How to Navigate Legal Careers in the UN System

Join OPIA for a community discussion with Wasserstein Fellow Peri Lynne Johnson, Legal Advisor and Director, Office of Legal Affairs of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), otherwise known as the “UN Nuclear Watchdog”. Peri will discuss her career path in the UN System, what UN organizations generally seek in candidates for legal officer positions, what a typical legal officer’s day in the UN system looks like – from the UN Office of Legal Affairs in NY compared to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in a field office or the Office of Legal Affairs of the IAEA. She will also address different pathways for entering the UN System, including internships, as well as entering the UN system as an early career professional or as a “second career”.

Lunch provided. RSVP below.

Ms Johnson is the Legal Advisor and Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Office of Legal Affairs since January 2011. Previously, Ms Johnson served nearly 20 years with the United Nations, first as an Associate Protection Officer with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), then as a Legal Officer with the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, and in her last capacity, before joining the IAEA, as Director of the Legal Office of the United Nations Development Programme in New York. Before joining the United Nations, Ms Johnson was a Legal Associate at Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., in the litigation and international practice areas. Ms Johnson earned her B.A. from Cornell Universityin 1988, and her JD from Harvard Law School in 1991.