Judges from the US and the UK, as well as present and former SDNY AUSAs, will discuss important issues surrounding terrorism trials, including differences between the US and UK systems, recent discovery reforms, considerations for sentencing, and how national security concerns impact the prosecutions. The panelists include:
HH Michael Topolski, QC recently retired from the bench at the Old Bailey in the United Kingdom, where he specialized in terrorism cases. In private practice, he represented clients in a wide range of complex cases, including terrorism, organized crime, and fraud. He has represented clients at the Hague and in inquests into British troops’ conduct in Iraq.
Lewis Kaplan has been a U.S. District Judge in the Southern District of New York since 1994. He presided over U.S. v. Ahmed Ghailani, the only criminal prosecution in a federal district court of a Guantanamo detainee, who was convicted of an offense involving the bombing of the United States Embassies in Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi.
Michael Ferrara is an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District and Co-Chief of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit.
Daniel Richman is the Paul J. Kellner Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and a former SDNY prosecutor.
Boxed lunch will be served. Presented by student groups at Columbia Law School including the Criminal Justice Action Network, National Security Law Society, Student Public Interest Network, and Columbia Society for International Law. Sponsored in part by the Student Senate with Funds from the Student Activity Fee.
