Cindy Buys ’91
Currently:
Assistant Professor of Law
Southern Illinois University School of Law
Carbondale, Illinois

Formerly:
Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel
for Import Administration,
U.S. Department of Commerce

Career path
"I graduated in 1991 with a joint degree from the law school and a MA in International Relations. I practiced for seven years with a law firm in Washington, D.C. specializing in international transportation law, particularly maritime and shipping law.

"I left practice in the summer of 1998 to obtain an LL.M. from Georgetown in International and Comparative Law. After Georgetown I was an attorney with the U.S. Department of Commerce, where I advised the Import Administration in connection with its implementation and enforcement of U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws and defended the agency’s decisions before the Court of International Trade, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and World Trade Organization panels.

I joined the Southern Illinois University School of Law faculty in 2001where I teach International Law, International Business Transactions, International Trade Law, European Union Law, Immigration Law, and Constitutional Law."

Useful experience at SUCOL
"Because my practice was business-oriented and because anyone who practices in DC spends time working with the government, I would say general business courses such as contracts and corporations, as well as administrative law, were the most substantively useful. International business transactions also is very helpful."

Trends in International Law
"I see a couple of trends in international law. One is the continuing increase in globalization generally. This means that most lawyers are going to run into international issues in one form or another during their career even if it is not what they specialize in. 

“A second trend with respect to int'l trade law is maturation: NAFTA and the WTO are now both celebrating their 10-year anniversaries.  There are still many new developments in that area, but there is also enough jurisprudence now to look back and begin assessing successes and failures of the system thus far.

Recent publications
"The Continuing Evolution of Immigration Law to Address Issues of Domestic Violence." 41 Globe 10-11 (June 2004).

"The Arbitrators’ Duty to Respect the Parties Choice of Law in Commercial Arbitration." 79 St. John's Law Review 59-96 (2005).

"United States Economic Sanctions: The Fairness of Targeting Persons from Third Countries." 17 BostonUniversity International Law Journal 241-267 (1999).