New York State Pro Bono Opportunities Guide
Humans Rights Group Enlists NY Firms to Monitor War Crimes
New York Lawyer
August 22, 2008
By Thomas Adcock
New York Law Journal
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NEW YORK - With only four lawyers besides herself to monitor and analyze jurisprudence and courtroom policy in historic trials of dictators accused of monstrous crimes, Elise Keppler called for help at two large Manhattan law firms whose volunteer attorneys now occupy seats on a stage the whole world is watching.
Ms. Keppler, senior counsel for the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch, forged pro bono partnerships - first with Weil, Gotshal & Manges in early 2007, then with Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in January - in the cause of justice through the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
"We've involved a number of associates, particularly in the U.S., the United Kingdom and France," said Eric Ordway, the Weil Gotshal partner in charge of some 30 lawyers at any one time who for the past 15 months have developed a data bank of case summaries to aid litigators before the world court, as the United Nations venue is commonly known.
"We function as reporters, if you will. That's at one level," said Mr. Ordway. "We also work with Human Rights Watch on thematic aspects of cases. For example, victims' rights and defendants' rights."
The partnership with Human Rights Watch, he added, is uniquely open-ended and "mutually beneficial" in terms of providing associates with behind-the-headlines experience in tracking international human rights case law.
At Stroock, a dozen lawyers have split up daily duty monitoring the trial of the moment - that of Charles Taylor, the former president of Liberia indicted for war crimes in connection with rebel soldiers in neighboring Sierra Leone he armed and trained, who then murdered, tortured, maimed and raped civilians.
Each morning, the Stroock attorneys view a live webcast from The Hague of the Taylor trial, noting such things as frequency of objections by counsel, how Mr. Taylor is treated by officials, the conduct and demeanor of expert and eye-witnesses and how much leeway judges allow for questioning.
Notations are reported daily to Ms. Keppler and her colleagues at Human Rights Watch.
"We've never done anything quite like this," said Kevin J. Curnin, a Stroock partner and director of the firm's Public Service Project. Through the monitoring process, he said, "Other project work pops up. There are interim decisions to analyze, along with threats against witnesses and media coverage."
The pro bono work of both firms, said Ms. Keppler, "isn't just a brief here and a brief there, but a necessarily ongoing and indefinite relationship to serve the court's needs as the court evolves." She said her own office of five lawyers, one advocacy director and one support staffer, is much too small for monitoring with appropriately high scrutiny.
"You need numbers to do this important work," said Mr. Ordway. "It's helpful for Human Rights Watch to reach out to private firms in order to expand its reach."
The International Criminal Court, which was launched in 2002, holds an "important place as the world's first permanent court for trying defendants on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, with no time limitations," said Ms. Keppler.
"There are decisions coming out of the court every day. Just keeping abreast of it all has us really overstretched all the time," she said. "We simply couldn't do the work we're doing without the kind of intensive, ongoing relationship we've had with Weil Gotshal, and now with Stroock."
There is no lack of enthusiasm for world court work among associates at Stroock and Weil Gotshal. This is especially so with Shirley Jean, whose interest in international affairs is so strong that she is scheduled to leave Weil Gotshal next month for a new position with the African Development Bank, temporarily located in Tunisia due to civil war in Côte d'Ivoire.
"I was elated to have the opportunity at Weil Gotshal. It's in keeping with my passions," said Ms. Jean, who worked as a research assistant to a world court prosecutor while a student at Harvard Law School.
The very idea of "crimes against humanity," she said, is daunting.
"How do you get your arms around this?" she asked. "How do you actually prosecute someone? We're watching law happen. It's very exciting."
Ms. Jean is researching a matter related to Mr. Taylor's trial at The Hague - the upcoming trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida of the ex-dictator's son, Boston-born Charles "Chuckie" Taylor Jr., indicted by a Miami grand jury for committing acts of torture in Liberia. Federal law makes it a crime prosecutable in the United States for a U.S. citizen to commit torture and war crimes abroad (18 USC §2340A and §2441). To date, no one has ever been prosecuted under either section.
"This is the first of its type," Ms. Jean said of the Miami trial, set to begin next month. "It speaks volumes as to where we're heading."
Lacy M. Villanueva, a first-year corporate associate at Stroock, said she and her colleagues serve as "eyes and ears" for Human Rights Watch, focused on issues of "fairness" in light of criticism of the court in its early stages that led to frequent and significant procedural delays, notably during the long trial of the late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who died in 2006 in the War Criminal Prison at The Hague before a verdict could be rendered.
"Past international tribunals have sometimes been a mess," said Ms. Villanueva. "Human Rights Watch is very concerned about fairness in the future."
"So far, we've concluded that things have run smoothly in the Taylor trial," said Mark S. Jarashow, also a first-year at Stroock. "The prosecution has presented a good case, and the defense has done a very good job, something you might have worried about."
He added, "For me to be able to watch this trial on a regular basis, to take part in helping to make sure it runs fairly - Well, you enter a large law firm and you expect to get a variety of work, but to be involved in something on an international scale is tremendous."
Speaking for his colleagues at Stroock as well as the team at Weil Gotshal, Mr. Curnin said, "We're actively reporting from ringside seats on a pivotal international justice event. Our small part has challenged our own notions of justice and sharpened our appreciation of the importance of the quest."
He added, "More unexpectedly, it's cast new light on the less dramatic battles for justice we're more used to fighting daily in our own backyard."
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