Courts, Case Law and Coffee Breaks: Reflections from Kosovo

Sunset view of Mother Teresa Cathedral in Pristina. (© Shawn Tuman)

“You’re going where?” was the all-too-common reaction when we told our friends and families that we were headed to the Republic of Kosovo. Since graduating law school, we had spent a year in Florence, Italy, earning our master’s degrees and returned stateside to pursue New Jersey clerkships. During the latter half of our clerkships at the New Jersey Superior Court in Ocean County, we reflected on how much we enjoyed our recent year in Europe. We decided to seriously consider the opportunity to live abroad again before starting in private practice stateside. Through the connections we developed while in Florence, we were invited to apply to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo’s program for international lawyers. After we received our acceptance letters, it was confirmed: We were headed to Pristina, Kosovo. Nestled in the heart of the Western Balkans, we spent several months researching the rule of law and comparative constitutionalism. 

Looking back, our families may not have been too surprised by our decision to pursue international work once again. Our joint love of travel and learning has a long history. While we married after law school, we met during our undergraduate studies at James Madison University in Virginia and stayed together in St Andrews, Scotland, during a study abroad semester. By living in cities far away from our homes, we have seen that it is more than language and culture that tie together the thread of humanity. It is our shared hopes, dreams and goals that make us just like one another. Through these transcontinental opportunities, we became more than aspiring cosmopolitans, but professionals who value the opportunity to see law and justice operate in different contexts. 

While we were living in Florence to complete our master’s degrees, Shawn had the initial opportunity to work with Judge and Professor Remzije Istrefi, researching transitional justice at the Constitutional Court. It was then that we were inspired by Professor Istrefi’s powerful work to preserve democracy and justice in Kosovo. We knew right away that we wanted to keep in touch with her as our mentor, no matter where our professional path led us. As Professor Istrefi taught us, Kosovo is proudly touted as the newest nation in Europe, and it also has a complicated past. After gaining its independence in 2008 following the 1998–99 war, Kosovo has worked steadfastly to ensure that there are systems in place to ensure democracy, fairness and access to justice for all. 

Substantively, at the Constitutional Court, our work focused on conducting comparative research between Western Balkan countries and EU member states to investigate the rule of law. To conduct this research and understand Kosovo’s complex geopolitical history, we spent significant time meeting individuals from many backgrounds, ranging from legal advisors in the President’s Office to visiting Fulbright scholars. Beyond constructive dialogue, we shared informal moments of history and local culture. Working in Kosovo quickly showed us that conversation and connection go further than any meeting agenda ever could. This principle of authenticity and engagement grounded our legal work. 

We found that Kosovar culture values connection with coworkers rather than relying on them only in their professional capacity. We commonly observed workday coffee meetups outside the office, where no one watches the clock but instead prioritizes being present in conversation. As a nation with a shared consciousness and history surrounding the recent war, it was ever apparent that maintaining relationships among colleagues and neighbors is of utmost importance. Based on our experience, in Kosovo, connection is the first condition of justice.

Understanding the context in which law operates is as essential as the substantive law itself. The shared value for honest interaction, paired with legal frameworks mandating inclusive representation in politics, ensures a diversity of perspectives present at the café table and in the court record. Coffee meetups and dinners with our new colleagues in Pristina immediately created a sense of community for us professionally and personally. Our new network of lawyers, political analysts, entrepreneurs and academics continued to show us the value of genuine connection in nonmeeting-room settings. It also reemphasized that countries such as Kosovo must ensure that their laws reflect the will of the people, including their value for open communication and diversity.

The lessons we took home from our time in Kosovo are varied and unique. The opportunity to analyze Kosovo’s legal history and its path forward taught us that any examination of constitutionalism is equally an endeavor in anthropology as it is law. Studying people and their culture laid the foreground for understanding the building blocks of the legal system itself. Whether we heard stories of loss and impact from the war, or watched students discuss the future welfare of their nation, we saw that hope had no boundaries. A constitution simply serves as the architect of that hope, building scaffolding out of the greatest aspirations of each citizen. Most importantly, beyond our comparative research, we discovered that the measure of justice is not found in precedent but in presence and the lived realities of those governed. 

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Alexandra Wilson Tuman ’23 served as an International Law Clerk at the Constitutional Court of Kosovo from September – November 2025.  She joined Tressler LLP as an Associate Attorney in November 2025 in the Litigation Practice Group, where she focuses on various litigation and corporate insurance matters.

 

 

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Shawn Tuman ’23 served as an International Law Clerk at the Constitutional Court of Kosovo in the Fall of 2025.  Thereafter, he joined Fogarty, Hara, LaPira & Cherry, LLC where he supports the firm’s representation of management in school law and defense litigation, serving educational institutions throughout the state of New Jersey.