Owen Pell

Owen Pell is a retired partner from White and Case LLP in New York City, a large international law firm. His areas of practice included complex commercial and securities litigation, litigation involving foreign sovereigns, and litigation involving issues of public international law, including issues relating to genocide and mass atrocity.

In 2000, Mr. Pell participated in the negotiations between the United States and France to resolve Holocaust-related bank claims. He also participated in a case for the Republic of Peru that resulted in an agreement by Yale University to return artifacts from Machu Picchu to Peru. Mr. Pell also formulated a proposal for a title-clearing and dispute resolution body to address claims relating to works of art looted from individuals during the Holocaust, and in 2003, the European Parliament overwhelmingly adopted a resolution supporting further study of this proposal. Mr. Pell also was invited to be the only private lawyer on the US delegation to the June 2009 Prague Conference on Holocaust Era Assets, which culminated in the signing of the Terezin Declaration, and has advised the U.S. government on issues surrounding Holocaust-looted art in Germany. Mr. Pell has been widely published on Holocaust-looted art issues, including in the papers of the Permanent Court of International Arbitration.

In connection with his work for AIPG, Mr. Pell authored When Litigation and Proposed Legislation Frame Memories of the Holocaust: An Historical Perspective on SNCF and the Historical Narratives Used in the Proposed United States Holocaust Rail Justice Act in Filling the Silence: A Study in Corporate Holocaust History and the Nature of Corporate Memory (Auschwitz Institute, New York 2021). He also has spoken at a TEDx event at Binghamton University on "Diplomacy 2.0" and how the changing nature of statehood in the 21st century is affecting how human rights issues are addressed by states, multinational companies and non-governmental organizations.

THE RIGHT CONVERSATIONS (Business Book)

The Right Conversations: What We All Can Learn from the Work of Rev. Leon Sullivan About Discussing Our Biggest Problems with Businesses examines how Sullivan—an outsider, a minister, and the first Black director of General Motors—convinced corporate leaders to stay in Apartheid South Africa and systematically dismantle racial discrimination from within. The Sullivan Principles required companies to integrate workplaces, equalize pay, recognize Black unions, invest in education and housing, submit to public audits, and ultimately engage in political advocacy against Apartheid itself.
This was not corporate social responsibility as branding or compliance. It was values-driven, faith-informed, strategically structured engagement that combined moral clarity with business credibility. Long before ESG, stakeholder capitalism, or human-rights due diligence entered the lexicon, Sullivan built a collaborative governance system that delivered measurable change—and survived intense criticism from both activists and executives.
Governments alone cannot solve today’s interconnected environmental and social challenges. Investors and regulators are demanding long-term resilience planning. Companies are being told—by the UN, the EU, and civil society—that stakeholder engagement is no longer optional. Yet few leaders understand how to structure those conversations so they lead to real outcomes rather than polarization or paralysis. Sullivan’s work provides a rare, proven model for moving from confrontation to cooperation without sacrificing principle.

Blending narrative history, business analysis, and practical lessons, Pursuing the Right Conversations will appeal to business leaders, CSO executives, policymakers, donors, and readers interested in civil rights history and the moral dimensions of capitalism. It sits at the intersection of books such as Completing Capitalism, Putting Purpose into Practice, and classic CSR texts—while offering something they do not: a deeply human case study of how transformational change actually happens when trust, pressure, and process are aligned.

Rights Available: All
Agent: Zeynep Sen