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Grotius, Vanderbilt, Kelsen & Hauser Scholars in International Law
On this webpage we list all of the current Grotius scholars and also current Vanderbilt and Hauser LLM scholars who are specializing in international law (For full lists of all Grotius, Vanderbilt and Kelsen Scholars, see the LLM Scholars webpage; for a full list of Hauser Scholars, see the Hauser Global Scholars webpage.)
Grotius Scholars Vanderbilt Scholars Kelsen Scholars Hauser Scholars
Grotius Scholars
The Grotius Scholarships are specifically designated for students who wish to specialize in International Legal Studies, whereas the Vanderbilt Scholarship is awarded to students in all other graduate LL.M. specialization.
2011-2012
Ricardo Alarcon
Ricardo Alarcón graduated cum laude from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, where he earned a degree in law. During his studies, Ricardo was a member of his law school's Public Interest Law Clinic, and participated in the 2009 Philip Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, where his team won the world championship and was awarded the Alona Evans Award for best written memorials in the international rounds. Ricardo was also named best oralist in the Colombian national rounds of the competition. During the 2006-2007 academic year, Ricardo attended Université Robert Schuman in Strasbourg, France as an exchange student.
While at university, Ricardo was involved in two projects as a research assistant at the Center for the Study of Law, Justice and Society (DeJusticia) in Bogotá, and was a teaching assistant for the Sociology of Law course. After graduation, he joined the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a legal advisor to the human rights and international humanitarian law department, while working part-time as a research assistant to the International Law Commission's Special Rapporteur for the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters. In July 2010, Ricardo assisted the Special Rapporteur in Geneva during the second half of the 62nd session of the ILC, simultaneously taking part in the International Law Seminar organized by the UN Office at Geneva. Subsequently, Ricardo served as an intern at the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Ricardo speaks Spanish, English and French. At NYU, he will pursue an LL.M. in International Legal Studies
Yeonjae Bae
Yeonjae Bae obtained her Bachelor of Law from Korea University in 2002. She was awarded a number of merit-based scholarships and academic awards throughout her undergraduate years, and graduated with honors. As an undergraduate, she was one of the members who initiated the Philip C. Jessup Competition Team representing her University, and actively conducted student seminars on international trade law.
Yeonjae also received her Master of Law and Ph.D. degrees from the same University, respectively in 2006 and 2011, specializing in International Law. Her Ph.D. dissertation is entitled “Protection of Labor Rights through International Trade Agreements.” During her graduate studies, she has been a teaching assistant for several International Law and ADR related courses, and a legal researcher participating in various research projects supported by government organizations. Before joining NYU, She has taught as a Lecturer at Korea University.
Yeonjae is pursuing an LL.M. in International Legal Studies at NYU.
Peter Klanduch
Peter Klanduch graduated in 2003 from the Faculty of Law of the Comenius University in Bratislava. He earned his first doctoral degree in 2006 and earned his PhD. in 2009 after defending his doctoral dissertation "Prosecutor in Proceedings before the International Criminal Court".
Peter joined the International Law Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia in December 2003 and where he focused on issues of international criminal and humanitarian law. Peter served as a point person for International Criminal Court matters and represented Slovakia at European Union expert meetings and sessions of the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. He actively assisted in the establishment and coordination of the inter-ministerial working group for the International Criminal Court consisting of legal experts from various government departments. In August 2007 Peter was assigned to the Consulate General of Slovakia in New York where he served as Vice Consul until July 2011. At this new post, Peter performed a variety of consular tasks with relating to the protection of the rights and interests in the United States of nationals of his home country.
Peter has been a member of the Slovak Society of International Law at Slovak Academy of Sciences since 2003 and played an active role in organizing in Bratislava a 2006 international conference on the International Criminal Court with the participation of distinguished guest speakers from Charles University in Prague, Vienna University, the International Red Cross Regional Office in Budapest and the International Criminal Court.
Peter has published several articles on international criminal law in national law journals.
At NYU Law School he will pursue an LL.M. in International Legal Studies.
Omri Sender
Omri earned his LL.B. (magna cum laude, in the top 1 percent of his class) and LL.M. (magna cum laude) at Tel Aviv University, where he studied during the years 2005-2009. He was cited on the Dean's List for outstanding academic achievement, acted as an assistant editor of the law review Theoretical Inquires in Law, served as a research assistant in the field of Law and Culture, and studied at Cornell Law School for one semester as an exchange student. Omri also served as a legal intern at the United States Congress (Committee on Government Oversight and Reform); and as a guest scholar at the Dusseldorf Institute for Peace and Security Policy at the Heinrich Heine University in Germany, where he researched constitutional aspects of immigration law. He later served as an associate editor of the 2009 high-profile policy paper Managing Global Migration: A Strategy for Immigration Policy in Israel, which was presented to the President of Israel and adopted in part by a government resolution.
Upon graduation, Omri clerked for the Honorable Justice Esther Hayut of the Israeli Supreme Court. In 2010 he was admitted to the Israeli Bar, and then worked as an associate in one of Israel's leading law firms. His LL.M. specialization at NYU School of Law is International Legal Studies.
Vanderbilt Scholars
with International Law specialization
Kelsen Scholars
with International Law specialization
Hauser Global Scholars
The Hauser Scholars Program was founded in 1995 as part of the Hauser Global Law School Program at the initiative of Rita Hauser (NYU 59') and the NYU School of Law. Since its inauguration, the Hauser Scholars Program has become the leading initiative pursuing the adaptation of legal education in the United States towards an increasingly global perspective. It reflects the Law School's conviction that the practice of law and legal research has escaped the bounds of any particular jurisdiction and that legal education can no longer ignore the interpenetration of legal systems. For more information on Hauser Scholars, visit the Hauser Global Law School Program website.
Please welcome the new 2011-2012 Hauser Global Scholars. More information about these scholars is coming.
2011-2012
Vladimir Andric, Bosnia-Herzegovina
In 2005, Vladimir Andric graduated from the School of Law of the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina with the degree of Bachelor of Laws; he graduated in the top one percent of his class. During his studies at the Sarajevo School of Law, Vladimir was awarded the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Scholarship for exceptional social activity. He also served as a property law teaching assistant for two years.
His work experience includes work at the Human Rights Commission within the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, War Crimes and Organized Crime Chambers of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Special Department for Organized Crime, Economic Crimes and Corruption of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Vladimir is one of the founders and a member of the Board of Directors of NGO Young Lawyers Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a member and research associate for criminal law and intellectual property law with the Law Institute in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He considers himself an unwavering idealist.
At NYU School of Law, Vladimir will pursue an LL.M. in Competition, Innovation and Information Law.
Tessa Bromwich, New Zealand
Tessa Bromwich graduated from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, in 2007, with a Bachelor of Laws degree (with first class Honours) and a Bachelor of Arts (majoring in English Literature and History).
After graduating, Tessa clerked for Dame Sian Elias, the Chief Justice of New Zealand, in the Supreme Court of New Zealand for eighteen months. Since 2009, Tessa has worked at the Crown Law Office of New Zealand, where she is now an Associate Crown Counsel. This role entails advising and representing the executive government in civil litigation.
Tessa’s interest in the law centres on the tension between individual and societal freedom and responsibility. At NYU, she will pursue a Traditional LL.M. focussing on constitutional law and legal theory. Tessa also comes to NYU as a Fulbright Fellow.
Michael Dafel, South Africa
Michael Dafel earned a Bachelors of Commerce: Specialization in Law (cum laude) in 2007 from the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa. Thereafter, he obtained a Bachelors of Law (LLB) (Cum Laude) in 2009 also from the University of Pretoria, graduating among the top five of his class. He has also earned a Bachelors of Commerce (Honours) in Financial Management in 2010. Michael was awarded numerous academic awards during the completion of his studies and was placed on the Dean’s Merit List.
Michael was an active member of the student body at UP during his tertiary education. He was appointed into the executive structures of UP’s Constitutional Tribunal. The Tribunal is a student governance structure which sits as a member of the Student’s Disciplinary Committee, is responsible for the organization of the student representative elections and sits as an arbiter in certain student body disputes. He was also an executive member of the Moot and Debating Society. Michael was part of the winning UP team at the inaugural International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition in The Hague in 2007. He participated in this Moot Court Competition again in 2009 where UP placed seventh.
In the second year of his LLB studies, Michael was appointed a tutor, and tutored students in legal skills and other mercantile law subjects until the completion of his LLB. He was also appointed a legal research assistant to Professor Frans Viljoen (Director for the Centre for Human Rights) and Professor Duard Kleyn (former Dean of the Faculty). After the completion of his LLB, Michael was employed as a junior lecturer in the Faculty of Law at UP and clerked for Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng at the Constitutional Court of South Africa.
Michael is enrolled in the International Legal Studies program and will focus on globalization and human rights. Michael is also studying with the support of a grant by the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust.
Luciana Garcia, Peru
Luciana Garcia graduated summa cum laude and first in her class from the Universidad de Lima in Peru in 2008. In recognition of her academic performance, she received the 2008 Award for Academic Excellence in Laws by Peru’s Public Registry Office. Luciana was admitted to the Peruvian bar in 2009.
While attending law school, she received a full tuition scholarship for the best GPA in the school for three consecutive semesters, was a founding member of Universidad de Lima’s United Nations Studies Circle, and represented Peru as part of Universidad de Lima’s first delegation to the Harvard National Model of the United Nations in Massachusetts. Luciana also worked in the Competition Area of Muniz, Ramirez, Perez-Taiman & Olaya Abogados Law Firm, the largest law firm in Peru and interned in the legal department of Peru LNG S.R.L., a project launched by an international consortium and a resource to the Peruvian government's energy strategy. She then moved to the public sector to assist with the implementation of the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement at the Principal’s Advisor’s Office of the External Commerce and Tourism Ministry of Peru and later joined the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI) where she worked at the Defense of Competition Chamber of the Tribunal in proceedings relating to the defense of competition and consumer protection.
Upon graduation, Luciana worked at the Legal Division of the Inter-American Investment Corporation in Washington D.C., where she primarily drafted and revised loan and security agreements to fund financial institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean. She then joined the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Integration and Trade Sector. Among other tasks, Luciana assisted with the management of IDB’s Regional Public Goods Initiative, launched to promote regional public policy solutions to integration challenges through collaboration of countries from Latin America and the Caribbean and helped with the new IDB Strategy on Competitive Regional and Global Integration.
Luciana speaks fluently Spanish, French, and English and is currently learning Portuguese. At NYU, she will pursue an LL.M. in Competition, Information and Innovation Law.
Serafima Ostrovsky, South Africa
Sima Ostrovsky graduated from the University of Cape Town Law School in 2006. She obtained the Bachelor of Laws degree cum laude, ranking first in her class. Prior to undertaking a law degree, Sima obtained a Bachelor of Business Science (Honours in Finance) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She was awarded this degree summa cum laude.
On completion of her legal studies, Sima worked as a law clerk at the Constitutional Court of South Africa. She maintained her connection to the Court by serving, until her departure for New York, on the management committee of the Constitutional Court Clerks’ Alumni Association. The Alumni Association organises events and seminars aimed at the development of constitutional law and the ethos of a democratic society.
After spending a year at the Constitutional Court, Sima completed her articles of clerkship at a leading South African law firm, Webber Wentzel. In 2010, she was admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa and was appointed as an associate at Webber Wentzel. Sima’s practice focuses on competition law, including cartel-related litigation, advising on prohibited practices and merger notifications in South Africa and Africa. She has been involved in a number of high profile matters, including the recent acquisition by Walmart Stores Inc. of Massmart Holdings Limited.
Aside from competition law, Sima is passionate about education. She tutored for a number of courses while completing her undergraduate and graduate degrees and has continuously been involved in education initiatives in South Africa. Sima acted as a Finance Director of, and a tutor for, the Sithembele Matiso Social Development Project which provides academic support to High School students at the Khayelitsha Township, Cape Town. Before leaving for New York, Sima was involved in the Alexandra Education Committee initiative, which provides financial, academic and mentoring support to scholars from the Alexandra Township, Johannesburg.
At NYU, Sima will pursue an LL.M. degree specialising in competition, innovation and information law.
Rosa Raffaelli, Italy
Dr. Rosa Raffaelli received her law degree summa cum laude from the University of Pisa (Italy) in October 2006. During her years at law school, she was also a student at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, a prestigious and highly selective public university which admits a small number of students, offering them a full scholarship. Rosa obtained her Ph.D. in Criminal Law summa cum laude from Scuola Sant'Anna in November 2010. During her years as a PhD Student, she obtained merit-based scholarships from Scuola Sant'Anna and from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Office), which financed her research period at the Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.
Rosa has worked at the International Criminal Court for more over a year, first as an intern and later as a legal assistant. She is also a qualified lawyer in Italy. Her primary areas of interest are international and domestic criminal law, immigration law, and corporate responsibility. She has published a number of articles and book chapters and presented at international conferences on these topics.
Rosa speaks Italian, English, French and German.
Qian Su, China
Qian Su obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree in 2002 from Lanzhou University School of Law where she ranked at the top of her class and was awarded scholarships and honors for academic excellence.
She later pursued her Master of Laws degree at Peking University Law School. In 2004 she participated in a research project on discrimination against Hepatitis B Virus carriers in China sponsored by Oslo University Human Rights Center, in which she interviewed with Hepatitis B carriers in various cities to gather information on the employment status of Hepatitis B carriers. The research findings contributed to enactment of legislation in 2007 forbidding discrimination against Hepatitis B carriers in recruitment. During her graduate studies, Qian also participated in a summer training program on Swedish labor law for Chinese scholars sponsored by the Swedish International Development Agency in 2004. Qian was responsible for translating the English course materials into Chinese; the work was published by Peking University Press in 2008 in a book entitled Critical Introduction to Swedish Labor Law. Qian served as a teaching assistant to Professor Ronald C. Brown (a Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer from William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii) when he was a guest lecturer at Peking University Law School in 2004-2005.
Qian has worked as an associate at King & Wood (one of the leading law firms in China) in Beijing for 6 years, specializing in the areas of foreign investment in China, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters. She has extensive experience representing multinational companies, private equity firms and venture capitalists in their investments in China. She has worked on many high-profile projects in a wide range of industries including transportation, entertainment and media, financial, forestry, high-tech, machinery, mining, power and real property.
Qian passed the Chinese national bar examination in 2004. At NYU School of Law she is pursuing an LL.M. in Corporation Law.
Tiantian Zhuang, China
Tiantian Zhuang obtained her LL.B and LL.M degree, magna cum laude, from Peking University Law School, and also obtained a Bachelor of Economics degree from China Center for Economic Research of Peking University. She was an editor of the Peking University International and Comparative Law Review and received a number of merit based scholarships and honors throughout her studies in Peking University. Tiantian was active in moot court activities and represented Peking University in PHILIP C. JESSUP International Law Moot Court Competition in 2007 and WILLEM C. VIS International Commercial Arbitration Moot in 2008. She was also devoted to promoting the legal and culture communications among Asian law students. She was one of the founding members of the International Law Student Association of PKU and took part in organizing many significant activities on campus.
After graduation in 2008, Tiantian joined Clifford Chance LLP and primarily worked on the areas of banking & finance, derivatives and regulatory. Before that, she also interned with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd., Tax & Business Advisory Department and Junhe Law Offices, a leading law firm in China.
