KEYNOTE SPEAKER:  Sen. John F. Kerry
As the Senate will be in session on Saturday, October 3, 2009, Senator Kerry must remain in Washington, D.C.  Attorney Charles Swift will be delivering the keynote address.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:  Attorney Charles Swift

In 2006, Charles retired from the U.S. Navy, where for the last 13 years he worked in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG), in addition to his service as a surface warfare officer. While in the JAG Corps, he worked principally in the area of criminal defense, earning a reputation as a premier trial attorney. During his tenure, Charles was involved in litigation in some of the highest profile cases in the U.S. military, from defense of the Navy’s use of the Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico against environmental litigation, to defending senior military officers in complex criminal cases. Most noteworthy is his quest for justice at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, concluding with the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.

Following his military career, Charles was a visiting professor and head of the Humanitarian Law Clinic at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia, before leaving to enter private practice in Seattle.

Charles has been a regular contributor on the topics of military law and terrorism for national news programs including MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, NPR, and Fox News. Charles is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, a cum laude graduate of Seattle University School of Law, and holds a Master’s Degree with honors in Trial Advocacy from Temple University. He has received numerous awards for his advocacy, including recognition as a Distinguished Alumnus at Seattle University School of Law, ACLU’s Roger Baldwin Medal for Distinguished Service, and was runner-up for Lawyer of the Year in 2005 as well as being named one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in 2006 by the National Law Journal.

Charles is admitted to practice before the District Columbia Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Supreme Court of the United States, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Jeffrey Addicott

Professor Jeffrey F. Addicott is a Distinguished Professor of Law and the Director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University School of Law, San Antonio, Texas. An active duty Army officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps for twenty years (he retired in 2000 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel), Professor Addicott spent a quarter of his career as a senior legal advisor to the United States Army's Special Forces. As an internationally recognized authority on national security law, terrorism law and human rights law, Professor Addicott not only lectures and participates in professional and academic organizations both in the United States and abroad, but he is also a frequent contributor to national and international news shows to include FOX News Channel and MSNBC. Professor Addicott is a prolific author, publishing over 20 books, articles, and monographs on a variety of legal topics. Addicott's most recent book (2009) is entitled: Terrorism Law: Cases, Materials, Comments, 5th edition.

Among his many contributions to the field, Professor Addicott pioneered the teaching of law of war and human rights courses to the militaries of numerous nascent democracies in Eastern Europe and Latin America. For these efforts he was awarded the Legion of Merit, named the "Army Judge Advocate of the Year," and honored as a co-recipient of the American Bar Association's Hodson Award. Addicott has served in senior legal positions in Germany, Korea, Panama, and throughout the United States. Professor Addicott holds a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) and Master of Laws (LL..M.) from the University of Virginia School of Law. He also received a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the Army Judge Advocate General's School and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Alabama School of Law. Apart from teaching a variety of courses at the law school, Dr. Addicott served as the Associate Dean for Administration at St. Mary's University School of Law (2006-2007). Dr. Addicott was the 2007 recipient of "St. Mary's University School of Law Distinguished Faculty Award."  Center for Terrorism Law, St. Mary's University: www.stmarytx.edu/ctl   

Scott Bartell (SNESL alumnus)

Attorney Scott Bartell directs victim assistance projects and program development for the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV) in Uganda.  The TFV helps victims of crimes under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) return to a dignified and contributory life within their communities.  TFV programming to victims and their families falls within activities legally described as physical rehabilitation, psychological rehabilitation and material support.  Currently, the TFV’s current programming arises from its mandate to use non court-ordered “other resources” in support of victims of crimes under jurisdiction of the ICC.

Mr. Bartell has worked in the field of International Law, Refugee Relief, and Post-Conflict Development since 1992.  Mr. Bartell has served in numerous conflict and post-conflict environments across Africa and Europe including but not limited to: Darfur, Sudan with USAID;  Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina with International Rescue Committee (IRC);  The Hague, Netherlands with International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia;  Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo with IRC; Rwanda with American Red Cross/International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); and Mali with U.S. Peace Corps.  (more info)

Richard Cohen

A graduate of Columbia University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Cohen came to the Southern Poverty Law Center as its legal director and now serves as its president and chief executive officer. He and Morris Dees have formed a dynamic trial team, winning a series of landmark lawsuits against some of the nation's major hate groups. Cohen also successfully litigated a wide variety of important civil right actions - defending the rights of prisoners to be treated humanely, working for equal educational opportunities for all children and bringing down the Confederate battle flag from the top of the Alabama State Capitol.

Cohen also has been a creative force behind some of the Center's most successful education projects. He has served as executive producer for six documentary films created for the Center's Teaching Tolerance program. Four of those films were nominated for Academy Awards, and two - "Mighty Times: The Children's March" in 2005 and "A Time for Justice" in 1994 - won Oscars.

Since being named Center president in 2003, Cohen has dedicated himself to continuing the organization's tradition of working tirelessly for those who have no other champions.

Susan Daicoff

Susan Daicoff is a Professor of Law at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Florida, teaching contracts, professional responsibility, and law as a healing profession.  She has been researching, writing, and speaking since 1991 on the psychology of lawyers, lawyer personality, lawyer distress and dissatisfaction, the legal profession, professionalism, and ethical decision making by lawyers, culminating in her book, “Lawyer, Know Thyself,” which synthesized forty years of empirical research on lawyers’ personality traits and lawyer wellbeing.

Her current research interest is the “comprehensive law movement,” which encompasses therapeutic jurisprudence, preventive law, restorative justice, collaborative law, creative problem solving, holistic justice, procedural justice, transformative mediation, drug treatment courts, and others, and its potential to enhance lawyer wellbeing and the legal profession  She uses this research in her educational and skills-training work with law students. 

Click here to read comprehensive law movement vector descriptions. 

Judge Elizabeth Fahey

Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Fahey served a year in the judiciary of  the War Crimes Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  The court was established to investigate and prosecute the most serious war crimes committed in Bosnia.  One of Judge Fahey’s cases involved a massacre of Muslims by Serbian soldiers. (more info)

Jacqueline Gomes

Jacqueline Gomes is the Court Advocacy Program Manager at The Women’s Center.  With over 30 years experience, The Women’s Center is the preeminent regional center in Massachusetts, providing counseling, education, outreach, referrals and resources to all survivors and victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and child trauma.   (Women’s Center information )

Scott W. Lang, Mayor of the City of New Bedford

Scott W. Lang is the 40th Mayor of the City of New Bedford.  Born in Oceanside, New York on October 25, 1950, Mayor Lang worked as a paperboy, laborer and gas attendant as a high school student.   He then worked his way through college delivering beer for Rheingold Breweries, as a warehouse man and clerk at Railroad Salvage in Milwaukee and as a bricklayer’s tender in the summer of 1971.   All three of these jobs were union jobs.

Scott Lang graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1972 with a degree in History and Political Science.  He attended Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. while working for the Democratic National Committee.  He graduated from Georgetown in 1976 was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1977.

Having family and friends in the area, he moved to New Bedford in 1978 and began practicing law, working for Attorney John M. Xifaras.  District Attorney John A. Tierney appointed Mayor Lang a special assistant district attorney in October of 1978.  He went on to serve as a Prosecuting Attorney in the Third District Court for District Attorney Ronald A. Pina and was later assigned to the Superior Court as a prosecutor where he served until 1990.

Early in his legal career, he worked in the sports and entertainment law field, representing athletes and broadcasters. Mayor Lang has extensive experience in labor law and has represented both private and public sector labor unions. In addition, he has represented employers and business entities on statutory issues. He also has extensive experience in the areas of personal injury, catastrophic personal injury and workers’ compensation, as well as state and federal labor and employment law and Civil Rights cases.

He has practiced in the Massachusetts District Courts, Probate Court, Massachusetts Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the United States District Court, the United States Appeals Court, the Department of Industrial Accidents, the Division of Employment and Training, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Merit Protection Systems Board, the Social Security Administration, the Veterans Administration, Office of Federal Workers’ Compensation, the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission, the Massachusetts Board of Conciliation and Arbitration, as well as the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission.

Since 1990 he has lectured in various forums on employment issues regarding the Family Medical Leave Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Workers’ Compensation Law and other employment-related issues. He has contributed several articles to Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education in employment-related areas.

As an Adjunct Professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Mayor Lang has taught numerous courses on Employment Law, Labor Relations Law, the Presidential Nominating Process, the United States Government, Massachusetts Politics, and introductory political science courses.  He also has served as an arbitrator and mediator for Commonwealth Mediation and Conciliation, Inc. and has sponsored numerous youth baseball teams as well as sports and academic programs throughout the city.

With a strong history of civic engagement and public service, Scott Lang saw an opportunity to become even more involved in his community by entering the race for Mayor of the City of New Bedford in 2005.  Upon his election, Mayor Lang wasted no time in rallying the community and addressing the quality-of-life issues most important to city residents.  In his first term, he led a full-scale, comprehensive effort to reduce crime, including re-opening police district stations and strengthening the police presence community wide; initiated an aggressive program to address abandoned and tax delinquent properties; created jobs by supporting small businesses; resolved collective bargaining agreements with city employee unions; reduced a projected FY ’06 budget deficit; initiated city financial management system improvements; and sparked a statewide discussion about the need to modify the State’s MCAS graduation requirement.  

In 2007, Mayor Lang was re-elected for a second term by 87% of voters and his priorities continue to include enhancing public safety, competing to create more and better jobs, managing city government efficiently, preparing New Bedford children to meet the challenges of their future, developing strong, vibrant neighborhoods and strengthening community spirit.  For his distinguished leadership regarding education issues, Mayor Lang received awards in 2007 from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and the Citizens for Public Schools. For his innovative leadership on a myriad of issues impacting the New Bedford community, NBC 10 and The Standard-Times named him the “2006 SouthCoast Man of the Year”.  In 2008, Mayor Lang was nominated to serve on the Massachusetts Local Government Advisory Council; a group of officials who advise the Governor on key issues facing cities and towns.  Mayor Lang has also initiated and raised the funds to support an annual summer youth program for New Bedford teenagers, structured on community service, classroom learning and professional development and enrichment activities.

Mayor Lang has been married to Marguerite "Gig" Lang since 1973; they have 3 children, Nate, Andy and Sarah.

Robin Lerner

Robin Lerner joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as Counsel in March, 2009.  Robin came to the Committee after seven years at the Department of State, where she held a number of interesting and varied positions, including: public diplomacy officer at U.S. Embassies Baghdad and Cairo, as well as Regional Embassy Office Kirkuk; the Department’s first congressional affairs officer for Iraqi affairs; and senior reporting officer for the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. 

Previous to her work at the State Department, Robin worked in post-conflict human rights and legal affairs in the Balkans for the OSCE. In addition to short and long term election supervisor work in Bosnia and Croatia, she served as the regional legal and human rights officer in southern Croatia and was the OSCE’s central focal point on human trafficking in Kosovo.  A lawyer by training, her domestic legal experience includes a position as staff attorney for the ACLU of Mississippi, as well as various volunteer and pro bono refugee and asylum work.

Michael Mone

Michael E. Mone, Jr. is an attorney at the law firm of Esdaile, Barrett & Esdaile.  Mr. Mone practices in all areas of civil litigation, specializing in medical malpractice, simple and complex tort claims, and products liability.  Before joining Esdaile, Barrett & Esdaile in 1999, Mr. Mone served as an Assistant District Attorney in Norfolk County, prosecuting a broad spectrum of criminal cases in the District and Superior Courts..  

In 2005, Mr. Mone volunteered to represent on a pro bono basis a detainee imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay in a petition for writ of habeas corpus.  Mr. Mone represent an Uzbek national who was cleared by the U.S. government to leave Guantánamo in February 2007, but who cannot return to his native country for fear of persecution and no other country has agreed to accept him for resettlement.  He has been in U.S. custody for more 7 years.

Mr. Mone is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, having served as a member of the Civil Litigation Section Council (2000-2001). Mr. Mone is also a member of the Massachusetts Association of Trial Attorneys.  Mr. Mone has been a member of the Massachusetts Bar since 1996.  He is also admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (2001) as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit (2007).  Mr. Mone received his J.D. from Boston College Law School (1996).  He attended Skidmore College where he majored in Government and graduated Phi Beta Kappa (1990). He and his wife live with their two children in Melrose, Massachusetts.

Captain Joseph Murphy

Captain Murphy, professor at Massachusetts Maritime Academy who teaches anti-piracy tactics, is also the father of Shane Murphy, who was second in command on the Maersk Alabama, when it was hijacked by Somali pirates in April 2009. (more info)

Laura M. Olson

Laura M. Olson is currently Senior Counsel for The Constitution Project and President of Blackletter Consulting, LLC. From 1997-2008, she worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). She held the position of Legal Advisor to the ICRC Regional Delegation in Washington, D.C. from 2005-2007. In that capacity, she was responsible for legal support to ICRC activities in the U.S. and Canada, including for ICRC visits to the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Previously, with the ICRC, she held the positions of Legal Advisor at the ICRC Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as the Delegate responsible for the program to academic circles and universities at the ICRC Moscow Regional Delegation. During the spring and summer semesters of 2008, Ms. Olson was a Visiting Scholar at Notre Dame Law School’s Center for Civil and Human Rights, as well as an ASIL Fellow. She was Project Director for ASIL’s Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward the International Criminal Court from summer 2008 to spring 2009. She holds a LL.M. from New York University School of Law and a J.D. and M.A. in philosophy from the University of Iowa. Her writing covers matters of international humanitarian law, transitional justice, as well as the relationship between international humanitarian and human rights law during armed conflict.

Stephanie Perini-Hegarty (SNESL alumna)

Ms. Perini-Hegarty is a licensed and practicing Massachusetts attorney with a J.D. from Southern New England School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science from Regis College.  She is also admitted to the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Recently, Ms. Perini-Hegarty became a Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) an accreditation given by NASBITE International.

Stephanie Perini-Hegarty is an active Lifetime Member of the Women’s Bar Association. In addition to the Women’s Bar Association, she is also a member of the Massachusetts Bar, the Boston Bar, the Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts, the American Bar Association’s Section of International Law, and the International Bar Association..

She is founder and president of Perini-Hegarty & Associates, providing domestic and international contract, negotiation and corporate legal services for start-ups to Fortune 500® companies as well as legal support for residential and commercial real estate transactions.  For over 15 years, Stephanie has successfully negotiated a wide variety of complex transactions in the areas of international commercial transactions including, but not limited to: import/export compliance, data privacy, intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, licensing, corporate formation, governance, ERISA, employment, and finance. 

Prior to founding Perini-Hegarty & Associates, Ms. Perini-Hegarty was the Vice President of Contracts for Fidelity Stock Plan Services where she was responsible for overseeing all contractual legal and business matters for the company's domestic and international service offerings. She is a recipient of the Fidelity Presidents Circle Award..

Stephanie is a member of the Chief Executives Club of Boston College, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, The Massachusetts Export Center, National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, FISD-Financial Information Securities Division of the SIIA, and the Global Equity Organization.  She is listed in the Cambridge Who's Who Registry of Executives and Professionals, Madison Who's Who Registry of Executives and Professionals, Metropolitan Who's Who Registry of Executives and Professionals, the National Association of Executive & Professional Women, and Premier Who’s Who of Executives and Professional.

Perini-Hegarty & Associates has been awarded 2009 Best of Boston by the US Commerce Association.

Colonel George Phelan

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Attorney George Phelan was a non-English speaking emigrant to the United States. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master of City Planning from Ohio State University where he was a U.S. Housing and Urban Development Fellow. While working full time as a grants writer for the U.S. Justice Dept. Committee on Criminal Justice, Attorney Phelan received his law degree in 1979 from New England School of Law in Boston (evening division) where he was selected Senior Editor of the Law Review and was published in the New England Law Review .  He also earned his LLM from Boston University Law School, also at night while working full time in his solo law practice. He is admitted to practice in Massachusetts (State and Federal Courts), U.S. Tax Court, and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

Since 1984, Attorney Phelan has been a solo law practitioner concentrating on estate planning, asset protection, probate and taxation. He also served as a criminal defense lawyer for indigent defendants. He was e has been awarded grants from the Aetna Foundation and the Massachusetts Bar Foundation to produce educational videos about elder law. He has authored a newspaper column, been a guest on numerous radio and cable television shows, and served as a consultant to local legislators seeking input on pending legislation. He has been the featured or guest speaker at over 150 public seminars on a variety of legal topics. Attorney Phelan has also served as an adjunct faculty member at the community college, university and law school level.  He has also done speaking engagements on behalf of  Fidelity Investments, Hancock Insurance and Guardian Insurance. Attorney Phelan served a six year term on the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers Disciplinary Committee. He has been appointed numerous times by judges to investigate and report to the Massachusetts courts on sensitive probate and family matters. He is a contributing author to the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Foundation. 

Attorney Phelan has served in the US Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps for 30 years, with over five years active military duty including deployments to Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. His current rank is Colonel. He served for three years as Staff Judge Advocate for one of the US Army Reserve’s ten regional readiness commands where he supervised a staff of twelve military lawyers. His military awards include two Bronze Stars and Five Meritorious Service Medals. He served as prosecutor, chief prosecutor, defense counsel in military courts-martial and as  special assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting criminal cases in U.S. Magistrate’s Court. In July 2007 he voluntarily left his solo law practice to serve  a one year assignment  as  Rule of Law Advisor with a U.S. State Department Provincial Reconstruction Team embedded with the U.S. Army 82^nd Airborne Division, serving in Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq. He voluntarily assumed the role of women’s rights advocate. He successfully wrote proposals which obtained over Five Million dollars of  grants from U.S. Government and foreign embassy funds and worked extensively with Iraqi Non-Governmental Organizations and local district councils. He established numerous women’s and legal programs in the Sadr City and Adhamiyah sections of Baghdad including an all women legal clinic, five womens' centers, first-ever women’s continuing legal education seminars,  a televised  human rights debate  involving female Members Of Iraq Parliament, domestic violence census and a Detainee Family Ombudsman program, ministerial and Parliament interns program. He nominated recipients of the International Women of Courage Award and Hubert Humphrey Fellowship. He was chosen to brief the Ambassador and Deputy Ambassador on women’s rights.  In November 2008, he returned to Iraq as a State Department employee to continue his work on behalf of Iraqi women and lawyers.

Colonel Jody M. Prescott

Colonel Prescott is currently an Assistant Professor & Deputy Director, Development, Center for the Rule of Law Department of Law U.S. Military Academy at Westpoint.  He holds an LL.M. in Military Law from The Judge Advocate General’s School, an LL.M. in International & Comparative Law from Georgetown University, a J.D. from the University of Maine, and a B.A in Zoology from University of Vermont

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Infantry in 1983, and after being admitted to the Maine Bar in 1986, he came on active duty in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He served as a Government Appellate Attorney from 1986-1989, and then was selected to be a Commissioner for the Army Court of Criminal Appeals.  Between 1990 and 1993, he served as a Defense Counsel in Kaiserslautern and Stuttgart, Germany.  After a year studying German at the Defense Language Institute, he returned to Germany, and served as the Chief, International & Operational Claims Branch, U.S. Army Claims Service Europe, in Mannheim, from 1995-1997.  During this time, he deployed to Bosnia to serve as the claims chief for the IFOR Headquarters in Sarajevo.  Colonel Prescott then spent two years in Alaska as the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for U.S. Army Alaska, and in 1999 attended the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College. He then served as an assistant professor for military law at the Command & General Staff College until he returned to Alaska as the Staff Judge Advocate from 2003-2005.  He served as a Staff Legal Advisor at Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia, for a year, and in 2006 rotated to the Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway.  His last assignment before joining the faculty at West Point was as the Chief Legal Advisor to the ISAF Commander in Kabul, Afghanistan, from 2008 until 2009. 

Colonel Prescott’s writings include:

“The Development of NATO EBAO Doctrine: Clausewitz’s Theories and the Role of Law in an Evolving Approach to Operations,” 27 Penn State Law Rev. (2008)

“Training in the Law of Armed Conflict – A NATO Perspective,” 7 Journal of Military Ethics (2008)

Chapter IV-8, Claims, Handbook of the Law of Visiting Forces, Oxford University Press (2001)

“Litigating Genocide: A Consideration of the ICC in Light of the German Jews’ Legal Response to Nazi Persecution, 1933-1941, 51 Maine Law Rev. (1999)

“Soviet Military Justice and the Challenge of Perestroika,” 123 Mil. Law Rev. (1989)

Shazia Rafi

Shazia Z. Rafi is, since 1996, secretary-general of Parliamentarians for Global Action, an association of more than 1,350 individual legislators from 131 national parliaments. PGA programs promote peace, democracy, justice and sustainable development around the world. As a direct implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action, PGA became the first parliamentary organization to appoint a woman as secretary-general and to amend its constitution with a 60:40 gender rule for executive committee elections. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Rafi is a graduate in Middle Eastern Studies of Bryn Mawr College 1979 and received a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School, Tufts University in 1983. She is also a frequent contributor on women's issues for Women's Media Center and Ms. Magazine."

Colonel Daniel L. Rubini, USAR (Retired)

Colonel Daniel Rubini practiced law for 22 years primarily in business, real estate, and estate practice and now serves as a United States Administrative Law Judge in Philadelphia, PA.  He resides near Newtown, PA with his wife, Joan since 1974.  His son Daniel is a tech writer and his son Jeffrey is a Lieutenant, US Coast Guard.

Colonel Rubini earned his Bachelors degree in Political Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg Virginia, Chartered Financial Consultant from American College, Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania, and Juris Doctor from Temple University, Philadelphia Pennsylvania.  He served in the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Army Reserve.  He served as an Army lawyer in the Judge Advocate General Corps and later served in the Civil Affairs branch of the US Army.

Colonel Rubini was activated in 1991 for Operation Desert Shield/Storm as advisor to the Kuwait Ministry of Justice. He was activated again in Haiti (Operation Uphold Democracy) in 1994 as advisor to Haiti Ministry of Justice. He served on later Ministry Advisory missions to Haiti as Team Chief on several deployments from 1995 to 1997.  He again was activated in 1999 for Central America as Chief of Civil Affairs to US Southern Command- Forward Command Element for Hurricane Mitch reconstruction.

Colonel Rubini retired in February 2000 from the US Army Reserve.  In September 2003, he un-retired and returned to Active Duty in Iraq.  He served on the Coalition Provisional Authority as Senior Advisor to the Iraq Ministry of Justice.  In February 2004, he retired again. (more info)

William C. Sawyer

William C. Sawyer. Attorney Sawyer represents both traditional New England manufacturing companies and emerging service and other businesses in a broad range of matters including mergers and acquisitions, commercial lending and compliance matters. In addition, Mr. Sawyer has extensive experience in the preparation of wills and trusts and the transfer of assets through gifting and other programs to minimize estate taxes. Mr. Sawyer is a graduate of Harvard College (cum laude) and Harvard Law School. Experienced in land use law and regional planning, he has been active in many civic and political organizations. He has run for the office of Massachusetts Attorney General and has been a candidate for Congress in the 5th Congressional District. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Massachusetts Bar Association and the Boston Bar Association. He has served as a director and past president of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. He has also served on a number of corporate Board of Directors. Mr. Sawyer has received an AV® Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

Commander Sandra Selman

A faculty member of the International Law Department at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, CDR Selman received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University in 1982.  She enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve in 1983.  After attending Heath Services “A” School in New London, Connecticut, HS2 Selman served on several extended active duty contracts as a Health Services Technician (Corpsman/Dental Technician) from 1984-1989 at the Support Center New York Clinic and MLC Atlantic (k) Division on Governors Island, NY. 

CDR Selman received her JD from Thomas Cooley Law School in May, 1994.  After graduation, she received a direct commission as a Lieutenant from the U.S. Coast Guard.  CDR Selman’s assignments have included a tour with the Maintenance and Logistics Command Atlantic (MLCA) on Governors Island, NY and Norfolk, VA from 1994-1998.  At MLCA, she served for one year in the Operational Law & Military Justice Branch and for two years in the Contract Law Branch.  CDR Selman served as Trial Counsel at the US Navy Trial Service Office East in Norfolk, VA from 1997-1998.  CDR Selman then served as the Senior USCG Appellate Defense Counsel at CG Headquarters from 1998-2000.  CDR Selman served from 2000-2004 at the USCG YARD as the Staff Judge Advocate for the Commanding Officers of the CG YARD and CG Engineering Logistics Center in Baltimore, Maryland. From 2004-2008, CDR Selman served as the 17th CG District Legal Officer and Staff Judge Advocate to the Admiral responsible for all Coast Guard operations in Alaska (and US Arctic region).  CDR Selman currently serves on the Faculty of the International Law Department instructing on International Humanitarian Law, Law of the Sea, Maritime Law Enforcement and Maritime Security Operations.

CDR Selman is a member of the State Bar of Michigan and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Michigan, the Coast Guard Court of Criminal Appeals (CGCCA) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF).  CDR Selman was invested as a Special Court-Martial Military Judge in May 2004. 

A native of Michigan, CDR Selman is married to Mr. Michael Thorp of Kailua, Hawaii.  Michael is a Registered and Certified Wound Care Nurse and serves as the Clinical Leader at the South County Hospital Wound Care Center in Wakefield, Rhode Island.

Mark Shulman

Professor Shulman is Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs & International Affairs and teaches National Security Law at Pace Law School. He also teaches International Law at Sarah Lawrence College.  Prior to joining Pace, he directed the Worldwide Security Program at the EastWest Institute. Until 2003, he practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton. An active member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, he chairs the Council on International Affairs and the Task Force. He has taught the laws of war and war crimes tribunals at Columbia Law School and military history at Yale, the Air War College, and at Columbia (SIPA).

Mr. Shulman has published widely in the fields of history, law and international affairs. His books include: The Laws of War: Constraints on Warfare in the Western World (1994), Navalism and the Emergence of American Sea Power (1995), An Admiral’s Yarn (1999), and The Imperial Presidency and the Consequences of 9/11 (2007). His articles have appeared in the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, Journal of National Security Law & Policy, Fordham Law Review, Houston Journal of International Law, Journal of Military History, and Intelligence and National Security.. He graduated from Yale (BA), Oxford (MSt), the University of California at Berkeley (PhD, history) and Columbia (JD) where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Transnational Law and received the Berger Prize for International Law.  More info: Mr. Shulman’s research,  www.markrshulman.net

Michael Sullivan



Attorney Michael Sullivan lectures on international human rights law at American University’s Senior Crisis Management Seminar as well as the University’s Antiterrorism Executive Forum for Senior-Level Foreign Government Officials. In this capacity, he works with members of foreign governments, members of foreign military intelligence, defense policymakers and force planners who have responsibility for crisis management.

His international field experience includes evaluation of micro finance programs in Bosnia Herzegovina, medical administrative and relief work in Bosnia, and human rights reporting and documentation of breaches of medical neutrality in Kosovo prior to the NATO intervention. He has been selected on eight separate occasions to serve as a U.S. Department of State delegate to the OSCE-monitored elections in Belarus, Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia and Ukraine.

Attorney Sullivan has also worked in Baghdad with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) assisting with the constitutional drafting effort.   While in Iraq he supported the efforts of the Iraqi Constitutional Drafting Committee, monitored the Iraqi Constitutional referendum, and directed NDI's Executive Program.    

Sullivan received his master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy where he was awarded a grant to investigate human rights violations in Kosovo on behalf of Physicians for Human Rights.  While completing his graduate work at Fletcher, he conducted research at Harvard University for Ambassador Swanee Hunt, and was a guest lecturer on the laws of war at United States Naval War College. 

David Strachman

David J. Strachman, a partner at McIntyre, Tate & Lynch LLP in Providence concentrates in representing victims of international terrorism.  He graduated Brandeis University and Boston University School of Law. Strachman is an adjunct professor of law at Southern New England School of Law and has at taught at Roger Williams University. His publications include Civil Terrorism Law: Cases and Material (Lawyers & Judges Publishing, 2008) and numerous CLE manuals.  He has won several judgments against Iran, the PLO, Palestinian Authority and HAMAS and has litigated dozens of terrorism cases in U.S. district courts and appellate courts.

Gregory Teran

A partner at WilmerHale, Gregory Teran served as defense counsel on behalf of six Bosnian-Algerian prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in the case of Boumedienne v. Bush.  (more info)

Abigail Williams

Abigail Williams, in addition to being an attorney, holds a Masters in Public Health, a Masters in Emergency and Disaster Planning, and a Bachelors in Nursing.   She serves as adjunct faculty at Southern New England School of Law, teaching courses in both Terrorism Law and Medical Malpractice.  She consults nationally on health law issues and speaks on numerous topics, including leadership training for hospital management, legal issues in EMS, and the impact of violence on trauma centers.  Over the past 13 years, Abigail Williams has owned and operated the successful Law Firm of Abigail Williams & Associates, LLC.

Brian Glyn Williams

University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, History Professor Brian Glyn Williams is a specialist on terrorism in the Middle East and warlords in Central Asia.  He specializes in the study of nomadic tribes of Asia and delivered expert witness testimony at the July 30, 2008 trial of Salim Hamdan at the Military Tribunal in Guantanamo Bay.  He has visited Afghanistan on four occasions where he lived with anti-Taliban warlords, interviewed Taliban prisoners of war and carried out field work for the CIA's Counter Terrorism Center.  During Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001, the larger than life Afghan warlord General Dostum united his Afghan horsemen with US Special Forces to destroy the Taliban army of the north. Dostum's spectacular cavalry charges overthrew the Taliban and liberated Afghanistan thus preventing America from needing to launch a full scale invasion of Afghan's "Graveyard of Empires." In 2003 and 2005, UMass Dartmouth Professor Brian Glyn Williams traveled to Dostum's remote realm and lived with this notoriously accessible warlord and gained access to his world.

Website Art by Jay Richard

Jay Richard is a freelance illustrator currently living in Fairhaven.  Jay graduated from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2008 with a BFA in Illustration and took additional courses at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Jay works comfortably in both digital and traditional media, usually a combination of markers, digital photos and Photoshop. While he prefers science fiction and political themes, he is willing to illustrate anything and everything. You can find samples of Jay's work on his website, ninestarstudio.com.