Seriously?


The two weeks between April 16 and 27, 2007 will likely go down as the most surreal of my life. And I think that may be part of the reason why it has taken me so long to write about them here. I feel like whatever I write, I will never be able to convey what it feels like to achieve two years out of law school what I never thought I could achieve. I thought that if I took the time to process what happened during those two weeks, I might be able to make sense of the surreal. As it turns out, it feels as surreal as ever; I just have less to say.

The setting for these two weeks of surrealism: none other than the Peace Palace in The Hague, the home of international justice. For those who don't know much about it, the Peace Palace was built for the Permanent Court of International Justice, the judicial branch of the League of Nations, with funding with Carnagie. The Peace Palace is currently the home of the International Court of Justice, the judicial branch of the United Nations. The ICJ decides international disputes between countries around the world.

However, the Peace Palace also houses the Permanent Court of Arbitration. And part of the Permanent Court of Arbitration is the Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission, the ad hoc tribunal before which I was helping to represent the State of Eritrea.



So what made these two weeks so surreal? The real question is what didn't. To begin with, The Hague is like Mecca for those of us interested in international law. I think I speak for all us when I say we all hope to eventually do something The Hague. I just had no idea that I would get there so soon. In fact, I quickly realized how young and unprepared I was when on the fourth or fifth day of the hearing I showed up at the Peace Palace wearing a suit that I bought in college. More importantly, I wore that suit to a Model UN Conference at the University of Pennsylvania where I served on the model International Court of Justice. (Yes, I am that big of a nerd.) So to suddenly be walking through the same halls used daily by that court's judges made me feel really out of my element but also gave me a strange high.

What next? Well how about the fact that all of Ethiopia's lawyers and staff were men while almost everyone on our side were women? It made for a pretty funny picture. In fact, a court photographer was taking pictures of the court room on the second or third day of the hearing, and I really wish I could get a copy. So far in my legal career, I have not seen such a clear gender divide. I feel like a lot of competitions end up being divided intentionally along gender lines, but this was entirely unintentional and still had the same effect: boys vs. girls. And although I can't say much about the proceedings because they're confidential, I think I can say that the two sides had very different styles. I wonder how much of that can be attributed to the gender difference.



Finally, the most surreal part of the whole two weeks was arguing before the Commission. I've never really wanted to give oral argument. In fact, my fear of public speaking has made me reconsider being a lawyer many times. But on the other hand, I am often attracted to jobs that require oral argument. Consequently, I feel a need to face my fears and do it. But never in my wildest dreams did I expect my first oral argument to be at the Peace Palace before an international commission alongside James Crawford, one of the leading international law scholars in the world. (Oh, and my immediate opposition on my topic was a law professor.) I kind of figured it would be an argument on a motion in county or state court.

I wish I could say that it was also stellar, but I can't. I can only be proud to have survived. I made two arguments: one half hour on defense during the first week and one half hour for our case-in-chief during the second. And I improved from one week to the next, which really is all I could have hoped for.

And any way you look at it, this was certainly the most memorable ending to a job I've ever experienced. In fact, it may be the most memorable finale I'll ever experience. And for that it was worth it.