User:Thornerm

Ms. Micah Thorner is currently Attaché to the Secretary General and Director of Post- Convention Services for the Hague Conference on Private International Law. She is therefore responsible for managing the day-to-day legal interests of the organization and frequently represents both the Secretary General and the Hague Conference on official missions or other public events, conferences or meetings. As Director of Post-Convention Services, Ms. Thorner also has primary responsibility for developing, administering and organizing Hague Conference training seminars and technical assistance activities. She coordinates outreach efforts, drafts and reviews independent contractor third party service provider agreements, and identifies and assists with the preparation of grant applications and reports. In the context of managing and developing the Hague Conference’s outreach activities, Ms. Thorner often gives lectures, presentations, or full-length seminars to student groups, judges, other government officials, and Convention stakeholders on a diverse range of topics, from the practical operation of international legal institutions to highly specialized programs covering detailed information regarding one or more particular instruments in the field of private international law. Now in her fourth year at the Hague Conference, Ms. Thorner has been a key contributor on several Hague Conference projects, ranging from migration issues in the private international law context to the possibility of drafting a new global instrument on data protection and privacy. Beyond her work for the Hague Conference, Ms. Thorner plays an active role in the expat community of the Hague, and participates in community outreach efforts targeted specifically at university students and young professionals. One such initiative in which she is heavily involved is the TEDxHagueAcademy program, an independently organized series of TEDx talks for which Ms. Thorner is the designated license holder. In addition to being the license holder and a core organizer for a local TEDx initiative, Ms. Thorner is a leading member of the international section of YoungtheHague, a group of Hague-based young professionals. She is also a member in good-standing of the District of Columbia Bar in the United States. Prior to joining the Hague Conference on Private International Law, Ms. Thorner practiced law in Washington, DC as an associate in the Communications, E-commerce and Privacy practice group at one of the largest law firms in the world. Her practice focused primarily on international data protection regimes and compliance with privacy and data security laws. She counseled clients on ways to manage multinational transactions and data systems and regularly managed complex, multi-jurisdictional projects. Ms. Thorner was awarded her Juris Doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law Center in the United States, where she also received a Certificate in Humanitarian and Refugee Emergencies in recognition of her focus on humanitarian law and refugee policy. As part of an accelerated program offered in partnership with Georgetown, she successfully completed the advanced LL.M program in public international law at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Before attending law school, Ms. Thorner was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College (United States), where she majored in Law & Society, Sociology and Political Science; and minored in Economics. She is the author of numerous publications which have appeared in academic journals, legal periodicals, trade reports, websites and conference publications.