, 2015), available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQVfBGKkf8k
Creating Videos Workshop, 38th Annual AALS Clinical Education Conference, with co-presenters Angela Upchurch (SIU) and Michele Pistone (Villinova), Rancho Mirage, CA (May 5 & 6, 2015)
Pre-Conference Video, 38th Annual AALS Clinical Education Conference, Rancho Mirage, CA (March 22, 2015), available at http://media.tjsl.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/945b1395-6771-49cf-b12d-02dcff64e422
Nagorno-Karabakh is a case of remedial secession, Interview by Nvard Chalikyan, Panorama News, Yerevan, Armenia (April 19, 2014), available at http://www.panorama.am/en/interviews/2014/04/19/william-slomanson
Remedial Secession in the South Caucuses, American University Armenia, Yerevan, Armenia (August 6, 2012), available at http://law.aua.am/2012/08/15/international-law-prof-william-slomanson-presents-lecture-on-unilateral-declarations-of-independenc
Remedial Secession in the South Caucuses, Free Tblisi University, Tbilisi, Georgia (August 2, 2012), available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH2N4NGtbGQ&feature=share&list=UUGslH8OoAgATLQmfCET-Icw
Speaker, The Law and Politics of Genocide (with Chris Guzelian (MC) and Roger Kupelian), 97th Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, UCSD Great Hall, La Jolla, CA, May 1, 2012 (Available at https://www.tjsl.edu/news-media/2012/6436)
Moderator (with panelists Sam Bettwy, Steve Berenson, Sara Stark 3L, and Sarah Stewart-Bussey 3L), War Crimes: Who Has Jurisdiction?, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA, April 24, 2012 (Available at https://www.tjsl.edu/news-media/2012/6405)
Human Rights Violations and State Secession: An Evolving Standard?, Professor Slomanson’s secession debate with President Enver Hasani, Kosovo Constitutional Court, set in the USA in the Year 2050. American Bar Association, International Section Conference, Dublin, Ireland, October 13, 2011 (Available online)
Pouring Skills Content into Doctrinal Bottle, Institute for National Law Teaching and Learning Conference: Engaging and Assessing Our Students, New York Law School, New York, NY, June 3, 2011
Civil Litigation: The Rest of the Story, Professor Slomanson presented an amusing account of what happened to the parties involved in the major civil procedure cases—and how TJSL practitioners might avoid such predicaments. One cannot find this information in any legal treatise, TJSL Alumni Association, Mangia Italiano Restaurant, Chula Vista, CA, November 9, 2010
Conference on What and How to Teach: Web Links to Currency and Skills, American Society of International Law Interest Group, Hofstra University School of Law, Hempstead, NY, Sep 25, 2009
Legitimacy of the Kosovo versus South Ossetia and Abkhazia Secessions, USAID American Center, Saint Petersburg, Russia, Jul 2, 2009
Civil Procedure: The Rest of the Story, TJSL Alumni MCLE, (on the occasion of swearing in of the 2009 TJSL Alumni Board of Directors), Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Jan 14, 2009
Kosovo v. South Ossetia and Abkhazia: Legitimate Secessions?, Kiev University, Kiev, Ukraine, Oct 14, 2008
University Faculty Roundtable: Kosovo, South Ossetia/Abkhazia: Beginning of Cold War II?, Kiev University, Kiev, Ukraine, Oct 15, 2008
American Judges Against Judicial Independence, Moscow State University American Legal System Class, Mar. 20, 2008
Kosovo's Dependent Independence, Moscow State University World Politics Association, Mar. 17, 2008
Kosovo's Dependent Independence, USAID American Center Moscow, Mar. 17, 2008
Q & A on Kosovo's Impact on Other post-Conflict Societies, Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, Mar. 17, 2008
Kosovo: United Nations Nation Building, Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Mexicali campus, Mexico, Nov. 15, 2007
U.S. Supreme Court's Third Strike in the Alien Detainee Cases, Yepe University School of Law, Istanbul, Turkey, July 3, 2007
Presented the following papers: Isolation at All Costs: Attacking Judicial Reliance on Non-US Legal Sources; and Alien Detainee Cases: Washington's Balance of Power Struggle: Alien Detainee Cases and Responsive Legislation, Miskolc University, Miskolc, Hungary, Mar. 19 and 20, 2007
Bring Your Office to the Students, West Coast ASP Conference, TJSL, Jan. 26, 2007
California Civil Procedure: Merger and Bar, California Western School of Law Faculty Development Lunch, San Diego, CA, May 2005
Moderator, State Building Panel I: Issues of Choice, Creation and Justification, American Society of International Law, Washington, D.C., Mar. 2005
Moderator, The Global Impact of Feminist Legal Theory Conference, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Panel on Globalization and Sexuality, San Diego, CA, Feb. 2005
Moderator, The Holocaust, Genocide, and Other Human Rights Violations Conference, Panel on The Law and Literature of the Holocaust and Genocide, Congregation Beth Israel, La Jolla, CA, Jan. 2005
UN Role in Iraq After June 30th: Lessons Learned from Kosovo, Tsinghua University School of Law, Beijing, China, Apr. 2004
Recent Developments in International Law, Tsinghua University School of Law, Beijing, China, Apr. 2004
International Rule in Kosovo: Five Years in Lessons in State Building, San Diego County Bar Association, San Diego, CA, Feb. 2004
Kosovo: Lessons Learned for Governing Post Conflict Societies, San Diego State University World Affairs Institute, San Diego, CA, Feb. 2004
NATO and UN Occupation of Kosovo: Prospects for Peace, Joan Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, San Diego, CA, Feb. 2004
The Thomas Jefferson School of Law faculty is highly prolific in the field of legal scholarship and our professors are in demand as speakers and panelists at legal events in the U.S. and abroad.