International Law Studies Staff, 2024 - 2025

Director  
Vincent M. Bonventre

Student Editorial Board, 2024 - 2025
Editor-in-Chief

Rachael Brown is a third year JD candidate at Albany Law School.  She graduated from SUNY New Paltz where she majored in International Relations and minored in Disaster Studies.  She is the Managing Editor for Business and Production for the Albany Law School Government Law Review.  She spent the summer following her first year at Albany Law as an intern with the Honorable Daniel J. Stewart in the Northern District of New York.  She spent this past summer as a legal intern with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Operational Services Division.  She is still working for the Commonwealth and completing another internship in NDNY with Judge Stewart.  She is also a research assistant for Professor Hirokawa.

Executive Editor

Ethan Rotondi is a 3L at Albany Law School. He received his undergraduate degree from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, where he majored in Political Science and Pre-Law. During his time at Le Moyne, Ethan was invited to the New York State Political Science Association’s Annual Conference where he presented research focused on U.S. foreign policy as it relates to the conflict in Yemen. Ethan is currently a law clerk with Thorn Gershon Tymann and Bonnani, LLP in Colonie, and has previously interned at the New York State Office of the Attorney General and the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office. In his free time, Ethan enjoys skiing and watching the Chicago Cubs. 

Executive Editor

Connor Weingarten is a third-year student at Albany Law School. He graduated from Ithaca College, where he majored in Journalism. Before coming to Albany Law School, Connor worked as a sports radio producer and studio host for Learfield IMG College, and as a production assistant for NBA Entertainment.

He spent the summer following his first year at Albany Law as a legal intern in the Schenectady County Attorney’s Office, on behalf of the Department of Social Services. He has also completed a field placement in the New York State Senate with Senator Kristen Gonzalez, and he spent this past summer as a legal intern with the New York State Department of Labor.

Connor is currently working once again in the Schenectady County Attorney’s Office.

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For previous years' boards, click HERE. 

International Prosecution of Gender-Based Violence

How the ICTY Transformed the Treatment of this “Inevitable Consequence of War” 
By Brianna Wagner

Brianna Wagner is a third-year student at Albany Law School from Troy, New York. She graduated magna cum laude from Fordham University with a major in Political Science and a minor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
During her time at Albany Law, Brianna has served as both Secretary and Co-Chair of the Women’s Law Caucus, Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Lawyering I & II, and participated in the Donna Jo Morse Client Counseling Competition and the Domenick L. Gabrielli Appellate Advocacy Competition.
In her role as WLC Co-Chair, Brianna served as a student member of the Kate Stoneman Committee. In the 2023-24 academic year, she also served as an ex officio member of the Gender Fairness Committee of the Third Judicial District.
Brianna will be joining Hinman Straub as a first-year associate in the fall, pending her admission to the New York State Bar. 

Richard Goldstone, the former Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, noted that “[m]en had written the laws of war in an age when rape was regarded as being no more than an inevitable consequence of war.”

In the aftermath of the Bosnian War, the ICTY was tasked with prosecuting the atrocities that occurred at the hands of the Serbian army. For the first time in international legal history, the tribunal departed from the idea that sexual assault is simply a byproduct of war and set a new precedent for how sexual violence should be prosecuted.

This paper examines how that tribunal permanently altered the way international law prosecutes gender-based violence, by including sexual violations in convictions of genocide, grave breaches, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws and customs of war. Other international tribunals have used the ICTY as a template for prosecuting gender-based crimes and have continued developing the way international law addresses sexual violence.

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To read the paper, open HERE.

The Great Irish Potato Famine: Did the British “Famine Relief” Constitute Genocide?

By Christina C. Jefferson

Christina Jefferson, a 3L at Albany Law School, graduated from Niagara University, magna cum laude, with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Criminology and then earned a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Administration from Niagara as well.

At Albany Law, Christina was the winner of the 2022 Donna Jo Morse Client Counseling Competition, and she has served as both a Research Assistant for Professor Evelyn Tenenbaum and a Criminal Law Teaching Assistant for Professor Vincent Bonventre. She is currently a Law Clerk at Shaw, Perelson, May & Lambert, and she is also currently working toward her Private Investigator license in New York State.

Christina enjoys hiking and has a lifetime goal of visiting every National Park in the United States.

The Great Famine in Ireland obliterated the potato crop and starved a large portion of the Irish population from 1845 to 1849.  A fungal disease named phytophthora infestans infected the entire crop and rendered the potatoes useless.  At the time, the Irish relied heavily on their potato crop due to its heartiness and ability to grow well without additional resources.  Potatoes were the staple crop of the Irish farmers, and roughly half the population relied on the crop for survival, especially the poor, rural communities.

By 1846, entire crops succumbed to the blight and were unusable. All told, it is estimated that between five hundred thousand and three million Irish people died as a result of The Great Famine.  Some people question whether the British government did enough to help their colony of Ireland during the worst blight they had experienced.

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To read the paper, open HERE.

The Russo-Ukrainian War: Criminally Started and Executed

By Ryan Janes

Ryan Janes is a 2023 graduate of Albany Law School. He grew up in Rome, NY, and graduated from SUNY Albany, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in History.

During his time at Albany Law, Ryan worked at both the Oneida County Public Defender’s Office and the Albany County District Attorney’s Office. 

This past fall, Ryan began working for a firm in Syracuse, NY, handling matters related to Workers Compensation, Employment and Business Law.

In his free time, Ryan enjoys fishing, golfing, and watching sports.

In February 2022, the Russian Federation formally invaded the neighboring nation of Ukraine. This followed nearly a decade of political unrest and civil war in the Eastern regions of that country. Russia’s meddling within the country can largely be seen as the spark that set the fire ablaze, leading to the eventual full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and causing the worst humanitarian crisis in Europe since the end of World War II.

The war has led to numerous international crises, with financial sanctions being imposed by nations such as the United States and economic/political organizations such as the European Union, and Russia facing widespread condemnation and isolation in international bodies.

Numerous legal questions have arisen because of this conflict and specifically two will be addressed in this paper. (1) Whether the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation violated international law? (2) Whether the hostilities by either Ukraine or the Russian Federation, constitute war crimes? 

To address these questions, this paper begins by introducing a brief history of the Russo-Ukrainian War, followed by a discussion of the illegality of the war under international law. Further, the paper describes in detail the specific actions taken by the two Nations which can be constituted as war crimes, and lastly covers the steps taken to seek relief by international courts. Answers to these questions will then be addressed in the conclusion.

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To read the paper, open HERE.

The Madrid Protocol: Filing International Trademarks Is Realistic

By Lauren Salatto-Rosenay

Lauren Salatto-Rosenay graduated from Albany Law School in July of 2023 (summa cum laude), completing law school in an accelerated two-year academic track. She received her undergraduate degree from Quinnipiac University (summa cum laude) in 2020 with degrees in Theater and Media Studies.

While at Albany Law School, Lauren was an editor for the Albany Law Review.

Prior to law school, Lauren worked as the Company Manager for the Legacy Theatre in Branford, CT. All her life, she has enjoyed being involved in theater productions, whether as a performer, stage manager, director, set designer, playwright, working on the administrative side, or as a theater critic with the CT Critics Circle. Most recently, Lauren co-wrote and co-directed “Joan Joyce! The Musical,” a musical about the greatest female athlete in history. It premiered at the Legacy Theatre in 2021, and just had another great run at the Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury, CT in October of 2023.

Lauren also just completed a summer associate position with Reitler, Kailas & Rosenblatt LLP in NYC, working in their entertainment law department. Lauren is pursuing a career in entertainment law. 

As companies and markets globalize, it is beneficial to trademark and business owners to learn how they can easily and realistically extend protection for their trademarks in various foreign nations. This paper explains how the Madrid Protocol (the “Protocol”), an international trademark registration treaty, can be utilized by United States trademark owners to extend protection of their marks to other member countries of the Protocol. This paper breaks down the process, costs and benefits of filing international trademarks through the Madrid Protocol. Additionally, this paper considers how foreign applicants can seek to extend protection of their trademarks within the United States through the Protocol under §66 of the Lanham Act.

The Protocol creates a centralized filing system that streamlines the process of applying for trademark protection in multiple countries. Now, the international application can be filed in one language, one currency and with one fee. While still growing, the Protocol currently has 114 members and covers 130 countries.

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To read the paper, open HERE.