Courses: Criminal Law; Advanced Criminal Case Resolution; Negotiation: Theory & Practice; and Public International Dispute Resolution
Cynthia Alkon joined the faculty at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in 2010. She was an assistant professor of law at the Appalachian School of Law from 2006-2010. Prior to joining academia, Professor Alkon was a criminal defense lawyer and worked in rule of law development in Eastern Europe and Central Asia focusing on criminal justice reform issues. Professor Alkon worked for nearly seven years as a deputy public defender in Los Angeles County. Professor Alkon then joined the American Bar Association Central and East European Law Initiative working as a Rule of Law Liaison in Belarus for two years (1998-2000). After Belarus Professor Alkon was the head of the legal department for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Albania. From 2002-2006 Professor Alkon was the Head of the Rule of Law Unit for the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR). In that position Professor Alkon supervised the OSCE/ODIHR Rule of Law Unit’s criminal justice reform assistance projects in Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe.
Professor Alkon’s scholarship focuses on criminal dispute resolution, comparative criminal procedure and rule of law reform. Professor Alkon looks critically at current rule of law reform programs and is particularly interested in examining how different dispute resolution processes in criminal cases may contribute to rule of law development in countries in transition. Professor Alkon is a contributor to Indisputably.org, a member of the Law Professor Blogs Network.
Professor Alkon earned a Masters of Law (LL.M) in Dispute Resolution from the University of Missouri-Columbia, a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of California-Hastings and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Magna Cum Laude, in International Relations, from San Francisco State University.
Selected Publications
"The Flawed U.S. Approach to Rule of Law Development," forthcoming, 117 Penn State Law Review 797 (2013). [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
"Lost in Translation: Can Exporting ADR Harm Rule of Law Development?", 2011 J. Disp. Resol. 165 (2011). [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
"Plea Bargaining as a Legal Transplant: A Good Idea for Troubled Criminal Justice Systems?" 19 Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems 355 (2010). [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
"The Increased Use of "Reconciliation" in Criminal Cases in Central Asia: A Sign of Restorative Justice, Reform or Cause for Concern?" 8 Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal 41 (2007). [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
"Women Labor Arbitrators: Women Members of the National Academy of Arbitrators Speak About the Barriers of Entry into the Field," 6 Appalachian Journal of Law 195 (2007). [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]
"The Cookie Cutter Syndrome: Legal Reform Assistance Under Post-Communist Democratization Programs," 2002 Journal of Dispute Resolution 327 (University of Missouri). [Hein] [LexisNexis] [Westlaw]