LOWRY WYMAN
34 Orchard St.
Peaks Island, ME 04108
lowry_wyman@jurlandia.org
(207) 766-2778
EDUCATION
University of Pennsylvania, J.D., 1978.
Harvard University, A.M. in Regional Studies - USSR, 1975.
Middlebury College, B.A., cum laude, 1971. Major: Russian.
Departmental honors and ranking college scholar. Spent freshman year at the University of Besançon in France, and first semester of senior year at
the University of Leningrad, in the USSR.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2003-present: Research
enhancing the translation and illumination of Rule of Law, Constitutional
Democracy, and similar concepts in the former Soviet sphere and worldwide.
1998-2003:
American University of Armenia (AUA), Yerevan, Armenia - Professor, Department of Law. Taught
courses on agency and partnership and the fundamentals of corporate law, comparative
bankruptcy and reorganization law, European Union law, international litigation and
arbitration, and legal writing and research (administered
the Law Department’s Writing Seminar Program). Participated in faculty
committees, served on the Faculty Council, contributed to AUA's accreditation effort, and
engaged in community outreach.
1999:
Development Alternatives, Inc., Bethesda, MD - Short-term Legal Consultant for
USAID-funded NewBizNet project, supporting small- and medium-sized business development in
Ukraine. (For two months I commuted between Kiev and Yerevan, where I was teaching.)
1997-98:
Wyman & Johnson, Boston, MA and Peaks Island, ME - Partner in consulting business and
private law practice focused on law reform and "democracy building" in the
former Soviet Union. Clients included a business negotiating with the
Uzbekistan government to obtain a $9.2 million
World Bank loan to construct and operate a cotton gin and seed-processing plant in Uzbekistan.
1996:
International City-County Management Association (ICMA), Almaty, Kazakstan - Legal
Advisor. Prepared legal analyses and recommendations for this USAID-funded project,
focusing on laws and draft laws covering private ownership of land, the housing sector,
and municipal government. Participated in courses devoted to competitive, sealed-bid
contracts for municipal services.
1993-95:
American Legal Consortium (Chemonics International Inc.), Almaty, Kazakstan - Legal Reform
Specialist. This USAID-funded project focused on rule-of-law endeavors in
Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. Organized and participated in seminars
(in Central Asia, Estonia, France, and Poland) on judicial reform, civil and criminal
procedural law, constitutional law, property and contracts, citizenship and voting rights,
and the fundamentals of a civil society. Commented on and helped draft new laws, including
election laws and laws on the courts and the status of judges.
1988-93:
Russian Research Center, Harvard University - Fellow. Engaged in research, writing,
and consulting on constitutional, legal, and judicial reforms in the former USSR. Legal advisor to Vytautas Landsbergis,
Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania, winter 1990-91. Spent four months
working with the Lithuanian Parliament's Constitutional Working Group, formulating
concepts and fundamental principles for a new constitution. Prepared proposals, drafted
explanatory papers and petitions (appeals to the CSCE, United Nations, U.S. Congress, and Western governments).
Advised the Constitutional Working Group on fundamentals of land reform, particularly the
problem of return of property seized during the Soviet era. Aided Lithuania and Yeltsin's team of advisors in
negotiating a friendship treaty between the RSFSR and Lithuania.
Consulting
work in Russia included advising American businesses
on how to negotiate joint venture agreements, how to identify Russian partners likely to
ensure a joint venture's success, and how to interpret the myriad laws and regulations
affecting international business arrangements.
Consulting
work in Estonia included advising the Procuracy and
officials setting up new curricula for the education of investigators, police, and customs
officials. Advised the Estonian emigre community on constitutional fundamentals and
standards for awarding citizenship to foreign nationals.
1985-87:
DePaul University College of Law, Chicago - Assistant Dean and
Lecturer in Soviet Law. Responsible for law school publications, alumni relations, faculty
seminars, continuing legal education, and oversight of placement office.
1983-84:
Citicorp Diners Club Inc., Chicago - Counsel. Handled business litigation, and was
responsible for company real estate matters (leases, construction on new properties,
contracts for purchase and sale of land).
1981-83:
Weiss Dawid Fross Zelnick & Lehrman, New York - Associate in international trademark
practice (with emphasis on Western
Europe and South America). Responsible for domestic searches,
filings, surveillance, oppositions, and cancellations.
1980-81:
Shearman & Sterling, New York - Associate in real estate department.
1978-80:
Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin, Krim & Ballon, New York - Associate in real estate and
litigation departments.
THE JURLANDIA PROJECT
With
Barnabas D. Johnson, my husband and professional partner, I am
the co-founder of the Jurlandia Project.
Since
1990-91, when (with my collaboration) he first drafted a "model constitution"
— at the behest of the Government of Lithuania — aimed at enhancing the
"Conversation of Democracy" in the Baltic states and the USSR, etc., various
versions of what has now become the Jurlandia Project at www.jurlandia.org
have existed as an evolving internet-mediated research and publishing endeavor. That
endeavor seeks to create a sort of "encyclopedia of constitutional democracy"
organized not A through Z but, rather, organized as a sort of "hologram of
information" that can be viewed and accessed from many points, perspectives, etc.
GENERAL
Born
in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1950. Admitted to New York Bar, 1980;
Illinois Bar, 1985; Massachusetts Bar, 1989.
Have
appeared frequently on television in the United States, Lithuania, and Russia, as well as on radio. TV appearances in
the former USSR were in Russian. Have given speeches
and participated in conferences in Armenia, Kazakstan, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and the Baltic States; presented a paper at the First
International Andrei Sakharov Memorial Congress on Peace, Progress, and Human Rights, held
in Moscow,
May 21-25, 1991.
Languages:
Fluent in French and Russian; rudimentary knowledge of Armenian, German, Italian,
Lithuanian, Polish, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
See
Publications
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