Rule of Law Initiative Staff - Middle East & North Africa
Angela Conway
Director, Middle East & North Africa
Angela Conway joined the ABA Rule of Law Initiative in 1993 as the director of research and special projects and has worked on the ABA Rule of Law Initiative's law reform programs throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Originally from Kansas, Angela holds a B.A. in Political Science from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and a J.D. from the University of Kansas.
Terence L. Blackburn, Resident Advisor, MENA Division. Professor Blackburn served as Dean of Michigan State University College of Law from 2000 through 2007 and is currently a Professor of Law. Prior to joining Michigan State University, he was a Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law, in New Jersey (1988-2000) and was the Founding Dean of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University (1997-1999). In 1995, Professor Blackburn was a Fulbright Professor of Law, teaching at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing. His areas of scholarly and teaching interests are business law, including corporate law, corporate finance and securities law, and international trade and commercial law. Professor Blackburn has previously served as a legal specialist for MENA assisting with its legal education reform program. Prior to becoming a full time Professor of Law, Professor Blackburn practiced law for 15 years both in law firms and as general counsel of a real estate investment company. Professor Blackburn received his Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law, and his undergraduate degree from Duquesne University.
Scott Custer, Resident Advisor, MENA Division. Prior to joining the ABA Mr. Custer served as Director of the West Bank/Gaza Field Office for The Carter Center in Ramallah. Prior to his work in Ramallah, Mr. Custer spent five years in the Department of Legal Affairs for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), at its headquarters in Gaza and Jerusalem, first as Chief of the International Law Division and for the last six months as Acting Legal Advisor. Prior to his work in the Middle East, Mr. Custer practiced law for nearly 40 years both in the United States (Washington, DC and New York City) and Europe (Paris and Brussels). He also served as the Executive Assistant to John N. Irwin II, who was the Deputy Secretary of State and a U.S. Ambassador to France. Mr. Custer completed his undergraduate education at Harvard College and received a LL.B cum laude from Harvard Law School. He is fluent in French and has a working knowledge of Spanish.
Aline Matta, Program Director, MENA Division. Ms. Matta has practiced law in Australia and the United States and provided technical legal assistance in the Middle East and North Africa including fact-finding in support of Eritrea’s claim in the arbitration of a territorial dispute with Yemen; legal advice to the Palestinian Negotiations Affairs Department in relation to Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations; and support for justice sector rehabilitation in Southern Iraq. Ms. Matta holds an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from New York University and an LL.B. from the Queensland University of Technology. Ms. Matta is currently directing one of the ABA Rule of Law Initiative MENA programs, having formerly served as Deputy Regional Director for Gender Programs and as co-director on several programs.
Joe McDonough, Resident Advisor, MENA Division. Mr. McDonough is a former practicing attorney and media consultant specializing in judicial education and justice policy issues, as well as media relations. Mr. McDonough is the former Executive Director of the Massachusetts Judges Conference and a visiting Fellow with the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, Center for Democracy and Development (CDD). Mr. McDonough’s projects with the MJC and CDD have included organizing judicial exchange programs in fourteen countries, coordinating judicial education and consultancy projects in Eastern and Central Europe and Asia. Mr. McDonough is presently the American Bar Association’s Resident Advisor for the Sultanate of Oman and has assisted with numerous other educational programs for legal professionals throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In addition to his extensive international work, he has served as a board member of the Massachusetts Supreme Court’s Media-Judiciary Committee and Corporation for Educational Telecommunication (MCET). Mr. McDonough frequently lectures and comments on judicial independence, reform, and management issues for the media, bar associations, law schools, and judicial training programs. He has more than 25 years of teaching experience as an adjunct professor at Northeastern University, Boston University, Simmons Graduate School of Communications and California State University Long Beach.
John Porter, Resident Advisor, MENA Division. Mr. Porter first joined ABA CEELI in December 2000 as a liaison to Azerbaijan and served as ABA CEELI Country Director in Azerbaijan from 2001 to March 2004, when he transferred to the Kosovo office, which he headed until June 2005. He has 33 years of experience as a practicing attorney in banking, commercial and corporate law including extensive commercial and banking litigation. Mr. Porter served as a board member of several national banks and as counsel for numerous state and national banks and financial organizations. He received both an AB with Honors in Philosophy and his Juris Doctor from Stanford. He is conversant in Portuguese, German, and Spanish.
Maha Shomali, Program Director, MENA Division. Ms. Shomali has worked with ABA programs since 2004. She has managed the legal education portfolio and accepted the Program Director position in June 2008. Prior to joining the ABA, she worked as a prosecutor for the Office of the State’s Attorney in Baltimore City, Maryland, and as a law clerk for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baltimore, Maryland. She also taught legal English at the Judicial Institution of Jordan. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude, and a J.D. from the University Of Maryland School Of Law. She is fluent in French and Arabic.
