New Jersey State Bar Association headquarters at 1 Constitution Square, New Brunswick, NJ. Credit: Google New Jersey State Bar Association headquarters at 1 Constitution Square, New Brunswick, NJ. Credit: Google

Legal lessons from the Armenian genocide are focus of upcoming program

An upcoming seminar hosted by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education will delve into the history and legal issues surrounding the Armenian genocide in the early 20th century.

Those who tune in to the webcast on April 25 will hear an in-depth discussion of the legal ramifications caused by countries that were slow to recognize the genocide and how the delay impacted reparations and justice for survivors, along with a legal analysis of the current conflicts in Europe and Western Asia.

New Jersey, according to U.S. census data, is home to the fourth largest population of Armenian Americans in the country, including many attorneys. For John L. Shahdanian, the seminar's moderator and a New Jersey State Bar Association trustee, the topic is personal. His grandfather was the son of a genocide victim, who was killed by Ottoman Turks. Shahdanian said his grandfather was lucky to escape at a young age to Syria and then France.