News Archive

Professor Tom Wilson organized and led the 3rd Sino-U.S. Law Conference, which was held on June 11, 2012, at the National Judges College of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing. The theme of the conference was The Art of Judging. Judges from the U.S. and China discussed challenges they face and compared methods of judging. Representing the judiciary in Indiana were (1) Indiana Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr. (who will become Professor of Practice at the IU McKinney School of Law in the fall); (2) Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steven H. David, ’82 (adjunct professor of law); and (3) Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Patricia A. Riley, ’74, (adjunct professor of law). Also among the speakers were Gao Jinghong and Hao Yinzhong, both of whom are senior judges of the Supreme People’s Court of China. The audience included approximately forty high-level Chinese judges, among them Xu Fang, Chief Judge of the DaDong District Court, who will receive an LL.M. degree from the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law in August. Professor Wilson spoke in the opening session and moderated the proceedings.

The Sino-U.S. Law Conference series was founded in 2010 and is a product of collaboration between Professor Wilson and Renmin University of China Law School professor Ding Xiangshun, LL.M. ’06. The Conferences are sponsored by the Joint Center for Asian Law Studies, which is based at the IU McKinney School of Law and the Renmin University of China Law School in Beijing. Information about prior Sino-U.S. Law Conferences is available online here and here.

Participants in The Art of Judging pictured above: (from left) Professor Liu Fengjing, Nankai University Law School; Hao Yinzhong, senior judge of the Supreme People’s Court of China; Professor Fred Morrison, former dean of the University of Minnesota Law School; Professor Mary Sue Backus, University of Oklahoma College of Law; Indiana Court of Appeals Judge Patricia A. Riley, ’74; Gao Jinghong, senior judge of the Supreme People’s Court of China and dean of the National Judges College; Professor Tom Wilson; Professor Frank Sullivan, Jr., former Indiana Supreme Court justice; Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steven David, ’82; and Ding Xiangshun, LL.M. '06, assistant dean for foreign affairs, School of Law of Renmin University of China.