A Bermuda-based lawyer has thrown in the towel ? at least in the short term ? and for good reason.

Conyers Dill & Pearman corporate lawyer Neysan Sobhani left the firm earlier this month to take up a post at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal in Le Hague, Holland.

Mr. Sobhani will be working in Trial Chamber II, which has a mandate to try serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the former Yugoslavia since 1991.

In an e-mail to his CD&P colleagues before he left the firm, Mr. Sobhani said his "short break" from corporate law would allow him to pursue an area he has long been interested in.

"I am excited about this new opportunity as many legal issues now being adjudicated by the Tribunal have not been considered before or have lain dormant since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials following World War II."

Before leaving for the special assignment, Mr. Sobhani specialised in corporate restructurings, initial public offerings, aircraft finance, and ship finance.

He is a graduate of McGill University, Canada where he earned a Bachelor's degree in political science. He did law at the University of Sydney, Australia (LL.B) and went on to receive his Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the College of Law, Australia.

He also received his World Order Studies certification from Landegg University, Switzerland in 1995. He was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia.

Prior to joining CD&P, Mr. Sobhani practised law in Sydney, Australia. During that time he specialised in service provider regulatory issues, service provider agreements, anti-competitive law, misleading and deceptive conduct, IT contractual and litigious work, as well as product development of legal technology tools.