By JODI SOKOLOWSKI
Buffalo Law Journal

The current conflict between Russia and the Republic of Georgia may delay the opening of a domestic-violence clinic that a Georgian woman is developing.

That concerns University at Buffalo Law School Professor Isabel Marcus, who hosted Maia Jaliashvili when she was a fellow at UB Law last year.

She and another professor, Suzanne Tomkins, say they won't let Jaliashvili go it alone. They plan to offer assistance if she calls for it.

That kind of outreach is one of Marcus' goals as UB Law's new director of graduate and international programs - maintaining and expanding worldwide connections.

She's in the process of building a network of international colleagues who have cultivated relationships with UB Law professors after meeting at conferences overseas.

Her mission is twofold. The first part is for these academics to informally recruit and recommend students who may qualify for UB Law's master's degree in law program. The LL.M. degree is beneficial for international lawyers since it's a stepping-stone to a Ph.D., which is usually needed to teach law overseas and is required to sit for the New York state bar exam, Marcus explained.

The second goal is to encourage law students, lawyers and judges to think beyond the scope of the American common-law system and consider other countries' cultures and legal structures when they're practicing law.

"We can't just assume anymore that the American legal system and American ideas are the best. American law can't be hegemonic," Marcus said.

For example, she said, the U.S. Supreme Court has recently referred to decisions in other parts of the world, such as those from the European Courts of Human Rights.

"(U.S.) judges rely on American cases, but they can begin to have different intellectual possibilities" if they consider international precedent, she said.

In order to foster that kind of thinking, Marcus plans to have UB Law's international students openly discuss their native lands' legal systems with domestic students. She hopes those listening will consider other ways of thinking, such as the continental code system, when they become lawyers, legislators and community leaders.

And that can work in reverse for those returning to their home countries, especially in some nations with a Communist history.

"The Chinese are trying to create a commercial-law sector under Socialist law," Marcus said. "It's a complicated cultural matter, and interesting stuff."

 

International focus comes from the top

Dean Makau Mutua would like the University at Buffalo Law School to train students to think globally and proactively. He's backing up that talk with action, and he's got the frequent-flier miles to prove it.

Mutua recently spoke in Nairobi, Kenya, and will be back there this week to discuss human rights and justice at international conferences.

On July 21 he spoke about bringing justice to those responsible for sexual and gender-based violence in countries going through conflict and unrest. This week he'll be speaking on transitional and restorative justice and government attempts to address human-rights violations that happened during times of unrest.

He hopes these conferences will spur direct action among citizens of the countries where he's speaking, as well as foreigners. Mutua himself served as a delegate to the National Constitutional Conference, which in 2003 produced a draft constitution for Kenya.

"It behooves us to think about global stability and prosperity, because we all share the same planet," said Mutua.

Since most major corporations conduct business internationally, Mutua said, law schools must prepare students to think more broadly and understand other countries' cultures and legal systems.

"If we don't think beyond the borders of the region, the state and the nation, we will be the victim of small dreams," he said, "and that's no way to be a great law school."

- By Jodi Sokolowski

 

 

 

Reception honors Mutua

 

The Minority Bar Association of Western New York Inc. will hold a reception in University at Buffalo Law School Dean Makau Mutua's honor Sept. 9 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Harry's Harbour Place Grille.

 

"There's an excitement about Dean Mutua because he's shown a commitment not just to minority students but to all students the moment he stepped foot in the law school," says Minority Bar President Tasha Moore.

 

Cost: $5 for members, $35 nonmembers. Reserve by Sept. 3 by calling Hon. Lenora Foote-Beavers at 908-9566.