• Our physical, mental, and social wellbeing rely on our ability to be resilient and comfortable with conflict. Our quality of life can be improved by conflict resolution best practices; these practices work best when informed by our culture and diversity. At this year's virtual annual conference, we will explore the different ways conflict resolution is practiced. We will follow the paths essential to our communities, exploring how our different cultures help to empower the process.
  

This year, we're excited to honor Catherine Amirfar and The Center for Anti-Violence Education at our in-person Kick-Off Event for our Annual Conference on May 31!

Meet the honorees and join us for an engaging panel discussion at this event, generously hosted and sponsored by the AAA-ICDR Dispute Resolution Center in Manhattan, NYC. Register for the kick-off event here - limited space is available!

Catherine Amirfar is Co-Chair of Debevoise & Plimpton’s International Dispute Resolution Group and the Public International Law Group, and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Her practice focuses on public international law, international commercial and treaty arbitration, and complex international commercial litigation.

With over twenty years of experience, Ms. Amirfar has argued before U.S. courts, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and arbitration and other international tribunals sitting around the world. She has deep expertise representing states, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations and multinational companies.

Ms. Amirfar is Immediate Past President of the American Society of International Law (ASIL), for which she has been co-hosting a podcast called “International Law Behind the Headlines.” She also serves as a member of the U.S. Department of State’s Advisory Committee on International Law, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Advisory Committees of the American Law Institute for the Restatement (Fourth) of Foreign Relations Law of the United States and for the Restatement of the U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration.

Ms. Amirfar maintains a highly active pro bono practice, advising NGOs and individuals in a wide variety of human rights matters. Most recently, she has led work in conjunction with the Clooney Foundation for Justice on a number of high-profile cases seeking the release of unlawfully imprisoned journalists around the world. She has also represented plaintiffs in Alien Tort Statute and Torture Victims Protection Act cases in U.S. courts with co-counsel the Center for Justice and Accountability. These include civil suits against the alleged commander of the Lutheran Church massacre of approximately 600 unarmed civilians in Liberia, and the former Secretary of Defense of Sri Lanka for his alleged involvement in the attack, torture, and murder of a journalist. In 2014, Ms. Amirfar was selected by Chambers USA as the Pro Bono Private Practice Lawyer of the Year.  In 2020, she was appointed the Deputy Chair of the High-Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, an independent advisory body that advises the Media Freedom Coalition, a group of 52 countries prioritizing media freedoms.

Prior to rejoining Debevoise in 2016, Ms. Amirfar spent two years as the Counselor on International Law to the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, and received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award in recognition of her contributions.

Ms. Amirfar received a J.D. cum laude from New York University Law School in 2000, where she was a Root-Tilden-Snow Scholar and NYU Law Review editor. She then clerked for the Hon. D.A. Batts, Southern District of New York, from 2000-2002.

The Center for Anti-Violence Education is a nonprofit organization that works to prevent, disrupt and heal from hate violence. The organization does this through educational programs that center the experiences of people who are the most marginalized, combining awareness raising, physical empowerment, leadership development and activism. 

From its beginnings as Brooklyn Women’s Martial Arts (BWMA) to its current form as The Center for Anti-Violence Education (CAE), from a volunteer organization with a visionary mission to a nationally recognized leader in violence prevention, CAE has worked for 48 years to build its collective and individual strength to end violence and stand up for justice.

Since its founding in 1974, CAE has empowered women, girls, folks who are LGBTQ+, survivors and all those at increased risk of violence from racism and xenophobia to build leadership skills, heal from past abuse, and break cycles of violence in their lives and communities. In the last year, CAE trained 6,571 individuals throughout NYC and across the country in its signature empowerment self-defense and upstander programs during virtual and in-person workshops. Executive Director Loren Miller will be accepting the award on behalf of CAE.

Questions? Email us at conference@acrgny.org.