Season 5, Episode 3: Breaking Down Stovepipes and Silos with Robin Taylor

Robin Taylor leads the global nonprofit, Lawyers Without Borders, harnessing the power of pro bono service to promote the rule of law and increase access to justice. Under her leadership, Lawyers Without Borders trains human rights lawyers, builds case management and trial advocacy skills, provides technical assistance to combat transnational organized crime such as human trafficking and wildlife poaching, and creates sustainable institutions, including the new Kenyan Prosecution Training Institute.

Ms. Taylor has extensive trial and international experience serving more than 20 years at the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) as an Assistant United States Attorney Investigating and prosecuting cases in federal court specializing in international cybercrime and fraud. Ms. Taylor served overseas as USDOJ’s legal advisor in Stuttgart, Germany as part of a newly-created U.S. interagency team advising the U.S. Department of Defense and European officials on transnational threats, foreign influence, illicit finance, and cyberspace challenges. As the legal advisor to the U.S. Embassies in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Nairobi, Kenya she provided technical assistance to combat terrorism, transnational organized crime, and money laundering, creating trusted networks and multi-agency working groups to improve financial integrity and inclusion. Reflecting on her service, the Kenyan Director of Public Prosecutions said publicly that Ms. Taylor came to Africa not as a doctor with a cure, but as a highly experienced and competent advisor and collaborator to help solve vastly complex and often polarizing issues.

Ms. Taylor is a frequent public speaker who briefed the Joint Chiefs of Staff and regularly lectured at the USDOJ’s National Advocacy Center, the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, European Commission, Eurojust, Global Counterterrorism Form, Defeat ISIS Working Group, United Nations, U.S. Department of State, and Cambridge University, among others. She co-founded "Operation Protect & Defend,” a nationally recognized civil education program; served as a Judicial Applicant Evaluator for the State Bar of California; as the President, Vice President, Treasurer, of Sacramento's Federal Bar Association, and was named a Master of the Bench for the Sacramento Inn of Court.

The military cannot bring peace and security down the barrel of a gun alone. Prosecution will not by itself decrease crime. Global, national, and regional challenges require an integrated and whole-of-government approach. Join Robin Taylor, the Executive Director of Lawyers Without Borders, an international not-for-profit, and former US Federal Prosecutor, for this conversation. She will share real-world stories from prosecuting cases; living overseas in Kenya and Indonesia working for the US Department of Justice; her four years advising and collaborating w US Military; and new assignment leading a global nonprofit to explain how a whole-of-government effort is essential to addressing significant, headline-grabbing criminal and security threats.