Maud Sarlieve is an expert in International Criminal Law, International Humanitarian Law, Human Rights and a leading authority in the development of creative legal thinking to address the environmental and climate crisis.  Her professional commitments and casework have taken her to conflict and post conflict environments in SE Asia, the Middle East, Central and East Africa, Latin America, The Balkans and Eastern Europe. She is currently Judge Assessor with the French National Court of Asylum, a Founder of CTRL-Z – focused on climate and environmental justice in addition to numerous other roles. 

Aonghus Kelly is a lawyer who has a focus on the rule of law, international criminal law, human rights and the intersection of those areas with climate justice. He is presently Executive Director at Irish Rule of Law International, (IRLI) which is the legal NGO founded by and representing the bars and law societies from both jurisdictions from the island of Ireland which works overseas

Meriam Nazih Al-Rashid is Global Co-Chair of International Arbitration and Co-head of the Latin American Arbitration practice at Eversheds Sutherland and is based in the New York City area. She is also an adjunct professor of law at Fordham University Law School, a peer review board member of the American Review of International Arbitration, a committee member at the Cyrus R Vance Center for International Justice, and the holder of numerous other arbitrator roles. Her areas of focus on international dispute resolution, international trade and commercial arbitration, as well as human rights and international law.  She is also the President and Co-Founder of Allusionist Pictures, a film production company.

We are delighted to bring you our 2022 Inspiring People in Law series in which we feature eight inspiring lawyers from around the globe.  We examine what it is to be an effective lawyer, the importance of networks, of empathy, and sometimes the lack of importance of a standard path or trajectory. We listen to guests who have taken a path less travelled, sometimes overcoming bias, prejudice and disability to do so.  We explore areas as diverse as digital justice, the intersection of environmental law and human rights, the advances in international arbitration and moving from a legal to a corporate role.

Kip Hale is an attorney specializing in atrocity crimes accountability, specifically investigating such crimes in conflict zones. He has spent time as Senior Counsel at the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights, and as an attorney at the UN tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Cambodia.

Our conversation traces how Kip landed what for many law students might be seen as a “dream job” in international legal practice, some of the highs and lows of this pursuit and what his focuses are today.

Walter White is an international business and finance lawyer, most recently with the London office of McGuireWoods, now retired and working on a number of projects. He is a committed human rights advocate and active participant in the American Bar Association’s Section on Civil Rights & Social Justice in recognition of which he received an award for distinguished service for “providing leadership to the legal profession in protecting and advancing human rights, civil liberties and social justice.” He was chair of the ABA Center for Human Rights.

This discussion with guest host Patrick Devitt, tracks Walter’s extraordinary career in global legal practice, his time living in Russia, his interactions with world leaders and his commitment to civil liberties and social justice.