NASHVILLE, Tenn.—James Bacchus, the chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, will join the faculty of the Vanderbilt University Law School as a visiting professor teaching international law beginning next spring.
Bacchus is the only remaining original member of the global tribunal and the only member from North America. He was appointed to the seven-member Appellate Body by the members of the WTO in 1995 and reappointed in 1999. He will complete his allotted eight years on the Appellate Body and his second term as chairman in December. The WTO Appellate Body hears final appeals in international trade disputes involving the 95 percent of world commerce conducted by the 146 countries and other customs territories that are members of the WTO.
Bacchus, a principal shareholder in the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig LLP, has been on leave of absence from the firm while serving as chairman of the WTO’s Appellate Body. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at Vanderbilt, he will return to Greenberg Traurig in January 2004 to play a leadership role in the growing international practice of the firm. Greenberg Traurig is a full-service business law firm with approximately 950 attorneys in offices in 18 U.S. cities and Amsterdam and Zurich.
At Vanderbilt, Bacchus will teach international law with an emphasis on international trade law. The first course he will teach will be a two-week course on WTO dispute settlement, to be offered in the spring semester of 2004.
“We are honored to have the chief judge of what the New York Times describes as ‘the Supreme Court of world trade’ as a visiting faculty member at Vanderbilt,” said Kent D. Syverud, dean and Garner Anthony Professor of Law. “For three years beginning this next spring, we will have one of the world’s leading scholars in international trade teaching our students about international trade, dispute resolution and international law. He will be a wonderful addition to our faculty,” Syverud added.
Bacchus is a former special assistant to the United States Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President. He also served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he represented Florida’s 15th District, before choosing not to seek re-election in 1994.
A Vanderbilt alumnus and Nashville native, Bacchus said he is “thrilled” to be returning to Vanderbilt and to Nashville. “Years ago, Vanderbilt helped give me a chance in the world by giving me a full academic scholarship. Becoming a member of the faculty at Vanderbilt is, for me, a dream come true,” he said.
Bacchus received a bachelor’s degree in history with minors in English literature and political science from Vanderbilt University in 1971. He earned his master’s degree in history from Yale University, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and his law degree from the Florida State University College of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the law review.
Media contact: Susanne Loftis, 615-322-NEWS, susanne.loftis@vanderbilt.edu