Senior Judge Judith M. Barzilay visits University of Florida Levin College of Law

I was pleased to host my friend, Judge Judith Barzilay of the U.S. Court of International Trade on October 18-19, 2011, on behalf of the College of Law. As the story in the link below describes, Judge Barzilay made a presentation on balancing environmental protection against U.S. international obligations in my International Trade and the Environment class, then followed the next day with a law school-wide lecture on the interplay of international treaties and federal U.S. law. Despite 200 years for potential interpretation, courts still cannot seem to understand the relatively simple lesson of The Charming Betsy that U.S. laws should be interpreted if possible consistently with U.S. international obligations, as those obligations are understood in the United States.

The Judge was a hit with students and faculty alike, both knowledgeable of the law, able to present legal points with clarity to laws students, and personable during her dinner with deans and faculty and lunch with students from the College's active International Law Society. We hope she will return soon.
FlaLaw Online October 24, 2011 - University of Florida Levin College of Law