JUDGING IRAN

A man documents his storied career in government and international law, including his many years working in The Hague, in this memoir.

Brower’s influential legal career began in the 1960s when, fresh out of Harvard Law School, he worked at the New York City firm of White & Case. There, he gained experience as a litigator and got some exposure to international law in cases involving a rogue stock trader, an accused spy, and the Hungarian representative to the United Nations. But shortly after being made partner, he resigned. He wanted to see what the world had to offer and to work on policy matters (“My true calling, I felt, was diplomacy”). He accepted a position at the State Department and worked as a legal adviser for European affairs during the détente under President Richard Nixon. Brower thrived in government but left in the early ’70s to return to White & Case at its Washington, D.C., office. There, he gained more experience in international law, including expropriation, in intriguing cases involving Indonesia, Nigeria, and, eventually, Iran. In 1984, he was appointed a judge for the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague, which was created so companies and citizens that lost assets in the Iran's Islamic Revolution could recoup their funds. With an admirable devotion to fairness, he tirelessly worked for years alongside hotheaded Iranian judges and sometimes-spineless Europeans as they tried to sort out the multitude of claims before them. Brower’s fast-paced account of his impressive accomplishments should serve as necessary reading for those seeking careers in international law. But his innovations and varied experiences make this compelling enough for a general audience. It is purely a career story, with few personal details, but the globe-trotting nature of the work and the author’s front-row seat to high-profile world events are remarkable. Written with energy and a devotion to detail, this book is a powerful recollection by a man who personally shaped modern international dispute resolution.

A superb, intensely readable account about a striking career in international law.