I am currently an assistant professor at the University of Georgia School of Law. Before coming to Georgia, I practiced law in the Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State. I received my Ph.D. in Jurisprudence and Social Policy in 2008, and my J.D. in 2006, from the University of California, Berkeley. My research interests center on questions of institutional design in both public and private international law. My current research examines the fragmentation of international energy governance and the relationship between international energy institutions and climate change institutions; why states choose to codify customary international law; and why states create non-binding "soft law" obligations, rather than binding treaty obligations.
Articles
Codifying Custom, University of Pennsylvania Law Review (2012)
Codifying decentralized forms of law, such as the common law and customary law, has been...
Power, Exit Costs, and Renegotiation in International Law, Harvard International Law Journal (2010)
Scholars have long understood that the instability of power has ramifications for compliance with international...
International Soft Law (with Andrew T. Guzman), Journal of Legal Analysis (2010)
Although the concept of soft law has existed for years, scholars have not reached consensus...
International Common Law: The Soft Law of International Tribunals (with Andrew T. Guzman), Chicago Journal of International Law (2009)
Rising legalization in the international community has lead to greater use of international tribunals and...
Soft Law as Delegation, Fordham International Law Journal (2009)
This article examines one of the most important trends in international legal governance since the...
Book Chapters
Customary International Law in the 21st Century (with Andrew T. Guzman), Progress in International Law (Rebecca Bratspies and Russell Miller, eds., Martinus Nijhoff Publishing) (2008)
This chapter considers the role of customary international law (CIL) in a world in which...