Professor Julian Arato Elected to the Executive Council of American Society of International Law

Professor Julian Arato, Associate Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Dennis J. Block Center for International Business Law, has been elected to the Executive Council of American Society of International Law (ASIL) for a three-year term. ASIL, founded in 1906, was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1950 to foster the study of international law and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the basis of law and justice. With nearly 4,000 members from 100 nations, ASIL holds Special Consultative Status to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and is a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies.

In early April, Arato served as an ASIL observer delegate to United Nations Commission of International Trade Law, Working Group III, on Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) reform. ISDS is a system through which investors can directly sue nation states in international fora for alleged breaches of their treaty rights. The group identified procedural and structural concerns with ISDS that merit reform, including inconsistent arbitral outcomes, duration and cost, and third-party funding.

“It’s a privilege serving as an ASIL observer delegate to WGIII. As delegates of a learned society, we take part as experts on behalf of ASIL, but not as advocates,” Arato said. “It has been a career high to participate in the process.”

Arato, who first became active in ASIL as a student at NYU School of Law, has been instrumental in Brooklyn Law School’s academic partnership with ASIL. He speaks regularly at ASIL events and he was recently a featured speaker at the annual ITA (Institute for Transnational Arbitration)-ASIL Conference in March.

“What’s amazing is our partnership allows us to bring a number of Brooklyn Law School students each year to ASIL’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.,” he said. “They are exposed to areas of practice and career opportunities well beyond the ordinary.”

Arato also has been instrumental in bringing ASIL’s upcoming Mid-Year Meeting to Brooklyn Law School Nov. 7—9. The high-profile meeting encompasses several events, including the Research Forum, which features leading-edge international law scholarship by more than 70 authors; programming for practitioners and law students; and leadership meetings of the Society's Executive Council and the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law.

Arato’s research and teaching interests include international economic law, public international law, international organizations, contracts, and private law theory. He has written extensively on the law of treaties and treaty interpretation, the law of international organizations, and the law of foreign direct investment. He is currently working on a long-term project on the private law dimensions of international investment law.