Inventory of the Papers of Monroe Leigh

Born in 1919, Monroe Leigh grew up in Halifax, Virginia. He graduated from Hampton-Sydney College in 1940, and then completed his law degree at the University of Virginia Law School in 1947. When the United States entered World War II, while Leigh was a law student, he paused his legal studies to enlist in the Army, where he served as a Captain in the Ninth Air Force in Europe. During his tenure at the University of Virginia Law School, Leigh served as the Editor-In-Chief of the Virginia Law Review.

After completing his law degree, Leigh moved to Washington, D.C., to work at Covington, Burling, Rublee, Acheson & Shorb. Continuing his active interest in international law, he joined the first U. S. Mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1951. Two years later, Leigh served on the legal staff of the Department of Defense, specializing in international affairs. By 1959, Leigh decided to return to private practice with the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, ultimately assuming the role of the managing partner in their international law department. While he focused on international disputes and developed his expertise on public international law and international trade law, Leigh also began his long tenure at the University of Virginia Law School as an adjunct professor on international trade law.

In 1975, Leigh was called upon by then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to serve as the State Department Legal Advisor. Occupying this position form 1975-1977, Leigh was involved in many foreign diplomatic issues. He returned to the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson upon completion of his appointment. Leigh utilized his expertise in international law, following the 1979 Iranian hostage incident, by heading up a team to represent the interests of businesses seeking claims against the Iranian Government in front of a tribunal at The Hague.

Of the many professional organizations Leigh belonged to, he was tapped by the American Society of International Law to be their president from 1981-1982. He also served as editor for their law journal and other publications on international law. Serving as a U. S. Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague from 1975-1980, Leigh helped to select U. S. nominees to the International Court of Justice. Remaining throughout the 1990s, Leigh became involved in the war crimes trials of Augusto Pinochet, eventually heading up the American Bar Association's (ABA) Task Force on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia. These previous experiences all provided motivation for Leigh to actively support international entities that could sufficiently and effectively arbitrate international disputes and crimes. Leigh eventually served on the ABA Working Group on the International Criminal Court, an entity that was highly influential on the eventual formation of the permanent International Criminal Court that now sits in The Hague. When the United States ultimately decided not to ratify the treaty and become a member of the International Criminal Court, Leigh took his pen to the page to express his criticism of this decision. Monroe Leigh passed away in 2001 at the age 82.

A more in-depth biography may be found in the Virginia Journal of International Law, Volume 43, Number 1, Fall 2002, page 589: "In Memoriam: Monroe Leigh (1919 - 2001)" by L. Benjamin Ederington.