University of Dayton School of Law alumnus (c/o ’83) and Dayton criminal attorney Alan Gabel has taken a one year sabbatical leave from his practice to serve as a Criminal Law Liaison Specialist in the former Soviet country of Azerbaijan.

Gabel will be stationed in the capital city of Baku and will implement balanced proceedings in the courts there. His trip is sponsored by the American Bar Association Central European and Eurasian Law Institute (CEELI).

“I firmly believe that in order to have peace in the world we need an efficient court system to eliminate chaos,” he said in an interview that appeared in the March issue of Dayton Bar Briefs. “I know I will face new cultures, different people, and strange surroundings, but I find the prospect very exciting.”

Gabel began studying the Russian language in preparation for his trip and attended a one-week orientation program in Washington D.C. The Dayton Bar Association believes that Gabel is the first of its members to participate in this program.

CEELI was inaugurated in 1990 after the dissolution of the USSR, and more than 5000 attorneys, judges, and law school professors have contributed 180 million dollars worth of services since its inception. Azerbaijan gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.