Lawyers: America’s Most Valuable Export?

Wednesday, 15 May 2013 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Karen Hall Petworth Neighborhood Library

Past

The city is certainly full of them (or us!), but could exporting some of America’s legal expertise actually be the secret weapon of American foreign policy to help deal with post-conflict stabilization, human rights abuses, and poverty? Since the promotion of justice and rule of law reforms overseas are hot topics in international law today — and because your tax dollars already pay for a lot of fascinating U.S. assistance to foreign countries — this class will provoke a dynamic discussion and debate about how judges, bureaucrats, and (gasp!) lawyers might actually make the world a better place.

Location

Petworth Neighborhood Library
4200 Kansas Ave. NW
Washington, DC
Neighborhood: Petworth

Past event

Instructor

Karen Hall is a foreign affairs officer and team lead for rule of law issues in Afghanistan at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, where she has worked since 2005. Karen’s team manages 17 U.S. foreign assistance programs in Afghanistan in the areas of justice sector institutional development, major crimes interventions, legal education, access to justice, and gender justice. From 2006 to 2008, Karen also worked in the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, managing criminal justice and corrections programs. Prior to joining the State Department, she practiced commercial litigation at a Washington, D.C., law firm. Karen graduated with a master’s degree in International Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in 2009, and wrote her culminating paper on creating frameworks for designing and evaluating criminal justice assistance programs in developing countries and then applying that framework to Afghanistan. Karen also holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School (2001) and a bachelor’s in Russian Honors from Brigham Young University (1998).

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