International, Comparative, Foreign and Domestic: A Virtual Gathering of Friends

On Jan. 22, 2021, Professor Ben Davis hosted a virtual gathering of friends with more than 40 experts around the world. Much of the way we are taught is to compartmentalize our understanding of the world through different lenses. Something is an international issue, a comparative issue, a foreign issue, or a domestic issue. Within each of these general categories, there are subcategories. Something is a crime against humanity, a crime in different jurisdictions, a crime in one jurisdiction, a crime in our own federal or state system. The same can be said within academic fields like law, sociology, political science, and the sciences. This dynamic virtual gathering brought together people from different disciplines to spark conversation.

Agenda

Click each panel below to see the list of topics and speakers throughout the day.

9-10:25 a.m. — We Can Touch the World
Student Moderator: Emilie Easton
- Turning Defective Arbitration Clauses Operative: The Judicial Technique of Road-Maps — Nader Mohamed Ibrahim, professor of law, Qatar University (Doha, Qatar)
- Limited Precedent System in Hungary — Attila Bado, professor and director; Peter Mezei, associate professor and deputy head, University of Szeged (Szeged, Hungary)
- Preventive Theories on Self-Defense in the Cyberspace — Paolo Bargiacchi, professor of public international law, Kore University of Enna (Enna, Italy)
- Outer Space Law: The (Legal) Space Race — Christopher M. Campbell, litigation counsel, Baker Hughes (Porto, Portugal)
- A New Breed of Court: the Singapore International Commercial Court — Dominique T. Hascher, judge, Cour de Cassation (Paris, France)
10:30-11:40 a.m. — Turn and Face the Changes
Student Moderator: Riley Elliott
- Rethinking International Aribitration: Asia and African Perspectives — Ronald Amoussou-Guenou, partner, Vovan and Associes (Bangkok, Thailand)
- The Agency Model of Human Rights Protection in the European Union - A View From a Former Insider — Dr. Márton Sulyok, senior lecturer, University of Szeged (Szeged, Hungary)
- Race Reconciliation and Social Justice — Penelope Andrews, professor of law, New York Law School (New York, N.Y.)
- Poetry in Motion — Leah Wing, co-director, National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution, University of Massachusetts (Amherst, Mass.)
- Access to Justice & Law Teaching — Dr. Nachiketa Mittal, founder and director, Virtual Law School (Pune, Maharashtra, India)
- The Cosmic Failure of the Extraterrestrial Aquarian Exposition: Moonwalking Away from the Falsehoods and Derisions of the Current Space Law Regime to Protect Lunar Cultural Heritage — Morgan Isenberg, law student, University of Toledo College of Law (Toledo, Ohio)
11:45 a.m.-12:55 p.m. — What's Going On?
Student Moderator: Michelle Kovach
- International Development Communications — Dorothy M. Davis, president, Dorothy M. Davis Consulting (Atlanta, Georgia)
- The Politics of Memory — Dr. Friederike Emonds, associate professor of German, University of Toledo College of Arts and Letters (Toledo, Ohio)
- Presumed Punishable: Sentencing on the Street and the Need to Protect Black Lives Through a Renewed Presumption of Innocence — Jelani Jefferson Exum, professor of law, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (Detroit, Mich.)
- "The Gift that Keeps Giving" and When You Just Know — Mary Aguilera, state tri-chair, Ohio Poor People's Campaign (Cincinnati, Ohio)
- White Flight as Cancel Culture: The Hideous Fragility of Colorlined Spaces — Anthony Paul Farley, James Campbell Matthews Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence, Albany Law School (Albany, N.Y.)
- The United States’ Obligations in Ensuring Rights for Sex Workers: How United States Domestic Law is in Violation of International Law — Michelle Kovach, law student, University of Toledo College of Law (Toledo, Ohio)
1-2:10 p.m. — Which Side Are You On?
Student Moderator: Nick Cattaneo
- Reaping Where You Do Not Sow, Pulling Up the IP Ladder in the Age of COVID — Llewellyn Gibbons, Distinguished University Professor, University of Toledo College of Law (Toledo, Ohio)
- Family Foster Care - Unequal Treatment in Ohio — Hassanayn Joseph, attorney at law, (Toledo, Ohio)
- Dr. Martin Luther King and Global Racial Justice Law in a BLM Era — Dr. Jeremy I. Levitt, Distinguished Professor of International Law, FAMU College of Law (Orlando, Fla.)
- A Local Democracy Initiative to Defund the Police — Terry Lodge, attorney at law, Terry Lodge, Esq. (Toledo, Ohio)
- The Rise of Farmworker Law — Beth Lyon, clinical professor of law, Cornell Law School (Ithaca, N.Y.)
- The Diversity Dividend — Katherine Simpson, arbitrator, Simpson Dispute Resolution Inc. (Ann Arbor, Mich.)
2:15-3:25 p.m. — Cast Your Fate to the Wind
Student Moderator: John Stewart
- Reliance on Foreign Law - Two Examples — Geoffrey Rapp, senior associate dean for academic affairs and Harold A. Anderson Professor of Law and Values, University of Toledo College of Law (Toledo, Ohio)
- International Relations and Global Supply Chain Management — Paul Hong, Distinguished University Professor, University of Toledo John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation (Toledo, Ohio)
- Future Challenges Facing International Arbitration — Anne-Marie Whitesell, professor, Georgetown University Law Center (Washington, D.C.)
- ODR Futures — Colin Rule, president, Mediate.com (Eugene, Ore.)
- Judicial Mediation: An International Perspective — James J. Alfini, professor of law and dean emeritus, South Texas College of Law Houston (Houston, Texas)
- Is Mediation Law on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown? Foreign, Comparative and International Perspectives — Hiro N. Aragaki, professor of law, Loyola Law School Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.)
3:30-4:40 p.m. — The Whole World is Watching
Student Moderator: Mohammed Omara
- How to use International Human Rights in U.S. Courts — Connie de la Vega, academic director of international programs and professor, University of San Francisco School of Law (San Francisco, Calif.)
- Virtual Regulatory Sandboxes — Eric Chaffee, Distinguished University Professor, University of Toledo College of Law (Toledo, Ohio)
- The Boeing Case and Treaty Law — James P. George, professor of law, Texas A&M University School of Law (Fort Worth, Texas)
- Ourika and miscegenation laws — Linda Rouillard, professor of French, University of Toledo College of Arts and Letters (Toledo, Ohio)
- The Admissibility of Coerced Evidence Procured Through Torture in Guantanamo Bay — Nicole Cote, law student, University of Toledo College of Law (Toledo, Ohio)
- The Normalization of Relations Between Israel and Certain Arab Countries — Mohammed Omara, law student, University of Toledo College of Law (Toledo, Ohio)
4:45-6 p.m. — Let the Sunshine In
Student Moderator: Morgan Isenberg
- The Artificial Division Drawn Between the Common Law and Statutory Law — Todd Rakoff, professor of administrative law, Harvard Law School (Cambridge, Mass.)
- The Main Thing: Teaching as Though Tomorrow Matters — Irma Russell, professor, University of Missouri Kansas City (Kansas City, Mo.)
- Challenging the 24-Hour Workday in International Law and Practice — Victoria Sahani, associate dean of faculty development and professor of law, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Arizona State University (Tempe, Airz.)
- ODR through the Lens of A2J — Amy Schmitz, Elwood L. Thomas Missouri Endowed Professor of Law, University of Missouri School of Law (Columbia, Mo.)
- Tracing How and Why Particular Legal Doctrines Migrate into Other Countries — Franklin Snyder, professor of law, Texas A&M University School of Law (Fort Worth, Texas)
- Egalitarian Change: Our Roles & Responsibilities — Charles Crumpton, mediator, Independent Mediator (Toledo, Ohio)
- Closing — Odette Lagace, Prof. Ben Davis's spouse and independent translator (Toledo, Ohio)
- Closing - Confusing the Algorithms: What I Want to Know is Are You Kind? — Benjamin Davis, professor of law, University of Toledo College of Law (Toledo, Ohio)

Speaker Bios

Explore conference panelist speaker bios.

Davis Retirement

Toledo Law Professor Ben Davis hosted the event as his final project before his retirement on Jan. 31, 2021. He remained on special assignment in his final months to organize this virtual conference.

Davis joined the Toledo Law faculty in 2003. He taught in the areas of contracts, commercial law, alternative dispute resolution, arbitration, public international law, and international business transactions. He is also the former chair of the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution.

Davis created international fast-track commercial arbitration, invented the International Competitions for Online Dispute Resolution, and led the adoption by the American Society of International Law of its Centennial Resolution on Laws of War and Detainee Treatment, also known as "the Davis Resolution," only the 8th resolution in its then history.

Throughout his vast legal career, Davis has served as a global advocate. Bilingual in English and French, he worked in Paris as a strategic business consultant and development consultant for West Africa. Later, as American legal counsel at the Paris-based International Court of Arbitration, he supervised over 1,000 international cases, assisted with drafting arbitration laws in countries such as India and Sri Lanka, and led conferences around the world.

Davis is a Harvard graduate, having earned his B.A., cum laude, in economics in 1977 and his J.D./M.B.A. in 1983.

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