Vivek "Vik" Kanwar

Westerfield Fellow
B.A. New College of Florida; J.D. Northeastern University; LL.M. New York University; S.J.D. (Candidate Fall, 2006) New York University

Professor Kanwar is a legal theorist, working primarily in the field of the history and theory of international law. He received JD Northeastern in 2000 and an LLM at NYU. (2001), where he also pursued advanced doctoral research in international law. As a legal scholar and a practitioner, in addition to the Westerfield Fellowship at Loyola, he has been recipient of various awards and fellowships, including:

• The Denise Carty-Bennia Bar Award for Minority Scholarship (Northeastern University)
• The Ella Baker Fellowship at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR),
• Lobel Research Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
• Public Interest Law Fellowship with the Brennan Center for Justice (NYU)
• Grant recipient from the Department of Labor to innovate a law curriculum in NYC. (Federation Employment and Guidance Service)
• Graduate Editor of the NYU Review of Law and Social Change (NYU)
• NYU Global Program Fellow at the Hauser Global Law School Program (NYU)
• Doctoral Fellow at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (NYU)
• Postgraduate researcher at the Institute for International Law and Justice( Program on the History and Theory of International Law) at New York University School of Law
• Non-Residential Researcher, Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University (HPCR), Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA

In addition to sections of Moot Court and Legal Research and Writing (2006-2007), Professor Kanwar has taught two seminars on “Transnational Impact Litigation” (2007) and “Human Rights Litigation” (2008). The purpose of these courses is to demonstrate to students that (1) “international law” and “human rights law” are not imagined ideals, but a professional repertoire that might touch on nearly every practice area in private and public law, and (2) to bridge high-level theoretical controversies discussed by academics and federal courts to practical issues that arise in litigation. Past student projects have included papers on piracy, corporate aiding and abetting liability for corporations during South African Apartheid, the issue of res judicata between international and domestic courts, reparations the use of RICO to target terrorist financiers, and a group Amicus brief challenging the Ninth Circuit’s use of the state secrets privilege as a justiciability doctrine.

Professor Kanwar’s published and ongoing writings concern “the legal sources of lethal force” and resources for regulating coercion in public and private law especially international law. His most recent article is entitled, “Two Crises of Confidence: Securing Non-Proliferation and the Rule of Law through Security Council Resolutions.” His current projects include work on the concept of “necessity” in various legal systems, and research on application and implementation of International Humanitarian Law of armed conflict (in cooperation with the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University).

E-mail: vkanwar@loyno.edu
Office Phone: 504-861-5445