Michigan Law
Four Michigan Law students recently gathered with other top students from prestigious law schools around the country to discuss current issues of international law at the three-day Salzburg Cutler Fellows Program in Washington, DC.
The core of the conference was the day-long workshop for students to share their research papers with students and faculty from peer schools and gain feedback as they refine their papers. The 56 students in attendance were divided into six groups of students as well as faculty members based on the topic of their paper. Additionally, students heard from various speakers on topics ranging from human rights and sustainable development to international law during times of political peril.
“The Salzburg program is a rare opportunity for our students to get out into the world of international law at the cutting edge and engage with some of the brightest students and scholars of international law in the country,” said Professor Julian Arato, the faculty director of the Law School’s Center for International and Comparative Law.
“For the faculty in attendance, like myself, it’s a moment of sheer pride. The seminar is a chance to see our students live the values and standards of excellence that we try to inculcate at Michigan—in their presentations of their own innovative research as much as in how they engage with the projects of their peers.”
—————
With her interest in international law—specifically, the investment treaty regime and investor-state arbitration—Vivian Fernandez focuses her paper on investor-state disputes where foreign investment has caused tensions between foreign companies and local communities, who are often indigenous peoples.
“This field is really fascinating to me because of the fact patterns that are underlying the disputes and the various players that are involved,” she said. “I have been able to immerse myself within that space through my academics, and I will be able to carry over what I’ve learned into my career.”
Fernandez, who will work in the New York office of Gibson Dunn after graduation, was part of the Salzburg conference’s international economic law group, where the majority of the papers dealt with international investment and trade issues.
She said that she valued the input she received from fellow students and faculty on her paper and appreciated being able to broaden her network of others who share her interest. She also appreciated the opportunities beyond working with her specific group.
“I really enjoyed the Knowledge Cafe,” she said. “We got to talk with a variety of different mentors who have a wide range of professional experiences. They were able to discuss their career trajectories and provided really insightful advice as to how to proceed with our careers.”
—————
Debora Gunawan, who comes from Indonesia, researches the operationalizing of international rape laws in Southeast Asia, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Her work is done through comparative international human rights law study by focusing on three countries that, while in the same geographic region, practice predominantly different religions: Indonesia, Islam; the Philippines, Catholicism; and Thailand, Buddhism.
“The goal is to see how much socioculture and religion play a role in an international law being operationalized, adapted, and transformed by states, their actors, and NGOs,” said Gunawan.
“For example, CEDAW requires a state to train judges in gender sensitivity when it comes to dealing with gender violence. I want to see to what extent this training actually worked and whether one religion is more progressive than the others.”
Although she was once a corporate lawyer in Indonesia, Gunawan hopes to pursue an academic career and has long been a feminist activist, co-authoring the book Feminism Nusantara.
She said that one of her major takeaways from the conference, where she was part of the human rights group, was hearing from experts on how to publish in legal academia, such as shorter blog pieces rather than long journal articles that can take years to be published.
She also valued the networking opportunities.
“It not only was a place to network with other universities,” she said, “but also with the other Michigan students, because we actually became really close during this event.”
—————
Dmytro Soldatenko’s research focus on collective countermeasures and collective enforcement of international law starts from a very personal place—he is a native of Ukraine.
Specifically, he is looking at the array of nonforcible means of influence by third parties on states that violate international law.
“An ongoing debate is Russian assets abroad,” he said. “And the debate is whether Western countries can freeze those assets and seize them. There are many different positions, and some people are advocating that collective countermeasures are allowed under international law. But at the same time, states are often hesitant to use them.”
He adds that, while collective countermeasures are permissible under international law, if there is no clear framework for their application, states are hesitant to use this tool of enforcement.
One of the faculty members in his small group specializes in the area of countermeasures, so he said he gained valuable feedback from her for his research. Because his topic is quite narrow, few others in the group had a similar project, but that worked to his advantage.
“It generally does not really matter whether the people are experts in this field, because as long as people have a general understanding of international law, their input is valuable,” said Soldatenko, who hopes to pursue a career in academia. “It’s even better to have the view outside the narrow topic. It’s about having fresh eyes.”
—————
Brooke Tatum transferred to Michigan Law last fall and was thrilled to attend the conference along with so many others who had deeper backgrounds in international law. She noted that she values the input she received on her paper, which focuses on the international right to health and vaccine equity across Africa. She derived inspiration for the paper from her fall 2024 class on Africa and the Global Legal System.
“I wrote a research paper that I will now focus more on international law and the actions of international organizations,” she said. The theme of the paper meshed well with the conference theme, International Law: Comparative Voices and Viewpoints.
As part of the conference’s human rights group, she received substantial feedback that helped provide a stronger framework for her paper.
“For example, I’ve only taken a couple of international law classes, whereas some of the other students are LLMs who have already practiced international law and others are 3Ls who’ve taken more classes,” she said. “So just getting substantive feedback on my executive summary was really helpful.”
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Three-County & Full Pass also available
