Charles Norchi, Benjamin Thompson Professor of Law at the University of Maine School of Law, was recently elected chair of the American Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Admiralty and Maritime Law.
AALS Sections are interest groups comprised of faculty members and professional staff of AALS member schools. Sections present programs at the AALS Annual Meeting, provide newsletters for their members, and conduct other activities of interest to their members, such as mentoring programs, exam exchanges, directories, and listservs. A full list of AALS Sections is available on the AALS website.
The AALS Section on Admiralty and Maritime Law began in 1981. The current leadership is comprised of the following members:
- Chair: Charles Norchi, University of Maine School of Law
- Chair-Elect: John W. Reifenberg, Jr., Michigan State University College of Law
- Secretary: Kristen van de Biezenbos, University of Calgary Faculty of Law
- Treasurer: William V. Dunlap, Quinnipiac University School of Law
- Executive Committee: Martin Davies, Tulane University Law School and Thomas J. Schoenbaum, The George Washington University Law School
At Maine Law, Professor Norchi teaches and writes in the fields of Law of the Sea, International Law, Maritime Law, and International Human Rights. He directs the Center for Oceans & Coastal Law and the Graduate Law Programs. In 2017, he was awarded the Arctic Fulbright to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iceland. In this position, he engaged in Arctic maritime research and taught at the Universities of Iceland and Akureyri. He holds an A.B. from Harvard College, a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University Law School, and an LL.M. and a J.S.D. from Yale Law School.