McLaughlin & Stern, LLP

Biography

Mr. Van Lierop is the former Ambassador/Permanent Representative of the Republic of Vanuatu to the United Nations. In that capacity, he was a Vice-President of the 43rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly; Chairman of 4th Committee of the 44th Session of the United Nations General Assembly; founding Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and led its negotiating team during the negotiation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He also co-Chaired Working Group II (Legal and Institutional Mechanisms) during those negotiations.

He began his legal career as an Assistant Counsel of the NAACP where he litigated various civil rights cases before entering private practice and counseling clients the arts, entertainment, and sports; real estate, corporate and not-for-profit organization, and international law. He also wrote, produced, and directed award winning documentary films on the decolonization process in southern Africa, and worked as a co-Producer of WABC-TV's award winning public affairs program, "Like It Is".

Mr. Van Lierop has chaired and served on a number of committees of various professional associations, including the American Bar Assciation, the New York State Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association, the American Society of International Law, and the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association.

In the course of his career, he has counseled a number of governments and international organizations. In 2011, Ambassador Van Lierop served as a member of the Advisory Board on Justice, Accountability, Truth and Reconciliation, advising the Joint Special Representative of the United Nations/African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). He is now an Ambassador/Special Envoy for Climate Change for the Republic of Suriname, representing it as a Vice-President, representing the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Stattes (GRULAC) in the UNFCCC negotiations.

He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Pace University School of Law, in White Plains, NY.