About

Anna Spain

Anna Spain is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Colorado School of Law, a professional mediator and a Board Director and founding member of Mediators Beyond Borders.

As a professor and scholar, Professor Spain specializes in international law, dispute resolution, international cooperation and conflict and state behavior. Professor Spain teaches courses in international law, international dispute resolution, mediation and human rights. Prior to joining the CU faculty, she was a Lecturer at UCLA Law School and UCLA School of Public Affairs.

As a mediator, Professor Spain has over 15 years of experience working with individuals, universities, organizations, communities and governments. Professor Spain provides mediation services, conflict resolution training and facilitation of public dialogues. She specializes in cross-cultural and international matters, employment disputes and conflicts involving the public sector. She has trained under leading negotiation and mediation experts including Kenneth Cloke, Robert Mnookin, Lawrence Susskind and William Zartman.

As an attorney, Professor Spain practiced international law as an Attorney-Advisor at the U.S. Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser where she represented the U.S. before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague, served as a delegate to the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva and advised the Department on international investment disputes in Asia and the Pacific. She also has policy experience at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Trade Representative's Office.

Professor Spain is a graduate of Harvard Law School where she served as an executive editor of the Harvard Human Rights Journal. She earned her B.A. magna cum laude at Denison University in environmental studies and economics. Professor Spain clerked for the Honorable Judge Raymond Finch, U.S. District Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands in St. Croix.

ARBITRATION EXPERIENCE

  • Iran – U.S. Claims Tribunal. Defended the United States against claims brought by the Government of Iran in the B/1, B/61, and A/30 cases. Presented oral arguments and conducted witness examination before the Tribunal in proceedings in Case B/61. 2006-2007.

MEDIATION EXPERIENCE

  • Private Mediation Practice, Los Angeles, CA. Experience in workplace, cross-cultural and family disputes. 2007-present.
  • Mediators Beyond Borders. Board of Directors and Founding Member. 2007 – Present.
  • Sharing Neutrals, Washington D.C. Lead mediator for matters at various U.S. Government agencies and departments. 2005-2007.
  • U.S. District Court, St. Croix. Assisted the Magistrate Judge in pre-trial settlement proceedings in civil litigation cases. 2004-2005.
  • U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers & Consensus Building Institute, Cambridge, MA. Experience with facilitation and dispute systems design. 2003.
  • Legal Resources Foundation, Lusaka, Zambia. Mediator for international human rights cases serving prisons, embassies and consulates. 2002.
  • Hudson Avenue Community, Newark, OH. Facilitator responsible for organizing public dialogue groups to address a variety of community disputes including homeowner and tenant concerns, property disputes and noise disturbance. 1998.
  • NAACP, Newark, OH. Facilitator and mediator for public dialogue sessions on diversity and race relations in the community.
  • Newark High School, Newark OH. Mediation trainer responsible for training 60 student mediators. 1995-1996.

NEGOTIATION EXPERIENCE.

  • United Nations Compensation Commission. U.S. delegate to quarterly multilateral negotiations of the Governing Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. 2005-2007.
  • U.S.– Chile Free Trade Agreement Bilateral Negotiations. Served as the control room coordinator and participated in two rounds of this negotiation in the opening, closing, environment and investment negotiation sessions. Spring 2001.
  • U.S. Trade Representative's Interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee. Assisted the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Policy Coordination with running the inter-governmental process for negotiating trade positions. Spring 2001.
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Served as a U.S. delegate to the United Nation's Convention on Long-Range Trans-boundary Air Pollution multilateral negotiations in Sweden. Special Assistant to Climate Change policy team for the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties 6. 2000.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION TRAINING

  • Mediation Certification Training. Center for Dispute Resolution, Santa Monica, CA. Kenneth Cloke. May-July 2005.
  • Advanced Multiparty Negotiations. Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA. Professors Robert Mnookin and Lawrence Susskind. January-May 2003.
  • International Conflict Management. Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, Washington, D.C. Professor William Zartman. September-December 1999.
  • Art of Diplomacy. Foreign Service Training Institute, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. A one-week training course in mediation and multilateral and bilateral negotiations. December 2000.
  • Environmental Dispute Resolution. Denison University, Granville, OH. Professor Abram Kaplan. January-May 1998.
  • Mediation Certification and Trainer Program. Newark High School, Newark, OH. Tom Murray. Two separate courses: a 16-hour introductory mediation training course and an 8-hour course on how to train mediators. 1994-1995.