Amy Senier is an associate in the firm's Litigation and International Litigation and Arbitration Departments. She has a diverse practice that includes representing sovereign States before international courts and tribunals, defending corporations against shareholder challenges to mergers and acquisitions, and advising individuals under investigation by federal authorities.
In addition to her litigation work, Amy maintains an active pro bono practice. She represents individuals seeking political asylum before the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and victims of domestic violence seeking protective orders from municipal courts.
Prior to joining Foley Hoag, Amy served as a community development worker and educator in the United States, Namibia and Ecuador. She has also held positions in the chambers of the Honorable Norman Stahl at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, the Constitutional Litigation Unit of the Legal Resources Centre of South Africa, the International Criminal Court, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Amy has also consulted for a number of non-governmental organizations and academic institutions on issues related to human rights and transitional justice.
Representative Experience
The following is a brief summary of Amy's experience and accomplishments:
· INTERNATIONAL LITIGATION AND ARBITRATION
- Represented the Republic of Georgia before the International Court of Justice in the Case Concerning Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Georgia v. Russia) in asserting claims against the Russian Federation for ethnic cleansing and other forms of ethnic violence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
- Represented a private equity firm based in the Cayman Islands in proceedings before the American Arbitration Association's International Centre for Dispute Resolution against a Japanese corporation arising from a corporate governance dispute concerning an independent power project in Africa.
- Advised a State-owned entity on foreign investment protections, political and security risks.
· HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL RIGHTS AND PRO BONO
- Representing plaintiffs in federal equal protection challenge to Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act.
- Successfully represented a number of domestic violence victims in obtaining restraining orders against their abusive partners.
- Successfully represented a Haitian woman fleeing domestic violence in receiving asylum in the United States.
- Successfully represented a man fleeing persecution based on political opinion in his home country in receiving asylum in the United States.
- Representing a Haitian man in removal proceedings seeking relief under the Convention Against Torture.
- Counsel a Caribbean-based human rights organization on international human rights law, including the application of regional human rights norms, and practice of UN Human Rights Council member states during the Universal Periodic Review.
- Assisted defense team for Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a U.S. legal resident who was detained on a U.S. naval brig following his designation as an "enemy combatant."
Professional / Civic Involvement
· Boston Bar Association, Member
- Co-Chair, International Public Law, Policy & Human Rights Committee
· American Bar Association, Member
- International Human Rights Committee, Member
· American Society of International Law, Member
· Lawyers' Earthquake Response Network, Member & Consultant
Speeches And Conferences
· Presenter, "Customary Law and ROL: Points of Intersection," Interagency Rule of Law Training Course, Rule of Law Collaborative, University of South Carolina (May 12, 2011)
· Co-Presenter, "Nuts & Bolts of International Dispute Resolution," American Bar Association Spring Meeting (April 5, 2011)
· Moderator, "An Examination of the Work of the UN Human Rights Council," New England School of Law, Center for International Law and Policy 2010 Annual Conference (April 9, 2010)
· Presenter, "The Unfulfilled Promise of Grootboom: Realizing Housing Rights in South Africa," 15th Annual Boston University African Studies Center Graduate Students Conference, March 10, 2007
Publications
· Bias and Bloc Voting in Special Sessions of the UN Human Rights Council, NEW ENG. J. INT'L. & COMP. L. (forthcoming 2011).
· Introductory Note, International Criminal Court: Situation in the Republic of Kenya, 50 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL MATERIALS __ (forthcoming 2011).
· Introductory Note, International Criminal Court: Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga & Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, 49 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL MATERIALS 45 (2010).
· The Nairobi Declaration: A Gendered Paradigm for Post-Conflict Reparations, in PROTECTING HUMANITY: ESSAYS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW AND POLICY IN HONOUR OF NAVANTHEM PILLAY, 197-227 (Chile Eboe-Osuji ed., 2010).
· The ICC Appeals Chamber Judgment on the Legal Characterization of the Facts in Prosecutor v. Lubanga, ASIL Insight (January 8, 2010).
· Traditional Justice as Transitional Justice: A Comparative Case Study of Rwanda and East Timor, PRAXIS (2008).
· (contributor) Epidemic of Inequality: Women's Rights and HIV/AIDS in Botswana & Swaziland, (Cambridge, MA: Physicians for Human Rights, 2007).
· Rebuilding the Judicial Sector in Afghanistan: The Role of Customary Law, AL-NAKHLAH (Spring 2006); SWORDS AND PLOUGHSHARES (Spring 2006).
Honors/Awards
2006 Jessup International Moot Court Competition, U.S. Northeast Regional Championship Team Oralist
Senior Editor, FLETCHER FORUM OF WORLD AFFAIRS
Phi Beta Kappa
Syracuse University Remembrance Scholar