Faculty Feature: Professor Chimène Keitner
Professor Chimène Keitner is an expert on international law and transnational litigation. She has been quoted and interviewed in such news outlets as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and BBC World News, only to pick a few. Her books include International Law, 8th edition, with Allen S. Weiner & Duncan B. Hollis (Aspen 2023); International Law Frameworks, 5th edition (West Academic 2021); and The Paradoxes of Nationalism: The French Revolution and Its Meaning for Contemporary Nation Building (State University of New York Press 2007). She has also authored dozens of articles, essays, and book chapters.
Professor Keitner served as the 27th Counselor on International Law at the U.S. Department of State. She was on the legal team that brought the first civil action for torture and abuse of civilians detained by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. She has testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on issues of sovereign immunity and foreign relations.
Professor Keitner’s professional service has included serving on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law, as Co-Chair of the ASIL International Law in Domestic Courts Interest Group, as a member of the American Law Institute, and as an Adviser on the ALI’s Fourth Restatement of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States. She is also a founding co-chair of the International Law Association’s Study Group on Individual Responsibility in International Law.
How did you first become interested in international law?
I’ve always been interested in international issues. I grew up binationally in Canada and the United States, and my father was a refugee from Hungary. I studied abroad in Paris during college and earned a graduate degree in international relations at Oxford before going to law school. During law school, I worked on international pro bono projects, including one that brought me to Eritrea for a summer, and another that took me to Greenland (in the winter!). Some people come to international law later in their careers, but I can’t remember a time that it hasn’t intrigued me.
What exactly does the State Department’s Counselor on International Law do? What would you tell a student who was interested in that kind of work?
Every U.S. federal agency, and every country’s foreign ministry, has a general counsel’s office. At the State Department, we call this “L,” for the Legal Adviser’s office. The Counselor on International Law works closely with the Legal Adviser and her team. The Legal Adviser is a Senate-confirmed political appointee. The rest of the office is made up of dedicated civil servants who are responsible for formulating legal advice on all aspects of the State Department’s operations, from maintaining U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, to handling international negotiations, to engaging in public diplomacy, to participating in international organizations. Attorneys in the Legal Adviser’s office work with their policy counterparts in the State Department, as well as with attorneys in other Executive Branch agencies and in Congress. They also work closely with attorneys from other countries’ foreign ministries, for example in international treaty negotiations. International legal issues also come up in the work of many other federal agencies, including notably the Department of Defense and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. The Department of Justice represents the United States government before U.S. courts, including in cases that involve cross-border issues. State Department attorneys represent the United States before different international tribunals, including the International Court of Justice.
The Counselor on International Law assists the Legal Adviser, especially on matters that require coordination among the different bureaus within L, or with other Executive Branch agencies. Recent Counselors have played a key role in coordinating U.S. litigation positions with the Department of Justice, and this was a big part of my portfolio. We also work with other government lawyers in the national security field, including at the National Security Council. Over the years, L has found it beneficial to bring in an outside expert to play an integral role in the office’s day-to-day operations in the Counselor role. I was the 27th person to serve in that role. Those of us who have served as Counselor have enjoyed an unparalleled opportunity to work with a first-class team of international lawyers on a range of challenging and impactful issues. I was privileged to be able to take a leave of absence from my academic job for three semesters to serve in this position. I am also currently a member of the State Department Advisory Committee on International Law, which offers a more arm’s length perspective on various legal issues the Department is grappling with.
Most lawyers in L love their jobs, but I always tell students that L is just one small slice of international legal practice. There are multiple opportunities to work on international legal issues in other federal government agencies, and cross-border issues increasingly crop up at the state and even municipal level. Prosecuting cross-border crime involves international legal issues. Representing clients in immigration proceedings, or in cross-border contract negotiations, involves international legal issues. There is an increasing need for attorneys versed in cross-border family law issues, including custody disputes and international child abduction. Business and human rights, including all the compliance issues associated with corporate social responsibility initiatives and multi-layered regulation, is another important area. The international coordination required to tackle global pandemics, climate change, and developments in Artificial Intelligence and other new technologies, also require international lawyers. It’s an indispensable and ever-growing field.
Why did you decide to move to academia?
I’ve always enjoyed writing and working with students, which are two of the main things full-time academics do. After I clerked for the Chief Justice of the Canadian Supreme Court, I spent almost four years at a plaintiffs’ class action firm in San Francisco. I enjoyed vindicating our clients’ interests, but I especially enjoyed the research, writing, and mentoring aspects of my job. Academia lets me focus on those, while still occasionally being involved in litigation as an amicus (friend of the court) or expert.
What do you most enjoy about teaching? What do you hope students gain from your courses?
I love that no two classes are ever the same, even if I cover similar material from year to year in basic courses such as Civil Procedure and the International Law survey course. Students always have different questions and perspectives, which shape the flow and focus of the class. In addition to gaining substantive knowledge, I hope that my students come away from my classes with a strong sense of what it means to engage in respectful, reasoned argument about legal and policy issues. That is a crucial skill that we seem to be losing as a society. I also want them to be able to take a big-picture view and question the systems that we are part of, in addition to being able to navigate those systems in their clients’ interests. I want them to know that, as future lawyers, they are essential agents of social and institutional change who can transform entrenched power relationships, not just replicate them.
What would your students be surprised to learn about you?
I’m not sure if it would be a surprise, but a “fun fact” is that, as a 3L, I co-directed a production of A Few Good Men in our law school courtyard. One of our fellow students in the cast went on to become a very prominent national security official. I was involved in the performing arts in various capacities from childhood through graduate school. It has certainly helped as a teacher to be comfortable in front of an audience.
Do you have any hobbies or notable interests outside of your law career?
My family loves dogs, and we’ve been able to foster puppies alongside our family dogs at various times over the years. We moved to Davis from the Bay Area when I accepted a lateral position at the law school in fall 2023, and it’s not unusual for us to cross paths with students in town. Often, I’ll be on my bicycle.
Of what are you proudest?
My husband and I have raised three unique human beings, and I’m very proud of them. I’m also proud of my students, and I love hearing from former students long after they graduate.
Do you have one piece of advice for King Hall law students?
I’d advise them to take at least one course in international or comparative law during law school. It’s so important to be exposed to non-U.S. perspectives, which is something our wonderful LL.M. and exchange students also bring to the classroom. I want our graduates to leave King Hall with a thorough understanding of the U.S. legal system, as well as a better understanding of the rest of the world, with which we are deeply and inescapably interconnected.
Read last month's Faculty Feature here.