Session Description

Judge T. Michael Peay brings more than five decades of distinguished legal, diplomatic, and international experience to the Basil Virtual Mentorship Initiative. A graduate of Coppin State College, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and Harvard Law School, Judge Peay has built a remarkable career at the intersection of law, international relations, diplomacy, human rights, and public service. His professional journey began in private practice before he became National Director of the Southern Africa Project for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where he used legal systems in the United States and apartheid-era Southern Africa to challenge injustice and advance the fight against apartheid. He subsequently spent 33 years with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser, rising to the Senior Executive Service. His assignments took him across the world, including senior legal roles with U.S. missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva and to UNESCO in Paris. He advised senior diplomats, negotiated international extradition and mutual legal assistance treaties, counseled on international security and military-base agreements, and provided legal guidance on complex issues of U.S. foreign policy and public diplomacy. Judge Peay also served as legal adviser to the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States and later as a member of the Administrative Tribunal of the OAS. Following his unanimous reelection by the OAS General Assembly to a second judicial term, he stepped down from the bench in April 2024 and re-entered retirement. Beyond his official roles, Judge Peay has contributed to the international legal community through organizations and institutions including the Editorial Advisory Board of International Legal Materials, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, and the French-American Cultural Foundation. He is a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia and the U.S. Supreme Court.