Partner & Global Co-Chair, International Litigation & Arbitration; Chair, United Nations Practice Group, Foley Hoag LLP
Drawn to UC Berkeley for its academic rigor and its Free Speech Movement and human-rights legacy, Christina Hioureas helps shape how nations argue international law in global courts and tribunals, including on climate responsibility, human rights, and decolonization. In this Q&A, she traces the line from campus to global forums and explains why the Cal network matters for what comes next.
Q: What first drew you to Berkeley, and toward international law?
Christina Hioureas (CH): I chose UC Berkeley for its academic reputation and its Free Speech Movement and human-rights legacy. As an undergraduate, I worked on environmental rights, the rights of women and girls, and business and human rights. At Berkeley Law, international law came into focus as a way to effect change. Values paired with a concrete toolkit made it a practical path to serve the broader good.
Attending Berkeley for both my B.A. and J.D. shaped my development in three ways. First, courses that paired theory with practice enabled me to learn and develop as a critical thinker. Second, I learned from mentors who opened doors for me. Third, outside activities helped; as the managing editor of the Berkeley Journal of International Law, I edited scholarship and brought speakers to campus. Those experiences sharpened my writing and broadened my knowledge of the field.
Q: What has it been like transitioning from the corridors of Berkeley to those of the UN?
CH: After nearly two decades in practice, I have appeared before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg, dozens of international arbitral tribunals, and taken the floor at the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of States. I have also argued before countless arbitral tribunals and courts on matters ranging from anti-corruption to mass environmental claims, energy diplomacy, and transitional justice.
A defining chapter has been international environmental law and climate work. At ITLOS, I represented Sierra Leone and Mozambique in separate written and oral submissions on the obligations of States with respect to climate change. Both are States highly vulnerable to climate impacts, but paradoxically have been low contributors to the crisis. Contributing to those filings, then seeing the tribunal issue a helpful advisory opinion, was powerful. That process unfolded alongside, and was catalyzed by, youth from small island States who advocated for a separate advisory-opinion track before the ICJ on broader questions of State responsibility to address the climate crisis. In those proceedings, we acted for The Gambia, Liechtenstein, Sierra Leone, and Namibia.
Another milestone in my career was assisting Mauritius in the Chagos advisory-opinion proceedings before the ICJ on decolonization from the United Kingdom, followed by steps at the General Assembly and other bodies. Those efforts contributed to the successful conclusion of Mauritius’ decades-long struggle to reunite with the Chagos Archipelago.
Q: In your view, what was the outcome of the ICJ advisory opinion?
CH: The International Court of Justice issued a comprehensive advisory opinion in response to a request from the UN General Assembly. In substance, it confirms that States most responsible for anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions have obligations to reduce emissions and to aid or otherwise assist vulnerable States with mitigation, adaptation, and with addressing harm, including through reparations, transfer of technology, and other remedial measures. Many countries filed written and oral submissions, including our State clients noted earlier, offering distinct views on responsibility and remedies.
For practitioners, the opinion converts a patchwork of norms into a workable framework that States, courts, and communities can reason from together. It is a starting point, not an endpoint. Expect follow-on litigation in international and domestic courts, and guidance for negotiations and policy design that align finance, transition planning, and accountability.
Q: Where do you expect these opinions to matter next, in and beyond the courts?
CH: These opinions will matter in inter-State political negotiations, where they may set baselines for what is reasonable to demand and to concede, from technology transfer and financing to reparations and mitigation and adaptation. They may also shape litigation before international and domestic courts and tribunals, informing claims and defenses involving major emitting States and fossil fuel companies. Finally, they may guide policy and finance, as ministries, regulators, and development actors treat the opinions as guardrails and align transition planning, disclosure, and investment with the duties described. This is not a silver bullet; it is a shared legal framework on the rights and obligations of States under international law.
Q: How do you carry being a UC Berkeley alum into your work?
CH: Being a UC Berkeley alum shows up as a habit of service, rigor, and civility. It is reflected in the matters I take on, the arguments I raise before tribunals, and how I engage the other side’s arguments. The goal is to present arguments clearly and persuasively, so that adjudicators have the tools to reach the right outcomes.
Q: You mentioned mentors. Which Berkeley professors or experiences shaped you?
CH: At Berkeley Law, Professors Richard Buxbaum and the late David Caron introduced me to the field of international law. With Professor Caron, we worked on parallel and related research projects on the reform of international courts and tribunals, whereby I applied his theory of how courts are reformed to the restructuring of a regional human rights court, in joint papers that we published and later presented. With Professor Buxbaum, I served as his research assistant on topics that included post-conflict reparations. As an undergraduate, I had the benefit of learning from Professor Bruce Cain, a leading scholar of good governance and public policy. The Institute of Governmental Studies (which he headed) was a sort of a second home for me in those years, and which provided me with exposure to presentations by leading political figures and authors.
Q: Let’s bring the human stakes into view. What made the climate work personal for you?
CH: I grew up in California, became involved in the Surfrider Foundation efforts, organized beach cleanups, and engaged in local advocacy against the development of our coastal headlands and natural reserves. That concern for the environment matured into a practice where I assist vulnerable States before international courts and tribunals, including on questions of mitigation, adaptation, and responsibility.
Q: If you were designing a one-week intensive at Berkeley Law today, what would you put in front of students?
CH: I would design an advocacy practicum on cases before international courts and tribunals. We would select a cluster of related cases, assign each student a State perspective that they would present in a written brief and an oral argument. The aim would be to use international law—not as something to memorize—but as a working toolkit applied to concrete international political disputes.
Q: What memory from Berkeley still makes you smile?
A: Walking into Sproul Plaza for the first time and reflecting on the brave voices ranging from Mario Savio to Gloria Steinem, who carved the path of free speech and human rights, that enabled a person like me to have the career path that I have had.
Q: You live and practice in New York City, but you’ve said you’re Californian through and through. What does that mean day to day?
CH: I am a proud California native. We come from an incredible state: a trailblazer in progressive policy, a laboratory for business and scientific innovation driving the economy, and the home of some of the most beautiful landscapes that we can imagine: from the redwood forests of Eureka and the breathtaking cliffs of Big Sur, to the sound of waves of the SoCal coast. I will always maintain my California essence: happiness, openness, concern for others, and a love of nature, even when walking the sometimes intense streets of Manhattan.
Q: For students and recent grads reading this at Berkeley, what’s your counsel?
CH: Follow your curiosity and your conscience. If your first job is not your dream role, find ways to continue to develop. Write on emerging issues that matter to you. Show up at conferences and meet people in the fields that interest you. Work hard and learn from as many people as possible. Give each step in your career your best; doors will open if you are true to yourself and if you work hard.
Christina’s path clarifies the Berkeley practice: courage with craft, rigor with heart. Our charge is simple: turn campus grit into briefs and coalitions, make the law hold and widen the table, and bring the next Golden Bear with you. That’s how Cal shows up in the world: not as rhetoric, but results.
