Law in an Island Paradise

There’s no “typical day” for Jeffrey Beattie ’69, the attorney general of the tiny island republic of Palau. In this country of just 20,000 people lying between Guam and the Philippines, everyone has to be a generalist.

“My first day on the job, the president needed to know right away whether Palau could legally send peacekeepers to the Solomon Islands. I’ll get requests like that, criminal cases, international law and treaty questions, civil lawsuits, and I have to review and sign every contract the Government of Palau enters into,” Beattie says.

Some of his duties are closer to the edge. “A delegation came to Palau claiming to be from a new nation called the United Kingdom of Atlantis. They wanted to meet with the president to discuss establishing diplomatic relations. I agreed to meet with them, but when I checked the longitude and latitude of their country, it was just ocean.”

Flexibility has always been key to Beattie’s career. Growing up a hockey fanatic in suburban Chicago, he says, “I thought I was a good player — until I got to CC. Then it was clear that I needed to come up with a plan B.”

That effort turned into a law degree from the University of Denver and 20 years of private practice; he landed a job on the Palau Supreme Court in 1993. “It sounded interesting,” says this scuba devotee. “CC was a very good start, because it’s helpful to have a broad base of knowledge in a law career.” Maybe that broad base and variety of experience will get him a job in the United Kingdom of Atlantis?