Richardson Law Hosts JILSA Annual Meeting and UH International Law Scholars Conference

HONOLULU, Hawaiʻi (Jan. 30, 2026) — The William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa hosted the Junior International Law Scholars Association (JILSA) Annual Meeting and UH International Law Scholars Conference on January 5-7, 2026. Over 60 faculty, fellows, and graduate students from around the country and world gathered to discuss works in progress on a range of topics in international law.

JILSA was founded in 2003 as a network of pre-tenure scholars. The 2026 Annual Meeting was the first to include JILSA alumni, who participated in career panels and provided mentorship from the perspective of experienced faculty.

The conference opened with a plenary panel on JILSA and International Law in the Legal Academy and featured a keynote address by Rebecca Ingber, a professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law who served as the Counselor on International Law in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State from 2021 to 2023.

The conference planning committee was led by Richardson Assistant Professor Melissa Stewart, co-chair of JILSA from 2024 to 2026, and also included Richard Chen (Richardson), Kathleen Claussen (Georgetown), Cody Corliss (West Virginia), Maggie Gardner (Cornell), Rebecca Hamilton (American), Chris Mirasola (Houston), and Hari Osofsky (Northwestern). Richardson faculty Derek Kauanoe and Miyoko Pettit-Toledo attended as participants, presenting their research and serving as paper discussants.

Lecturer-in-law Sherry Broder made a generous contribution to support the Jon Van Dyke Paper Award for the best paper submitted to the Annual Meeting. The award was given to Lawrence Liu, currently a fellow at Stanford’s Neukom Center for the Rule of Law and incoming Associate Professor at Washington University School of Law, for his paper titled Opening the Tariff Toolkit: The Demand for U.S. Administrative Trade Remedies.

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About William S. Richardson School of Law

The William S. Richardson School of Law is a collaborative, multicultural community preparing students for excellence in the practice of law and related careers that advance justice and the rule of law. We develop highly qualified, ethical professionals through excellence in teaching, scholarship, and public service. We embrace Hawai‘i’s diversity and values and recognize a special responsibility to our state and the Pacific region.

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