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Professor James M. Cooper

The Chile Summer Program is directed by Professor James Cooper, Assistant Dean for Mission Development and Director of International Legal Studies at California Western School of Law. Professor Cooper received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws at the University of Toronto and his Master of Laws at Cambridge University. He is a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Society.

A Barrister and Solicitor, Professor Cooper has worked at the international law firm of Baker & McKenzie, consulted for ministries of justice around Latin America, the United States, and German governments, and taught in law schools in Canada, Chile, Italy, Mexico, Paraguay, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He writes regularly for newspapers in Bolivia, Chile, and the United States and has appeared on radio and television in Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and other parts of Latin America. Professor Cooper has produced and directed reality TV show pilots in Mexico and Chile featuring U.S. law students and public service announcements for governments around the region. He has been profiled in the Washington Post (see here).

For more information about Professor Cooper, please visit: www.cwsl.edu/cooper

Professor Carlos Ruffinelli

Professor Carlos Dario Ruffinelli Céspedes is a Paraguayan lawyer who practices in corporate and environmental law with his law firm in Asunción.  He studied law at the National University of Asunción and then completed an LL.M. degree at Georgetown University.  He has co-taught with Prof. Carrie Menkel-Meadow (Professor of Law at Georgetown University) in the Southwestern School of Law’s summer law program in Buenos Aires, Argentina offered in collaboration with the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and the Universidad del Salvador.

In addition, he has taught in Postgraduate Program “New Challenges of The Rule of Law” co-sponsored by Heidelberg University, Universidad de Chile, California Western School of Law and the Center for the Studies of Law, Economy and Politics (CEDEP) in Asuncion, Paraguay. Mr. Ruffinelli  teaches Constitutional Law, Civil Law, Political Law, Political Sciences, International Business Transactions, Arbitration and Other Alternative Methods of Conflict Resolution regularly at Paraguayan universities and academic institutions. 

He is a founder and director of CEDEP in Paraguay and coordinates academic programs and projects with universities and international organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program, the U.S. Department of State, the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI), EUROPEAID and universities such as Georgetown, Torcuato di Tella, and Bologna. Ruffinelli is currently Legal Counsel to the Legislation, Codification and Labor Committee of the Senate Chamber of Paraguay. He has represented WWF and Conservation International in the Debt-for-nature swap for Paraguay.

He is Legal Counsel to GUYRÁ Paraguay, a non-profit, non-governmental organization working for the defense and protection of the biological diversity of Paraguay. He has acted as Paraguayan Representative and Government Expert at the Preparatory Meeting for the Sixth Inter-American Specialized Conference on Private International Law (CIDIP VI) at the Organization of American States. Ruffinelli is also a member of the Group of Experts of the Permanent Court of Revisions of MERCOSUR (MERCOSUR Arbitration Court). His areas of Practice includeNegotiation; Mediation; Arbitration; International Commercial Law; Environmental Law; Foreign Investments; Petroleum Law; Natural Resources; Environmental Law; Admiralty and Maritime Law; Legislative Practice, Constitutional Law, Political Law and Parliamentary Law, Civil and Family Law, Litigation. He speaks German, English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Professor Geoffrey S. Corn

Professor Geoffrey S. Corn joined the faculty of South Texas College of Law in July 2005 as an Assistant Professor of Law, and teaches Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, International Law of Armed Conflict, and National Security Law. Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Corn served as the Special Assistant for Law of War Matters to the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General, the Army’s senior law of war adviser and representative to the Department of Defense Law of War Working Group. Prior to serving in that position, Professor Corn spent 21 years on active duty in the Army, retiring in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. His career included service as a tactical intelligence officer in Panama, Chief Prosecutor for the 101st Airborne Division, Chief of International Law for United States Army Europe, and Regional Defense Counsel for the Western United States. He also spent three years teaching international law at the Army JAG School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Professor Corn routinely provides expert assistance to military, government, and non-governmental agencies. He is a contributor to the legal affairs website Jurist, and to the foreign affairs and national security daily World Politics Watch, and also frequently participates in national and international conferences related to national security law issues. He is the faculty adviser to the National Security Law Society at South Texas. Professor Corn earned his B.A. magna cum laude from Hartwick College, his J.D. (with highest honors) from George Washington University, and his LL.M. (distinguished graduate) from the Army Judge Advocate General’s School. He is also a graduate of the Army Command and Staff College.

For more information about Professor Corn, please visit: http://www.stcl.edu/faculty-dir/Geoffrey_Corn.htm