Barbara J. Gislason Wins UIA Monique Raynaud-Contamine Award

MINNEAPOLIS – At the 62nd Congress of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA) in Porto, Portugal, Barbara J. Gislason was honored with the prestigious Monique Raynaud-Contamine Award for excellence in writing. Gislason’s paper was entitled Gene Editing, Portable Toilets, and World Security: Target and Off-Target Consequences. The Honorable Peter M. Reyes, Jr., from the Minnesota Court of Appeals, was present when Gislason received this award.

In 1999, the UIA established the Monique Raynaud-Contamine Award in memory of and as a tribute to Monique Raynaud-Contamine, a former UIA Director of Legal Publications, and a former President of the Banking Law Commission, who was an emblematic figure of the UIA for many years. The Monique Raynaud-Contamine Award was established in homage to her work and her personality and is granted to the author of the best legal report drafted for the UIA annual congress.

The UIA, based in Paris, was founded in 1927 and is a global and multi-cultural organization with members from 110 countries. In addition to offering legal education programs appropriate to many practice areas, as reflected in 44 commissions, the UIA speaks out against forces contrary to the proper functioning of the justice system. The entity has a special consultation status with the United Nations in New York, Geneva, and Vienna. In the UIA, Gislason has served as the President of the Biotechnology Law Commission and President of the U.S. National Committee. She is now the Deputy Editor of the UIA’s flagship publication, the Juriste International.

Gislason is a solo practitioner in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is well-known for not only founding Animal Law in the Minnesota State Bar Association and the American Bar Association, but for writing an ABA best-selling book entitled Pet Law and Custody: Establishing a Worthy and Equitable Jurisprudence for the Evolving Family.