Sovereignty vs Sustainability: International Law in Arizona–Mexico Resource Conflicts
Total Credits: 2 CLE, 1 Ethics
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- Categories:
- International Law | Environmental & Water Law | Indian Law
- Faculty:
- Hilary E Sadler | Shirley Jean Spira | James C Hopkins
- Format:
- Audio and Video
- Original Program Date:
- Nov 20, 2025
Description
As climate pressures intensify and cross-border development accelerates, Arizona attorneys increasingly face legal questions that transcend state and federal boundaries. This two-hour CLE introduces the foundational principles of international environmental law and explores how global frameworks intersect with tribal sovereignty and ecological stewardship in the Arizona–Mexico borderlands.
Through a structured overview of key treaties, enforcement mechanisms, and Indigenous rights instruments, participants will gain practical insight into how international law can support or complicate domestic advocacy in environmental and indigenous laws. The session features a case study involving a proposed transnational renewable energy project that impacts tribal lands and desert ecosystems. Attendees will analyze legal tensions, apply international principles, and discuss strategic approaches to cross-jurisdictional resource conflicts.
Designed for attorneys unfamiliar with international law, this CLE emphasizes actionable knowledge, ethical engagement, and the lawyer’s role in advancing sustainability and sovereignty in a rapidly globalizing legal landscape.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand core international environmental law frameworks and principles
- Identify Indigenous rights instruments relevant to Arizona tribal advocacy
- Analyze legal tensions in cross-border infrastructure and resource projects
- Apply international law strategically in domestic environmental and tribal contexts
Case Study: “The Desert Corridor Dilemma”
Scenario Overview
A multinational consortium proposes a large-scale renewable energy corridor—solar farms, transmission lines, and lithium transport routes—stretching from northern Mexico through southern Arizona into California. The project promises economic growth and climate benefits, but it intersects with lands traditionally stewarded by the Tohono O’odham Nation and other tribal communities.
Faculty:
James Hopkins, Associate Clinical Professor, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program, University of Arizona
Shirley Spira, Law Offices of Shirley J. Spira and Jessup Moot Court Professor, University of Arizona
Hilary Sadler, Law Office of Hilary E. Sadler (Moderator), Chair of the International Law Section
Handouts
| Sovereignty vs Sustainability: International Law in Arizona–Mexico Resource Conflicts Slides (1.1 MB) | 36 Pages | Available after Purchase |
| Sovereignty vs Sustainability: International Law in Arizona–Mexico Resource Conflicts Manual (983.2 KB) | 20 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Faculty
Hilary E Sadler Related Seminars and Products
Hilary Sadler owns an international business consultancy, HE Sadler, LLC based in Virginia. She established her firm in 2023 to assist firms and governments, domestic and foreign, in Breaking Down Business Barriers™ primarily in the international arena, and to practice all types of law, including business, family, international, contract, and tribal law. HE Sadler provides services to businesses and governments in establishing businesses, importing, exporting, connecting businesses to governments, matching businesses, providing market intelligence, promoting business investment, drafting strategic plans, leading trade missions, creating networking receptions, and brokering financial options. For more information, please go to www.hesadler.com.
Shirley Jean Spira Related Seminars and Products
Professor James E. Rogers College of Law
Shirley J. Spira, Esq. An attorney specializing in public international law and complex litigation, Shirley Spira is barred in New York and Arizona. Since 2017 she has been an adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law, where she teaches Public International Environmental Law and coaches the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Team.
For two decades Ms. Spira was a litigator in the Law Department of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in Manhattan. At the PANYNJ she managed complex insurance litigation arising out of the 9/11 attacks, as well as asbestos, premises liability, construction contract, and Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases. Her subsequent work with private New York law firms included product liability insurance and construction coverage litigation.
Ms. Spira, who received her J.D. from Rutgers Law School, currently lives in Tucson, Arizona, is fluent in French and Russian.
James C Hopkins Related Seminars and Products
Associate Clinical Professor, James E. Rodgers College of Law, University of Arizona
James Hopkins is an Associate Clinical Professor at the James E. Rogers College of Law, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program, University of Arizona. He directs the Rio Yaqui Human Rights Clinic and is counsel pro-bono to the Rio Yaqui Pueblos of Sonora, Mexico. He has advocated on their behalf before numerous international and domestic decision-making bodies and in 2024, he negotiated and settled the largest indigenous human rights case in the history of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). The settlement is the result of almost two decades of work and includes restitution for loss of land, water, the environment, and commits Mexico to $815,000,000.00 US dollars in public expenditures. The agreement emphasizes reconciliation and affirms the water rights of the Yaqui Pueblos to the Rio Yaqui as well as groundwater. Further, it recognizes the reserved right of the Yaqui Pueblos to the electro-magnetic spectrum. Unique to this situation is the addition of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe as a signatory to the settlement agreement. James Hopkins graduated from Harvard Law School’s joint Master of Laws and International Tax program and has an LL.B. from the University of Toronto. He is from a small non-status Algonquin community northwest of Ottawa, Ontario.