The Directors of the Center for International Legal Education at Pitt Law, along with the international law faculty, include some of the nation’s foremost experts in global affairs. They consistently teach courses on international law, organize and partake in international law events and conferences, and supervise independent research in their respective areas of specialization.
DIRECTORS
Professor Ronald A. Brand serves as the Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg University Professor of Law and holds the position of John E. Murray Faculty Scholar. He is the founding director of the CILE established in 1995, and has since fulfilled the role of Academic Director since the beginning. With over four decades of experience, Brand specializes in teaching courses pertaining to international business transactions, international arbitration and litigation, and aspects of private international law. His distinguished background includes serving as a Fulbright Scholar in Belgium and as a Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Bologna.
Brand has received numerous awards, including the ABA Section on International Law's Leonard A. Theberge Award in Private International Law, Pitt's Sheth Distinguished Faculty Award for International Achievement, and a Dr. Jur. honoris causa from the University of Augsburg. Brand is a US representative to the Working Group considering a Convention on Parallel Proceedings and regularly works with the US Commerce Department Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) to train students for the the Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition.
Professor Charles T. Kotuby Jr., FCIArb joined the law school in September 2021, assuming the position of CILE's Executive Director. A distinguished alumnus of CILE and a dual alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh (JD '01), he has dedicated the past two decades to the practice of international law as a counselor and arbitration specialist. After completing his clerkship for the Honorable Joseph F. Weis Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, he began his legal career at the law firm of Jones Day in Washington, D.C., in 2004, and advanced to partner in the firm’s Global Disputes practice in 2013. Kotuby has represented clients in numerous commercial and treaty-based arbitrations, earning recognition as a Band 1 international arbitration practitioner by Chambers USA. He is also affiliated with the University of Durham Law School in England and actively maintains an international arbitration practice in Washington, D.C.
STAFF
Marie Hamblett serves as CILE's Program Administrator, managing activities related to the LLM and SJD degree programs, JD student opportunities—including the International and Comparative Law certificate program and study abroad—and numerous CILE events. Marie brings over 30 years of experience, having previously served as the Program Director at Leadership Pittsburgh Inc. and as the Deputy Director for Finance at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics. Marie earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1994 and her Master of Public Administration from Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (now SPIA) in 2003. One of Marie’s fondest memories from her undergraduate days at Pitt is the year she spent abroad at University College Dublin – an experience that profoundly impacted her life. She is delighted to now collaborate with Pitt Law students interested in studying abroad, as well as with lawyers and scholars worldwide who come to Pitt Law seeking to expand their knowledge.