Institute offers world’s premier database on UN convention
governing sales among the majority of trading nations
PHOTO EDITORS: A high resolution photo of Vikki Rogers can be downloaded at <http://www.law.pace.edu/files/iicl/VikkiRogers3.jpg>.
WHITE PLAINS, NY (November 11, 2008) – Pace Law School has named Vikki Rogers, a lawyer with extensive experience in international commercial arbitration and international sales law, as director of its Institute of International Commercial Law.
Her responsibilities include expanding the reach of the Institute, a unique center for research, teaching, and professional education about the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and international arbitration.
The Institute’s database of legal information on the CISG is the world’s most comprehensive, and is used by lawyers, law professors, law students, and business people. It is the most visited site for international commercial law, according to a recent Google search, averaging over 75,000 Internet "hits" per day.
Dispute resolution. Rogers has practiced in the United States and Germany, having worked on international arbitrations involving multi-million-dollar construction projects across the Americas and Europe.
Since 2007, she has served as an associate in Mazur, Carp & Rubin, PC, and Shearman & Sterling (New York and Germany), focusing her practice on construction law arbitration and litigation, both domestic and international. She was also an international case manager at the International Center for Dispute Resolution at the American Arbitration Association in New York.
She earned a BA from Syracuse University, a JD from Pace Law School (1999), and a Master of Studies in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School. She is currently a PhD candidate at the School of International Arbitration, Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary College of the University of London.
“With her wealth of expertise in commercial law Vikki Rogers understands the increasing importance of the decisions governing world trade,” said Michelle Simon, dean of Pace Law School. “As a Pace Law School alumna, she knows the strengths and potential of the legal and student communities she will serve.”
Ms. Rogers’ appointment became effective Thursday, November 6.
Programs, a moot and an essay competition. The Institute facilitates international business transactions and dispute settlement procedures by sharing knowledge of international commercial laws and practices through programs that keep the legal profession informed. Its seminars, lectures, and other educational opportunities for practicing lawyers and Pace Law students emphasize practical steps to avoid problems and improve responses to foreign customers, environments, competitive practices, and government requirements. More information is at <http://www.pace.edu/school-of-law/centers-and-special-programs/institutes/institute-international-commercial-law-iicl> and <http://www.cisg.law.pace.edu>.
Among its other activities, the Institute is also one of the partners that directs the noted Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, the world’s only competition of its kind. Held in Vienna, it attracts law students, professors, and arbitrators from around the world. Last year, the Moot attracted students from over 200 law schools and over 50 countries. The Institute also directs the Clive M. Schmitthoff International Essay Competition for the best essay on issues related to the CISG. A $5,000 annual prize is given to the winner.
Contributions to the field. In the past year, seven books on international commercial law have been produced under the auspices of the Institute. The publishers are Cambridge University Press, Juris Publications, and Thomson Westlaw. Other books are currently in process.
Founded in 1976, Pace University School of Law has nearly 6,500 alumni throughout the country and the world and is consistently ranked among the nation’s top three programs in environmental law. It offers full- and part-time day and evening JD programs on its White Plains, NY, campus and offers the Master of Laws degree in Environmental Law, Real Estate Law and Comparative Legal Studies, and a Doctor of Laws in environmental law. The School of Law is part of Pace University, a comprehensive, independent, and diversified university with campuses in New York City and Westchester County. <http://www.law.pace.edu>
