David Akerson

David Akerson is an accomplished legal expert with over 25 years of experience in international criminal law, war crimes prosecution, and human rights litigation. He has served as a senior attorney and legal adviser at multiple United Nations tribunals, including the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the UN Investigative Team for Accountability of Da’esh/ISIS. His work has spanned human rights work in apartheid South Africa to prosecutions of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, as well as advising governments and investigative bodies in Ukraine, Iraq, Kenya, and beyond.

In addition to his litigation experience, Mr. Akerson has pioneered the integration of advanced investigative technologies into atrocity case-building, training legal teams in tools such as Casemap, Nuix and Relativity for evidence management and analysis. From 2006 to 2015, he created and led the University of Denver’s original International Criminal Law Practicum, and his updated practicum prepares students to work with complex digital evidence in real-world accountability settings.

Mr. Akerson holds a JD from Florida State University College of Law and a BA in Computer Science and Business from Furman University. He is a frequent lecturer on international criminal law and investigative methodologies, and serves on advisory boards for the American Bar Association and the International Criminal Court.