Daniel Mandell joined the Chicago-Kent College of Law faculty as a visiting assistant professor in fall 2024 after nearly 15 years in private practice and public service. His career has included working in New York City and Washington, D.C., as a civil litigator at two international law firms, as well as serving as a law clerk to Hon. Jack B. Weinstein, Hon. Brian M. Cogan, and Hon. I. Leo Glasser, three senior district judges in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Mandell also spent two years as legal counsel to the Office of the President in the Republic of Palau, during which he was a chief legal adviser to the government of the Pacific Island Country. While in Palau, Mandell was the primary legal counsel to Palau’s National Housing Commission, Foreign Investment Board, and International Ship Registry. He also created and facilitated, together with the United States Ambassador to Palau, a summer course for students from Tufts University that focused on Pacific issues.
In addition to his legal background, Mandell also studies international and geopolitical affairs, particularly those concerning Pacific Island Countries. From 2022–2023, he held a Council on Foreign Relations/Hitachi Ltd. International Affairs Fellowship, during which he was hosted at the Japan Institute of International Affairs as a visiting research fellow. As part of this work, he has been published in Japanese and Australian press.
Mandell is currently a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a co-chair of the American Society of International Law’s Government Attorneys Interest Group, and an elected member of the Tufts Alumni Council.
Education
LL.M., Duke University School of Law
J.D., Duke University School of Law
B.A., Tufts University
Publications
Korean Court: Japan Owes Comfort Women and Their Families Damages for Wartime Forced Labor, 10(3) Int’l Labor Rights Case Law 394 (Oct. 2024)
Should Japan expand its security partnerships in the Pacific?, The Interpreter (March 25, 2024).
Another Blow to the Sovereign Shield: South Korean Court Rejects Japan’s Sovereign Immunity Defense in “Comfort Women” Case, 28 Am. Soc’y of Int’l L. Insights, Issue 5 (Feb. 28, 2024).
Decolonization and Boundary Disputes in West Africa, in Global Encyclopedia of Territorial Rights (Michael Kocsis ed., 2021).
The Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions: A Historical Perspective, 6 Nat'l Sec. L. J. 1 (2018).
Venezuela v. Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Co.: The Supreme Court Makes it Harder to Bring Claims Against Foreign Sovereigns in U.S. Courts, 21 Am. Soc'y of Int'l L. Insights, Issue 10 (Oct. 6, 2017).
Picking up where Aerospatiale left off: Merit-based discovery, foreign parties, and uncertain personal jurisdiction, 100 Judicature 57 (Autumn 2016).
It's Blonder-Tongue All Over Again (with Hon. Alex Kozinski), 13 Chi.-Kent J. Intell. Prop. 379 (2014).
The US-Pacific Islands Partnership, one year on(with Dr. Meg Keen), The Interpreter (Sept. 22, 2023).
For America's atomic bomb legacy, the past is present, The Interpreter(Aug. 7, 2023)
The looming fate of Fukushima's contaminated water, The Interpreter(June 30, 2023).
Defending Japan with better Pacific Island diplomacy, The Japan Times (Feb. 23, 2023).
Six ways Albanese's visit can help PNG(with Dr. Anthony Bergin), Australian Financial Review (Jan. 7, 2023).
Wong's visit to Palau should be followed by greater Australian engagement (with Dr. Anthony Bergin), The Strategist (Dec. 15, 2022)
Up in Smoke: Carbon Trading in the European Union, 28 Hemispheres: The Tufts University Journal of International Affairs 82 (2005).
Europe's Elections Europe-wide, Federal Trust Policy Commentary (May 2004).
Professional Activities
American Society of International Law: Vice-Chair of Government Attorneys Interest Group
Council of Foreign Relations, Stephen M. Kellen Term Member Program
Tufts Alumni Council