On November 16, 2013, Robert J. Gaudet, Jr., resigned from his post as lecturer at the National University of Ireland Maynooth to pursue other activities including his international legal practice, RJ Gaudet & Associates LLC, with offices in Seattle and The Hague.  Mr. Gaudet served as lecturer in the Department of Law from February 2012 until November 2013.  He was also elected to the Executive Committee of the Maynooth branch of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (“IFUT”).  “I was greatly impressed by IFUT and their hard work at protecting employees during this difficult time of austerity,” said Mr. Gaudet.

Mr. Gaudet in front of Pugin Hall at National University of Ireland Maynooth after graduation ceremony for law students on 30 October 2013.

Mr. Gaudet taught European Union Law and International Human Rights to undergraduates and post-gradutes in the LL.M. and MLS programs.  One student, Patrick Field, reported, “Mr. Gaudet gave great encouragement whilst lecturing in EU law.  His Socratic style of lecturing was engaging and beneficial.”  Guest lecturers in Mr. Gaudet’s course included former European Commissioner Charles McCreevy and Member of European Parliament Mairead McGuinness.

“It was a privilege to teach students at Maynooth and contribute to the public dialogue in Europe over access to justice,” says Mr. Gaudet.  With the support of Members of European Parliament Marian Harkin, Pat “the Cope” Gallagher, and Daniel van der Stoep, Mr. Gaudet organized a conference inside the European Parliament that took place from 12-13 November 2012, titled “Increasing Access to Justice With E.U. Class Actions: A Conference For Litigators and Policy-Makers.”  The conference was jointly presented by Maynooth’s Department of Law with the American Bar Association Section of International Law and law schools in Portugal, France, and Spain.  The keynote speaker was a former Vice-Chair of the European Parliament, Diana Wallis.

While in Ireland, Mr. Gaudet was elected to the position of Counsel of Democrats Abroad Ireland which is a Country Committee of the Democratic Party Committee Abroad with the purpose of advancing the cause of the Democratic Party.  Mr. Gaudet worked with James Connell to prepare revisions to the bylaws of Democrats Abroad Ireland.  The revisions should clarify certain voting procedures and bring the bylaws up-to-date with changes to the Democrats Abroad Charter.  The revisions are expected to be considered by the membership at an annual meeting.

Mr. Gaudet will continue to advocate for increased access to justice in Europe and work on behalf of clients in human rights and international law cases.  He currently represents clients in employment discrimination, business litigation, and product liability cases before United States federal courts.