Among his most notable appearances in the United States Supreme Court was his victorious representation of David H. Lucas in the landmark Fifth Amendment takings case of Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council (1992). He also served as counsel of record and argued the case for Petitioner in Smith v. United States (1993), dealing with the applicability of the Federal Tort Claims Act to Antarctica. He was international law counsel to the state of Georgia in Georgia v. South Carolina (1990), successfully concluding that part of that original jurisdiction case concerning the delimitation of the lateral seaward boundary of the two jurisdictions. In his most recent argument before the Court, Bederman won a 9-0 decision for the Respondent in Syngenta Crop Protection Corp. v. Henson (2002), on the propriety of removals to federal court based on the All Writs Act.

Professor Bederman is a leading advocate on questions involving state sovereign immunity, having appeared in many such cases in the Supreme Court. He served as counsel for the Respondent in California v. Deep Sea Research, Inc. (1998), and won a unanimous judgment from the Supreme Court holding that states are not immune from many in rem admiralty actions. He served as co-counsel for the Petitioner in Hess v. Port Authority Trans-Hudson (1994), prevailing on issues of the Eleventh Amendment immunities of interstate compact entities. He also served as counsel in Regents of the University of California v. Doe (1997) and Idaho v. Couer

d'Alene Tribe of Idaho (1997). Most recently, he was counsel of record and successfully argued for the Petitioner in Lapides v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (2002), on the question of whether a State's removal of a case waives its Eleventh Amendment immunity.

In another (often overlooked) aspect of Supreme Court practice, Professor Bederman has consulted extensively with litigants seeking to avoid discretionary review by the High Court. Additionally, he has represented a variety of institutional clients in submitting amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court, including the International Group of Protection and Indemnity Clubs, the American Jewish Committee and the Maritime Law Association of the United States.

In the lower federal courts, Bederman has handled a number of cases concerning a variety of issues. As just one example, he has participated in litigating significant constitutional matters surrounding the ownership of valuable shipwrecks and planewrecks. See United States v. Steinmetz (1992); Zych v. The LADY ELGIN (1992); Zych v. The SEABIRD (1994); Falgout Bros., Inc. v. The PANGAEA (1997); Sea Hunt, Inc. v. Unidentified Wrecks (2000); Yukon Recovery, LLC v. Certain Abandoned Property (2000); RMS Titanic, Inc. v. Wrecked and Abandoned Vessel (2006).

Another example of Professor Bederman's advocacy has been his involvement in numerous property rights cases, including Nansay Hawaii v. Public Access Shoreline Hawaii (1995), Fort Sumter Tours, Inc. v. Babbitt (1995), and Johnson v. City of Minneapolis (2003). Professor Bederman has also submitted party and amicus briefs for institutional clients interested in pending appeals, including matters involving human rights and international law issues (see Eastman Kodak v. Kavlin (1997) and Paraguay v. Gilmore (1998)).

Professor Bederman has also litigated many cases involving foreign sovereign immunities, on behalf of both private plaintiffs and sovereign defendants. Among his most recent appearances in this regard was in Republic of Austria v. Altmann (2004). Recently, he won a per curiam summary reversal in the Supreme Court in Ministry of Defense of Iran v. Elahi (2006). He served as a member of an American Bar Association (ABA) Working Group on Reform of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), which proposed a comprehensive set of amendments to the FSIA, which are now pending before Congress.

Professor Bederman has also represented criminal defendants, in select appeals (or similar relief proceedings) involving significant issues of constitutional rights, statutory construction, or international law. His appearances in this regard include State of Washington v. Tortorelli (2003), United States v. Corey (2001), State of Florida v. Stepansky (2000), and United States v. Fisher (1999).

In addition to all of these appellate litigation services, Professor Bederman has served as a consultant on international law, aviation and admiralty issues. Such consults have included the preparation of litigation-related opinion letters, drafting of pleadings, producing expert affidavits and giving expert testimony. He has served as an expert consultant with many U.S. government agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Department of State, Department of Justice, and Coast Guard.

Professor Bederman also has substantial experience with legislative drafting and counseling of clients requiring relief in federal or state legislatures and agencies, as well as international organizations and treaty bodies. He had advised on drafting projects involving environmental, natural resource, intellectual property, maritime, and general regulatory matters.

Professor Bederman has an extensive record as an arbitrator and mediator in a variety of disputes, including international commercial, intellectual property, and maritime law. He has also served as a consultant and advisor on a variety of international arbitrations, including notable controversies concerning cross-boundary investments and NAFTA Chapter 11 matters.

David J. Bederman is Professor of Law at Emory University's School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. After having earned an undergraduate degree from Princeton University in international affairs (with highest honors), he went on to receive an M.Sc. in Marine Affairs (with a mark of distinction) at the London School of Economics. Professor Bederman studied law at the University of Virginia, and, after graduating Order of the Coif, clerked with the Hon. Charles E. Wiggins, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Aside from holding the coveted Diploma of the Hague Academy of International Law, he has also served as a Legal Advisor at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague. After a stint in private practice with the Washington firm of Covington & Burling, he accepted his current teaching appointment at Emory.

Bederman received his doctorate in Laws (Ph.D.) from the University of London.

Professor Bederman was a Visiting Professor at the New York University School of Law in the Fall 1995 term, and at the University of Virginia School of Law (for the 1996-97 academic year). In 2001, he was appointed as Fulbright Distinguished Chair for Canada and lectured at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto. He is a member of the Board of Editors of many international law journals, including the prestigious American Journal of International Law.

April 2006