Professor Slomanson to Moderate Panel on Unilateral Secession in Washington, D.C.
February 13, 2013
Professor William Slomanson has been invited to moderate a panel titled “Unilateral Secession in a Multipolar World” at the American Society of International Law’s Annual Meeting in April in Washington, D.C. The topic of unilateral secession is on everyone’s list of hot button issues, given recent events involving northern Mali’s al-Qaeda branch, and a number of other secessionist-oriented groups seeking to achieve their version of self-determination.
His panel will consist of the following secession experts: Program Committee Coordinator Andrea Menaker, White & Case, LLP., Washington, D.C.; Marcelo Kohen, Graduate Institute of International & Developmental Studies, Geneva; Jure Vidmar, Oxford University, Institute of European and Comparative Law; Vanessa J. Jiménez, Senior Counsel, PILPG, South Sudan Program Director; and Patrick Dumberry, University of Ottawa.
For the panel, Professor Slomanson will draft a hypothetical secession scenario—comparable to the debate in which he participated as the advocate for the U.S., arranged by the ABA’s International Law Section in Dublin, Ireland in fall of 2011.
He has recently taught or lectured in a number of locations impacted by unilateral secessions—including Kosovo, Georgia (Abkhazia and South Ossetia provinces), and Nagorno Karabakh (surrounded by Azerbaijan). His most recent publication on point is Nagorno Karabakh: An Alternative Legal Approach to its Quest for Legitimacy, 9 Miskolc Journal of International Law 69 (2012). It will be reprinted for U.S. audiences in Volume 35 of the Thomas Jefferson Law Review.
Professor Slomanson has published extensively in the fields of Civil Procedure and International Law, having authored or co-authored 19 books for major legal publishers, three-dozen law review articles, and a total of 150 distinct publications. They have now been cited more than 1,400 times. His classroom text in International Law has been adopted for classroom use in 23 countries. Its Course Web Page, containing post-publication developments is located at https://www.tjsl.edu/slomansonb/txtcsesite.html
Among the countries where Professor Slomanson has lectured on international topics/panels are; 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.
Professor Slomanson also has served the American Society of International Law as Editor of the United Nations 21 Interest Group from 1992–2012 (44 issues); UN21 Interest Group Chair from 1995–2006; and Corresponding Editor for International Legal Materials from 2007-present. In 2002, he first taught International Law at Kosovo’s Pristina Summer University, where he is now a Visiting Professor.
Prior to law school, Professor Slomanson served as a U.S. Naval Officer and received the Navy Achievement Medal for his service in Vietnam. He was an attorney for a Los Angeles insurance defense firm before joining the Thomas Jefferson School of Law faculty.