Large law firms value critical practice skills when it comes to the significant pro bono legal assistance programs that aim to help find justice and restitution for victims of horrific crimes.

On Tuesday, Feb. 15, Attorney David Rivkin spoke to students in Professor Luz Nagle‘s skills-based Human Trafficking class about the importance of what they’re learning. Such skills include interpreting and understanding domestic and international law, knowing the scope of the problem of human trafficking and the elements that constitute human trafficking crimes, assessing trafficking cases, and learning about the process of adjudication. Rivkin, a litigation partner in Debevoise and Plimpton’s New York and London offices, spoke on the need for law students to train to be advocates for those who cannot afford legal counsel and that such training is a highly desirable asset to carry into the job market following graduation.

“The students enjoyed the chance to meet a distinguished practitioner with vast international legal experience,” Nagle said of the experience. “Mr. Rivkin’s remarks about the value law firms place on pro bono service gave us all a needed lift, and helped the students appreciate that the practical and analytical skills they are learning in this class will help them greatly in the future.”

Rivkin is widely recognized as one of the top international dispute resolution practitioners in the United States and globally. He is also a distinguished and passionate human rights advocate and was a principal author of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

In addition to a decades-long distinguished career with Debevoise, Rivkin is a past president of the International Bar Association and has held several leadership roles in the IBA and other learned law societies. He has served in an advisory capacity on arbitration and economic policy in the United States and abroad. Rivkin received his B.A. magna cum laude and his J.D. from Yale University.

Professor Nagle has been teaching about human trafficking to Stetson law students since the early 2000s and has been recognized as one of the first law professors to teach a course on human trafficking in the United States. Her curriculum has been used by Johns Hopkins University as a model for undergraduate and law school courses nationwide.

-Kate Bradshaw
[email protected]