Dr. James G. Apple,President and Resident Director, North American Office; former Chief, Interjudicial Affairs Office, United States Federal Judicial Center. During his nine and one-half year tenure at the Federal Judicial Center Dr. Apple directed or co-directed more than 50 seminars and hundreds of briefings for judges and legal officials from 152 countries, in addition to his other duties. He has published numerous articles for both U.S. and foreign publications on judges, courts and court administration and has lectured on those subjects at judicial training institutes and universities outside the United States. Before coming to Washington in 1990 Dr. Apple was a practicing trial lawyer in the Commonwealth of Kentucky for 25 years. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the American Law Institute, and holds the rank of Advocate with the American Board of Trial Advocates.He has a B.A. with Honors in Philosophy degree from the University of Virginia, a J.D. degree from the University of Virginia Law School, where he was an editor of the Virginia Law Review, and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in international and comparative law from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He was awarded first prize in the British Red Cross national essay competition on international humanitarian law in 1990, for which he received short residential fellowships at the Henri Dunant Institute in Geneva, Switzerland and the Institute of International Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy. He is co-author of A Primer on the Civil Law System and Manual for Cooperation Between State and Federal Courts, both published by the Federal Judicial Center.

Dr. Ricardo LiRosi, Vice-President and Director of Latin American Programs, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Judge LiRosi is currently judge of the Court of Appeal (National Court System) in Buenos Aires. He was first appointed a judge in the national courts of Argentina in 1980. He holds teaching appointments at several universities in Argentina, including the Schools of Law at the University of Buenos Aires and the University of Conception del Uruguay, and the School of Law and Social Sciences of University Studies Private School for Corporations Business Management.He is a member of the Committee for Training and Academic Activities of the Association of Magistrates and Officers of the National Body of Justice. Judge LiRosi has lectured and published widely in Argentina, other countries in Latin America, and in Spain on a variety of topics relating to the effective functioning of judges and court systems. He received his law degree from the School of Law of the University of Buenos Aires, where he was awarded two academic medals for his scholarship. In 1997 he was a Visiting Foreign Judicial Fellow at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C.

Hon. Gustavo Bossert, President of the Academic Committee of the Latin American Office, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Justice Bossert is a former justice of the Supreme Court of Argentina, a position to which he was appointed in 1994 and which he held until he resigned from the Court in 2002. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court he was a judge in the National Court System for ten years. He is Professor of Civil Law at the National University of Buenos Aires and was a guest professor in the Universite Pantheon-Asas in Paris from 1992 to 2003. He has published over one hundred articles in legal publications on a variety of legal subjects and has lectured widely in Argentina, other South American countries and in Europe on judicial and legal issues. He is co-author of the Argentina revised laws on the subject of marriage, divorce, child custody and parental rights. He is a member of the Institute of Civil Law of the Argentine Academy of Law, the Institute of Law in Rosario, and the Argentine Foundation of Arbitration and Conciliation in Buenos Aires. Justice Bossert has published four books of short stories and two novels, for which he has received awards in Argentina and Spain. One of his novels is currently being made into a film in France.

Dr. Aldo Alvarez President of Development and Support Board of the Latin American Office, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr. Aldo Alvarez is an Argentine lawyer and businessman whose main areas of expertise are insurance and reinsurance.In 2003, Dr. Alvarez founded Noble S. A. Aseguradora de Responsabilidad Profesional, a casualty insurance company. He is the controlling shareholder and, since 2004, President of Noble. Since 1987, Dr. Alvarez has also been the senior and managing partner of Estudio Dr. Aldo A. Alvarez, a law firm which specializes in insurance and reinsurance cases, handling both national and international clients. He is also a member of Eagle International Associates Inc., ADEAA (Association of Argentine Insurers) and a member of Buenos Aires city and San Isidro city Bar Associations. In addition, he maintains a close working relationship with HONIG METTETAL NDIAYE, Paris, one of the largest European law firms. Dr. Alvarez has been a Professor of Constitutional Law at Buenos Aires University and Lecturer of Political Science at the Catholic University of Argentina. He was also Academic Coordinator and Director of the first Seminar on Justice and Insurance organized by the International Judicial Academy in Buenos Aires in November, 2006. In November 2006, the International Judicial Academy appointed Dr. Alvarez as President of the Development and Support Board for South America. In February 2007, el Dr. Alvarez was appointed as Member of the Academic Board of the Insurance Master of University del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He obtained his LL.B. degree in 1987 at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Dr. Javier Fernandez, Director, Argentine Office, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr. Fernandez is currently First Instance Civil Court (National Court System) in Buenos Aires. He is a professor on the Faculty of Law of the University of Buenos Aires. He also teaches law at the Law School of the University of Concepcion del Uruguay and has held academic appointments at other universities in Argentina. He has engaged in legal research at the National School of Magistrates in France. Dr. Fernandez is a graduate of the Law School of the University of Buenos Aires.

Dr. Julian Herrera, Executive Assistant to the Resident Director, Latin American Office. Dr. Herrera is currently clerk of a First Instance Civil Court in Buenos Aires. He is a professor of civil law at the Law School of the University of Concepcion del Uruguay. He has a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires.