Eric Bergsten

  • Professor of Law Emeritus

Education

BS, Northwestern University
JD, University of Michigan Law School
MA, Georgetown University
M. Comp. L University of Chicago Law School
D. Comp L., University of Chicago Law School

Professor Eric E. Bergsten has had a distinguished sixteen-year career with the United Nations where he served the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), first as Senior Legal Officer and then as Secretary of the Commission. From 1985-1991 he was Chief of the International Trade Law Branch of the Office of Legal Affairs. This branch serves as secretariat of UNCITRAL. During his fifteen years of law school teaching he taught a number of commercial law and international law courses at Fordham University, the University of Iowa, and Northwestern University. His numerous writings and teaching focus on commercial law and international trade law.  Professor Bergsten developed and administers Pace's  Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot held annually in Vienna, Austria.

Professor Bergsten has been awarded a "Special Award" by the International Law and Practice Section of the New York State Bar Association, a "Special Commendation" for his achievements as Director of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot by the Section on Dispute Resolution of the American Bar Association, and the Silver Medal of Honor (Silberne Ehrenzeichen) by the City of Vienna, Austria.

Awards:

  • American Bar Association, Section of Dispute Resolution, Special Commendation
  • New York State Bar Association, Section of International Law and Practice, Special Award for Distinction in International Law and Affairs
  • Vienna, Silbernes Ehrenzeichen des Landes Wien
  • Liber Amicorum on the occasion of the 80th birthday
  • American Arbitration Association, President’s Award for Leadership in Conflict Management
  • American Bar Association, Section of International Law, Leonard J. Theberge Award for Private International Law
  • International Council for Commercial Arbitration, Life Long Contribution to the Field of International Arbitration

Publications

Books

International Commercial Arbitration (Bergsten, ed) (Oxford University Press, New York.

Also appeared in UNCITRAL y El Futuro Derecho Commercial. Buenos Aires:  1994.

"UNCITRAL Model Law on International Credit Transfers" in Payment Systems of the World. Ed. by Robert C. Effros. New York: Oceana Publications, 1994.

"UNCITRAL Draft Convention on International Guaranty Letters", in UNCITRAL y El Futuro Derecho Commercial. Buenos Aires: 1994.

Community Law in the French Courts: The Law of Treaties in Modern Attire. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1973.

Articles

"In Memoriam: Willem Cornelis Vis (1924-1993)," 28 International Lawyer 583 (1994).

"A New Regime for International Independent Guarantees and Stand-by Letters of Credit: the UNCITRAL Draft Convention on Guaranty Letters," 27 International Lawyer 859 (1993).

"Contribution of Law Schools and their Professors to the Promotion of Inter-American Integration and Commerce," 20 Revue Generale de Droit 517 (1989).

"Introduction to the Legal Value of Computer Records," 1 Computer Law & Practice 205 (1985)