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The Bernstein Lecture in Comparative Law

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Daphe Barak Erez2018–2019 Annual Bernstein Lecture in Comparative Law

Executive Power: Rethinking the Modalities of Control
Presented by The Honorable Sundaresh Menon, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Singapore
November 1, 2018 • 12:30 PM • Duke Law, Room 3041

The Annual Bernstein Lecture in Comparative Law began in 2002 and honors the many contributions to Duke Law School and to the legal community made by the late Professor Bernstein.

Herbert L. Bernstein was a member of the Duke Law faculty from 1984 until his death in 2001. Professor Bernstein's instruction and scholarship concentrated upon contracts, conflict of laws, and comparative law, as well as international economic integration. He taught the European Union Law class at Duke, a subject particularly close to his heart: during the early years of the European Community/European Union, he was involved in the litigation of major cases in the European Court of Justice. For several years, he also served as the Faculty Director of the Law School's Summer Institute of Transnational Law in Brussels.

Professor Bernstein was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1930. Following World War II, he studied and practiced law in Hamburg, and was elected to the prestigious Max-Planck Institute for Foreign and Private International Law. While in private practice, Professor Bernstein continued his studies at the University of Hamburg, where he earned a doctorate in law magna cum laude. He came to the United States in 1962 to study at the University of Michigan, where he obtained his J.D. degree magna cum laude. Before joining Duke Law School, he taught at University of California at Berkeley, University of Hamburg in Germany, and University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

Professor Bernstein published frequently in both German and English. His bibliography includes the book "Understanding the CISG in Europe" (1997) (co-authored with Joseph Lookofsky, presenter of the 2007 lecture).

Related paper:  Sundaresh Menon, Executive Power: Rethinking the Modalities of Control, 29 Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law 277-305 (2019) 

Past Bernstein Lectures

Seung Wha Chang
Bernstein Lecture 2015 | Seung Wha Chang, Dispute Settlement in the WTO: An Evolving Process Under Challenges
October 7, 2015 - Seung Wha Chang, Professor of Law at Seoul National University and one of the seven Members of the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body, will deliver the Annual Bernstein Lecture in Comparative Law titled "Dispute Settlement in the WTO: An Evolving Process Under Challenges." The lecture is co-sponsored by the Center for International & Comparative Law.