Joel Samuels Joel H. Samuels is Professor of Law and Director of the Rule of Law Collaborative at the University of South Carolina. Honored by the USC School of Law student body in 2007 and 2016 as the Outstanding Faculty Member for teaching excellence, Professor Samuels received his A.B., magna cum laude, in politics from Princeton University in 1994. At Princeton, he also received certificates in Russian Studies and European Cultural Studies and was awarded the Asher Hinds Prize in European Cultural Studies, the Montgomery Raiser Prize in Russian Studies, and the Caroline Picard Prize in Politics. Professor Samuels received his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School in 1999, where he was a Clarence Darrow Scholar. While at Michigan, he also earned a master's degree in Russian and East European Studies.Professor Samuels has authored articles on international boundary disputes, maritime piracy and domestic civil procedure, and he is a lead co-author of one of the premier casebooks on international law, Transnational Law (West Academic Press). Professor Samuels also lectures extensively on litigation matters involving foreign parties involved in cases in US courts.