Duncan Pickard (Cutler Fellows Program ’16, International Law Fellows Network ’25) discusses the importance of convening on the global rule of law
For Duncan Pickard, a successful career in international law is rooted in a strong community of like-minded individuals. While a student at Stanford Law School, Duncan participated in the 2016 Salzburg Global Cutler Fellows Program – an experience that cemented his aspirations to practice international law.
“I’m still friends and colleagues with people I met there,” he says. “The program came at an important point in my law school career. The first-year law school curriculum isn’t oriented toward international law as a career path,” he recalls, “so having those touch points with practitioners and academics who were working in the field helped confirm that it was what I wanted to do.”
Fast-forward to today, Duncan has built a career dedicated to upholding the international rule of law through his practice with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, earning him an invitation to Schloss Leopoldskron for the inaugural session of the Salzburg Global International Law Fellows Network. The session, convened in March 2025, came at just the right time – a moment of rupture of the global rule of law. “It was an important opportunity to find solidarity among like-minded people committed to the rule of law, an almost cathartic moment to brainstorm strategies and take stock of where we're at, as all of this is so new.”
To Duncan and all who participated in the session, the rule of law is not an abstract concept but a lived reality. This is especially apparent in places where it is missing or under threat: “There are a lot of vulnerable people who are going to be affected by the global backsliding of democracy. In the United States, I'm thinking primarily of immigrants, people with student loans, people who are facing health care debt – a lot of really vulnerable people, much more vulnerable than lawyers. But lawyers are – and the legal profession generally is – under attack, so being in a space where you feel supported by people who have a lot of the same concerns, is really valuable at a moment like this.”
Upon returning from Salzburg, Duncan felt compelled to support Salzburg Global’s rule of law programming to allow another cohort of lawyers to experience the solidarity he felt at Schloss Leopoldskron: “It's especially important for organizations like Salzburg Global to play this role for a global community of people working in the rule of law because we don't regularly gather in in one place. It takes resources to exert that kind of convening authority. I really wanted people to be able to experience that in the future as well.”
About Duncan Pickard:
Duncan Pickard is an Associate in the International Dispute Resolution Group of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. His practice focuses on international arbitration and public international law. He joined Debevoise following a clerkship at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. He holds degrees from Stanford Law School, the Harvard Kennedy School, and Tufts University.
