Defining Military Victory: From Vietnam to Iraq/Afghanistan to the Gaza Strip
DATE: Monday, November 10 2025
TIME: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm MST
LOCATION: College of Law and Virtual Event
ABOUT THE EVENT:
In honor of Veterans Day, this special CLE will explore how the concept of “military victory” has evolved across conflicts, from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan, and what it means in today’s global context. Speakers bring expertise from military service, public service, and law.
Lunch provided for in person attendees that register and attend the event. Sponsored by Jim Holbrook.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS:
Professor Amos N. Guiora has a A.B. from Kenyon College, J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and a Ph.D. from Leiden University. He is a Professor (Lecturer) at the S.J. Quinney College of Law, University of Utah where he directs the Bystander Initiative, https://www.law.utah.edu/bystander-initiative/. Guiora is a Distinguished Fellow and Counselor at the International Center for Conflict Resolution at University of Pittsburgh, a non-Resident Fellow, George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, a Distinguished Fellow, Chicago Kent College of Law’s Consortium on Research on the Study of the Holocaust and the Law, a member of the Board of Advisors for S.E.S.A.M.E., a member of the Board of Directors of the Lauren McClusky Foundation, Member Consultant Group, Holocaust Claims Commission, was the inaugural chair of the University of Utah Independent Review Committee, and chaired the Gymnastics Canada Task Force on Assault.
Professor Emeritus Jim Holbrook received a B.A. in 1966 from Grinnell College where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Honorary Fellowship. In 1968 he received an M.A. from Indiana University, which he attended as a National Science Foundation Fellow. He fought in combat in Vietnam in 1969, for which service he was awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal for Valor. In 1974 he received a J.D. from the University of Utah where he was an articles editor of the Journal of Contemporary Law. After law school, he clerked for the chief judge of the federal district court for Utah and later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Salt Lake City.
David Schwendiman, former U.S. Department of Justice and international war crimes prosecutor, was also a former chief prosecutor of the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague, where he led investigations and prosecutions of war crimes and crimes against humanity. A senior U.S. foreign service officer during his tenure, he previously served as lead prosecutor of the EU’s Special Investigative Task Force in Brussels. Earlier in his career, Mr. Schwendiman held numerous positions within the U.S. Department of Justice, including Interim U.S. attorney for the District of Utah, and received the DOJ’s Director’s Award for Superior Performance. He has also served internationally as a prosecutor in Bosnia and Herzegovina and as the DOJ’s coordinator for several Olympic Games. A graduate of the University of Utah and its College of Law, he has been an adjunct professor there since 1994. Mr. Schwendiman currently serves on the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Panel and the ABA’s International Criminal Law Practice Project Steering Committee.
David Irvine, Brig. Gen. (Ret.) U.S. Army is an attorney, and was a strategic intelligence officer.
Free parking in the College of Law lot (east of the building).
For questions about this event, email events@law.utah.edu.
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The S.J. Quinney College of Law is pleased to provide CLE opportunities for attorneys. All donations welcome to support our programs.