KU News Release

Judge, Kansas native to lecture on international trade law

Judith M. Barzilay

LAWRENCE — For the second year, a U.S. Court of International Trade judge who hails from Russell will return to her home state to present a public lecture and speak to students at the University of Kansas School of Law.

Judith M. Barzilay will deliver her talk, titled “Environmental Protection at the U.S. Court of International Trade: Walking the Tightrope between Protecting the Environment and Complying with our International Agreements,” from 12:30 to 1:20 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, at the Stinson Morrison Hecker Lecture Hall, 104 Green Hall. A question-and-answer session will follow the talk.

Barzilay also will give a guest lecture to students in the Advanced International Trade Law class taught by Raj Bhala, the Rice Distinguished Professor at KU. Barzilay spoke last March at Green Hall as well.

“We are extremely fortunate to have someone so well-respected speak on such a timely topic,” said Dana Watts, second-year law student and president of KU’s International Law Society. “I’m looking forward to learning more about the interplay between World Trade Organization trade rules, other international law and U.S. law and their efforts to protect the environment. I hope the noon forum will clarify some of the issues in this complex and important area.”

Since Barzilay was appointed by President Clinton to the U.S. Court of International Trade in 1998, she has handled cases in the areas of customs law, antidumping and countervailing duties, and trade adjustment assistance. She also has sat by designation of the chief justice on several U.S. appellate courts and for the Southern District of New York.

Devin Sikes, a 2008 graduate of the law school, started a two-year federal clerkship with Barzilay in September. Sikes’ classmate, John Foote, is clerking for Judge Gregory W. Carman of the same court.

Barzilay began her career in international trade law as a staff attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice International Field Office, where she served from 1983 to 1986. She practiced privately from 1986 to 1988, appearing regularly before courts and government agencies dealing with international trade.

Barzilay became the first in-house customs and international trade counsel at Sony Corporation of America in 1988 and was promoted to vice president for import and export operations in 1989. Under her direction, the department established Sony’s first professional international trade operations in the United States. In 1996, she became vice president for government affairs and represented Sony on issues ranging from high-definition television at the Federal Communications Commission to the export control of encryption technology at the Commerce Department.

Barzilay was born in Russell and educated in Russell and Wichita public schools. She received a bachelor’s in English and history from Wichita State University. At Rutgers University, she earned a master’s in library and information service and a law degree.

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