2016-2017 Cohort

DRESSEL, Katherine

Katherine was born and raised in Connecticut, United States. She received her Juris Doctor and International and Comparative Law Certificate in May 2016 from Vermont Law School. Katherine graduated from the Boston University College of Arts and Sciences in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science, and a minor in French language and literature. During her undergraduate career, Katherine participated in the Boston University Paris Internship Program, through which she had the opportunity to work at Cabinet d'Avocats CBBC, an international family law firm. Upon returning to the United States, Katherine worked at an asset recovery firm in Boston. During her law school career, Katherine clerked at the State's Attorney's Office at the Milford Superior Court in Connecticut, the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Vermont, and the Global Justice Center in New York City. Katherine sat for the New York State Bar Exam in July of 2016.

GONZALEZ DE ANLEO, Julia Echanove

Julia is originally from Spain. She grew up in South America, Spain, and the UK. She finished her International Baccalauréat in Germany and completed her LLB in International and European Law in the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Netherlands. She was part of the Human Library Groningen project and engaged in issues of Human Rights; specifically focusing her Bachelor thesis on abortion and International Law. She gained work experience in the areas of Compliance, Anti‐Money Laundering and Public Policy and will intern in Hogan Lovells LLP Paris in the Life Sciences Litigation department this summer.

GOVANI, Zahra 

Zahra recently graduated with a degree in Law with French law from the University of Warwick, England. During her university career, not only was she able to spend her third year abroad at Paris V continuing her French legal studies, but she also participated in mooting competitions (i.e., the Inner Temple Moot), Paris International MUN & appointment of leader of the Bar Pro Bono Unit (a legal charity that advocates access to justice) at Warwick. Zahra has completed several mini pupillages at various prestigious chambers' including No 5, St. Phillips and XXIV Old Buildings and has also marshaled with His Honour William Kennedy, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, London. Her intention is to be called to the Bar of England and Wales, and then practice as a barrister at a chambers with a broad practice and/or office in Europe.

HUIZANEH, Matthew

Matt is a third-year law student at the University of California, Hastings College of Law. He was born and raised in Los Angeles but studied and lived in San Francisco for his studies. He previously studied at Science‐Po Paris. He spent his summer interning at a small law firm in Croatia and previously interned in a Chinese law firm. His interests are hockey, basketball, and dogs.

KUIJS, Lisa

Originally from The Netherlands, Lisa moved to the United Kingdom in 2012 to pursue her bachelor’s degree in both Philosophy and Law. This combination is what continues to motivate her, as ethics and politics influence the legal field to a great extent. She wrote her dissertation on the Syrian refugee crisis and researched how states' reactions and social policies shifted based on governmental decisions. For this, she has studied multiple legislative documents, drafted by both the British Parliament and the European Parliament. She found that human rights and our most fundamental values can only be expressed when social, economic, and political measures are in place that are constituted in the law. Throughout her studies she was part of many professional organisations, among which AIESEC, Enactus and the local council. Upon completing her master's degree, she hopes to become a civil servant at the European Commission, in a parliamentary function or at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

MACKAULIKOVA, Kristina 

Kristina was born and raised in Bratislava, Slovakia and moved to Prague, Czech Republic, to undertake a master’s degree in Political Science at Charles University where she graduated with distinction and two published articles. She has also studied at the University of Melbourne in Australia and the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. Kristina did her first internship during her studies at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in Bratislava, Slovakia and soon after took a break from her studies to undertake two internships at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, where she spent eight months. For the past three years, she has held a management position in a mid‐sized German company located in Munich, developing, and distributing titanium alloys to the aerospace, defense, and automotive industries throughout Europe. She oversaw the legal affairs of the company as well as operations and business development strategy. This has fueled her curiosity about EU regulations related to contract law and conflict of laws, internal market, competition, and intellectual property law.

NAKAGAWA, Ryutaro 

Ryutaro is an attorney (admitted in Japan) specialized in Art, Fashion, Entertainment and Media Law. He obtained LL.B from the University of Tokyo and J.D. from Waseda Law School in Tokyo. After three years of working at Nagashima, Ohno & Tsunematsu where he started his professional career, Ryutaro has been an associate at Kotto Dori Law Office and focusing on the domain of his expertise further. Besides his keen interest on European art, design and culture, Ryutaro is greatly interested in the EU as a global influencer of legal policies, especially in IP/IT law.

NOLASCO, Denis

Denis was born in the Dominican Republic and earned her Bachelor's of Arts degree from Baruch College, City University of New York. She majored in political science and minored in Black and Hispanic Studies. While at Baruch, Denis organized a Hispanic Heritage event, which featured a speech by the President of the Dominican Republic, His Excellency President Leonel Fernandez, who addressed Remittances and Migration. After earning her Bachelors, she moved to Washington, DC to pursue her interest in international policy. Her work experience at The Hill motivated her to work for the AFL ‐CIO Solidarity Center, which focuses on international labor strengthening programs. The Solidarity Center afforded Denis the opportunity to work with international labor advocates on collective bargaining, legislative advocacy, and organizing campaigns. Denis was also able to assist on a complaint against the Guatemalan government for violation of the Dominican Republic‐Central American Free Trade Agreement (DRCAFTA) labor chapter. Denis came to law school because she wanted to use her international labor experience and her law degree to represent workers in their fight for their rights. This summer she interned for the International Trade Union Confederation and United States Department of Labor

ROOK, Ivy 

Ivy graduated from New York University in 2011 with a BA in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and Politics, and a minor in French. Prior to law school, Ivy worked for four years in global health and public policy. Ivy received her MA in Human Rights from Columbia University in 2013.

RUNARSSON, Omar Berg

Omar Berg Runarsson finished his bachelor’s degree in law in 2012 at Reykjavik University School of Law, Iceland. During the academic year 2012‐2013, he studied as an exchange student at Tilburg University Law School in the Netherlands. In 2014, Omar Berg graduated with a master’s degree in law from Reykjavik University School of Law. During his studies, Omar Berg was elected the President of Logretta ‐ The Law Student's Association of Reykjavik University School of Law. Furthermore, while pursuing his law degrees, Omar Berg did intern‐ and traineeships at LEX Law Offices in Reykjavik, at the EFTA Court in Luxembourg and at the District Court of Reykjavik. Prior to commencing his studies in European law at Université Panthéon‐Assas in Paris, Omar Berg worked as a lawyer at Kvika banki hf., which is an investment bank operating in Reykjavik.

YI, Shi

Shi obtained his LL.B in international economic law from East China University of Political Science and Law, China (2015). After his undergraduate study, he continued pursuing an LL.M in City University of Hong Kong and a Master2 (specialized in international business law) in University Paris 1 Panthéon‐Sorbonne from 2015 to 2016. During law school, he worked as a summer intern at the Beijing office of King & Wood Mallesons LLP where he drafted legal documents for the M&A group. In the final year of law school, he interned for Judge PAN Jie in the Supreme People's Court of P.R. China. He speaks Chinese, English, and is currently studying French.

VAN BRIEL, Dries 

Dries started his law studies five years ago at the University of Hasselt, Belgium. The University of Hasselt offered a unique bachelor program, focusing on the interaction between Belgian and European Law. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in law, he worked as a summer trainee at a Belgian law firm and continued his law studies in Leuven. Prior to commencing his studies at Paris II, he recently graduated from the Catholic University of Leuven and obtained his master’s degree in law. In addition to his academic interests, he is passionate about being actively involved in extracurricular activities. Throughout his third year, Dries represented his Students' Society as Vice Chairman of the Law Students Society.

VITALI, Brigitte

Brigitte holds double nationalities as half Israeli half Luxembourgish. She was raised in Jerusalem, Israel and obtained her bachelor’s degree in law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During her studies she took part in the clinical legal educational center in the law faculty of the Hebrew University. After completing her studies, she started her legal internship in the Israeli Ministry of Justice at the district attorney's office in Jerusalem (criminal division). After successfully completing her bar exams, she was admitted to the Israeli bar association and then returned to the District Attorney's office as a prosecutor. During her work at the district attorney's office, she guided investigations, filled indictments, and appeared in courts on a wide variety of criminal cases. After 4 years she decided to continue her studies in European law and re connect to her European roots while studying for her LLM degree in Paris II.

WHITE, Thomas 

Tom is a full-time law student at Columbia Law School and is set to graduate in 2017 with a JD. He is the Public Affairs Editor of Columbia's Journal of Transnational Law. He is from Canandaigua, New York, a small town in Upstate New York. He attended New York University and obtained his BA and MA in politics and international relations. Tom spent a year in Abu Dhabi during his undergrad and a year in Shanghai before law school. He spent this past summer at the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, in their New York and Hong Kong offices. He plans to return to the firm upon graduation. In 2019, Tom will clerk for Judge Richard C. Wesley, a judge on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Tom loves to travel, to be outdoors, and to swim.