Mike Newton is a West Point graduate who serves as a professor of the practice of law at Vanderbilt University Law School.  He advised Iraqi jurists as they drafted the Statute for the Iraqi Tribunal and was one of the small team of international experts who taught them international criminal law.  He has made four trips to Baghdad to provide expertise on a wide range of legal issues, and advised the Iraqi High Tribunal as an International Legal Advisor in 2006 and 2007. 

During the Clinton and Bush administrations, he served in the Office of War Crimes Issues, U.S. Department of State.  Advising the United States Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, he helped establish the Special Court in Sierra Leone and was on the United States delegation negotiating the Elements of Crimes for the International Criminal Court.  He has taught around the world, and was elected to the International Institute of Humanitarian Law.  He has published more than 40 articles and book chapters.  His op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Denver Post, and the Washington Times; he has appeared on CNN, BBC, Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, Court TV, NPR, and other media outlets.  He currently advised a Working Group of the Task Force on Genocide Prevention established by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the U.S. Institute of Peace.  He has also coordinated legal advice for the Public International Law & Policy Group on behalf of the governments of Afghanistan, Kosovo and Sri Lanka.

During his distinguished military career, he deployed to assist Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq, developed and led the human rights and rules of engagement education for all Multinational Forces and International Police in support operations in Haiti, and organized U.S. support to the Milosevic indictment during operations in Kosovo.  He taught at the Judge Advocate General’s School and the Department of Law, United States Military Academy. 

At Vanderbilt, he developed the innovative International Law Practice Lab.  His students participate in a demanding yet richly rewarding course that exposes them to cutting-edge questions in international law and emphasizes pragmatic lawyering skills.  He has supervised Vanderbilt law students providing support to a wide range of governmental, judicial and non-governmental clients.  He also teaches International Criminal Law and coordinates student participation in the academic consortium providing substantive advice to the lawyers in Iraq, the Sierra Leone Special Court, and other tribunals.