Director, International Humanitarian Law Clinic

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Laurie R. Blank is director of the International Humanitarian Law Clinic at Emory University School of Law, where she teaches international humanitarian law and works directly with students to provide assistance to international tribunals, non-governmental organizations and law firms around the world on cutting edge issues in humanitarian law and human rights. Professor Blank is the co-director of a multi-year project on military training programs in the law of war and the co-author of Law of War Training: Resources for Military and Civilian Leaders (USIP 2008, with G. Noone, second edition 2012). She is the co-author of an upcoming casebook on the law of war, International Law and Armed Conflict: Fundamental Principles and Contemporary Challenges in the Law of War (with G. Noone, Aspen Publishing 2013). In addition, she is the series editor of the ICRC’s teaching supplements on IHL, a member of the American Bar Association’s Advisory Committee to the Standing Committee on Law and National Security and a member of the Public Interest Law and Policy Group’s High Level Working Group on Piracy. Before coming to Emory, Professor Blank was a program officer in the Rule of Law Program at the United States Institute of Peace. At USIP, she directed the Experts’ Working Group on International Humanitarian Law, in particular a multi-year project focusing on New Actors in the Implementation and Enforcement of International Humanitarian Law.

She is the author of numerous articles and opinion pieces on topics in international humanitarian law, including, most recently, "Targeted Strikes: The Consequences of Blurring the Armed Conflict and Self-Defense Justifications," (William Mitchell Law Review); "After 'Top Gun': How Drone Strikes Impact the Law of War," (University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law); "The Consequences of a 'War' Paradigm for Counterterrorism: What Impact on Basic Rights and Values," (Georgia Law Review); "A Square Peg in a Round Hole: Stretching Law of War Detention Too Far," (Rutgers Law Review); "Defining the Battlefield in Contemporary Conflict and Counterterrorism: Understanding the Parameters of the Zone of Combat," (Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law); and "The Application of IHL in the Goldstone Report: A Critical Commentary," (Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law).

Education: Blank received her JD from New York University School of Law, where she was the Henry L. Boudin Fellow for Human Rights from 1996-1998, and her MA in international relations from The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She graduated cum laude from Princeton University with a degree in political science.