No, Nicholas Kaufmann Is Not Duterte's Lawyer

Social media has democratized information, allowing more people to gain access to more information and facilitating political expression. But, as Spider-Man said, "With great power comes great responsibility." And some power-wielding people online seem to have forgotten the latter.

Exhibit A: Nicholas Kaufmann (note the double letter 'n') has been receiving messages online regarding the case of former Philippine president and current International Criminal Court detainee Rodrigo Duterte. He is, apparently, mistaken for the other Nicholas, also a Kaufman, but with a single letter 'n.'

The messages have become too much that, on March 21, 2025, Kaufmann with double 'n' posted on Facebook (in all caps): "PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, I AM *NOT* THE ICC LAWYER NICHOLAS KAUFMAN WHO IS REPRESENTING PRESIDENT DUTERTE! PLEASE STOP MESSAGING ME!" It has since garnered more than 1,500 shares and almost a thousand comments.

On April 1, 2025, Kaufmann added: "I am being absolutely flooded today with followers and commenters from the Philippines who I guess don't believe I'm not Duterte's lawyer. Our names aren't even spelled the same (he's Kaufman with one N). It's insane!"

This is why we don't even need an April Fools' Day to make a fool out of ourselves.

ALSO READ:

Top 10 Books to Read When You’re Stuck at the ICC

Collateral Damage: How Duterte's Alleged Crimes Followed a Manila Cop to Canada

Who is Nicholas Kaufmann?

Nicholas Kaufmann (b. February 21, 1969) is an American author of horror fiction, urban fantasy, and adventure fiction. And it's not lost on us that his current predicament could very well be the stuff of novels, but it's not.

Nicholas Kaufmann, the American author

Kaufmann grew up in Connecticut, where he went to Coleytown Elementary School. His family eventually moved back to New York, where he graduated from Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, and then from Sarah Lawrence College.

The Brooklyn-based author has been nominated for the Dragon Award for his 2018 horror suspense novel 100 Fathoms Below; the Bram Stoker Award for General Slocum’s Gold (2007); the International Thriller Writers Award for Chasing the Dragon (2010); and the Shirley Jackson Award, again for Chasing the Dragon.

His short fiction has also appeared in several journals and magazines, including Cemetery Dance, Black Static, Nightmare Magazine, Interzone, and Cosmic Horror Monthly. His non-fiction has appeared in On Writing Horror (Writers Digest Books), Dark Scribe Magazine, Annabelle Magazine, Fantastic Metropolis, Hellnotes, Rue Morgue, and others.

Beyond being an author, Kaufmann also had stints as a publicity manager for a small literary press, a bookstore clerk, an indie bookstore owner (Tell-Tale Books), and a manager for Barnes & Noble. He is also the co-host of the podcast Spooky Science Lab.

Who is Nicholas Kaufman?

Nicholas Kaufman, with the single letter 'n,' on the other hand, is a British-Israeli lawyer who is accredited to represent accused clients before the International Criminal Court. His expertise, according to his LinkedIn, are: International Regulatory Law, EU Regulatory Law, International Criminal Law, International Human Rights Law, International Reputation Management, and State-Investor Arbitration.

He graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1989 and studied at the Inns of Court School of Law from 1990 t0 1991.

Kaufman worked as a defense lawyer in Birmingham after obtaining a law degree, then worked on peace agreements and international law with the Israel Defense Forces. Then, he moved to Tel Aviv, where he first did corporate law before doing criminal law as a prosecutor in the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office.

In 2003, Kaufman joined the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He was part of the prosecution that convicted Serbian and Montenegrin generals for 1991 war crimes in Dubrovnik.

Duterte's ICC case is definitely not Kaufman's first rodeo. Accredited in ICC's List of Counsel with a nationality of the United Kingdom and Israel, he has previously represented:

• Democratic Republic of the Congo Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was arrested in 2008 on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. He was detained for 10 years at The Hague, with eight years spent awaiting trial and verdict. Bemba was convicted on two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes in 2016, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison, with an extra year for interfering with witnesses. He filed an appeal, alleging a mistrial, and his conviction was overturned in 2018. Bemba returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is still active in national politics.
• Libyan military official Aisha Gaddafi, who has petitioned the judges of the ICC to look into the deaths of his father, Muammar Gaddafi, and brother, Mutassim Gaddafi. Muammer ruled Libya as a dictator from 1969 until his assassination in 2011.
• a militia leader from the Central African Republic, Mokom Gawaka, one of the co-founders of the militant movement Anti-balaka. He was issued a warrant of arrest in 2018 and then surrendered to the ICC by Chadian authorities in 2022. The charges included war crimes: directing attacks against the civilian population, murder, rape, directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, destruction of property, war crime, deportation and forcible transfer; and crimes against humanity: severe deprivation of personal liberty and persecution. In 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber II terminated the proceedings in the Mokom case and ordered his immediate release. This was after the Prosecution issued a notice of withdrawal. Kaufmann's representation of Gawaka was expressed on March 15, 2022; however, this was disallowed through a decision on March 25 due to a conflict of interest.

This confusion is proof that the important exercise of validating information has been thrown out the window, further fueling rampant misinformation and disinformation. If only people could use all the energy and time spent on commenting online toward reading and distinguishing between Kaufmann and Kaufman, then this embarrassment could have been avoided.