Davis Wright Tremaine Award Winners

The Global Law Committee is proud to announce the winners of the 2014 Davis Wright Tremaine International Law Writing Awards. Established through the generosity of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, the award program provides a $2,000 stipend for the best student research paper written in the past year on any topic in private or public international law, with a $500 stipend for the second best paper.

This year’s winners are:

First Place:  Whitney Magnuson, Marine Conservation Campaigners as Pirates: The Consequences of Sea Shepherd

Second Place: Brandon Hawkins, Under the Radar, but Within Plain Sight: The Present and Future Legality of Drone Warfare to Counter Asymmetric Threats.

Whitney’s paper discusses the controversy surrounding the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s activities in opposition to Japanese whaling, and critiques the recent Ninth Circuit decision that characterized the group as “pirates” under international law.    

Brandon’s paper explores the legality of drone warfare under public international law, and proposes guidelines for the use of armed drones designed to promote increased transparency and accountability.

Professor Foster, the Chair of the Global Law Committee and a member of this year’s review committee, was highly impressed by both papers.  “Both were remarkable for the complexity of the legal analysis, the quality of the writing, and the depth of research that went into them,” he says.  “In fact, the entire pool of submissions was quite strong, covering topics that ranged from international environmental law to human rights to international investment law.  Papers like these are emblematic of the diverse and sophisticated work that students are doing at Lewis & Clark on international topics.”   

Congratulations to both winners.