Address to the industry

The Hon. Jeffrey L. Bleich was confirmed by the US Senate on November 20, 2009, to be the US Ambassador to Australia and presented his credentials in Canberra on November 26, 2009. Mr Bleich previously served as Special Counsel to the President at the White House. From 1995 to 2009, he was a litigation partner in the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, where he was recognised as one of the nation’s top lawyers. Outside his legal practice, Mr Bleich has had a long-standing commitment to international law. After clerking for Judge Howard Holtzmann at the Iran-US Claims Tribunal and acting as Special Rapporteur to the International Court of Arbitration, he assisted the Special Prosecutor for the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He has taught international human rights at UC Berkeley’s School of Law, and written and lectured extensively on the international criminal court.

In 2008, he served simultaneously as the Chair of the California State University Board of Trustees and as the President of the State Bar of California. Mr Bleich also represented the ABA before the United States Supreme Court in several matters including the Medellin case concerning the Vienna Convention on Consular Rights. He recently chaired both the ABA’s Amicus Curiae Committee and the subcommittee on Corporate Social Responsibility. Mr Bleich served as an officer or member in numerous foreign policy organisations including the Council on Foreign Relations, the ABA Section on International Law, the Pacific Council on International Policy, the International Law Association, the American Society of International Law, and Human Rights Watch.

Mr Bleich received his BA from Amherst College, his Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University, and his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. He received his certificate in Public International Law from the Hague Academy in 1993. Following graduation from law school, he clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist on the United States Supreme Court as well as Judge Abner J. Mikva of the DC Circuit.