2023-2024 Cohort
Caroline Greenhalgh
Caroline is a law student from Arlington, Virginia and graduated from The University of the South with a Honors Degree in Russian Studies in 2021. In addition to obtaining her master’s in European Law at Paris II, she is also currently a law student at Fordham University School of Law in New York, New York, where she is a current member of the Fordham International Law Journal and First-Generation Student’s Association. She has worked as a student lawyer in Fordham’s Immigration law clinic, a faculty research assistant, and law clerk for a litigation firm. Her interests are in international arbitration, antitrust and cartel defense, and cross-cultural lawyering. Caroline will return to the United States to take the bar and then hopes to move indefinitely aboard to work in the field of international arbitration and/or antitrust and competition law.
Katharina Girbinger
Katharina is German-Italian. She studied law at the University of Passau in Germany where she passed her First State Examination in January 2023. Additionally, she spent one year at the Toulouse Capitole University in France from which she graduated with a French bachelor’s degree in law.
During her studies Katharina worked as a student research assistant at the Chair of Public Law, Security Law and Law of New Technologies at the University of Passau. Afterwards, she gained some work experience in the area of construction law at a German law firm and she started working as a graduate research assistant at the Institute for the Didactics of law at the University of Passau and continues to do so remotely in Paris.
Aspiring an international career, she chose the LL.M. in European Law which combines her interest in EU law and her passion for French culture and language. After finishing the program, Katharina will complete her legal traineeship in Germany to become a fully qualified lawyer.
Alexander Smyth
Alec is a dual-degree student at Fordham University School of Law and Panthéon-Assas University. He earned his B.A. in English Literature and Rhetoric from University of California, Berkeley, where he wrote an honor’s thesis about the relationship between contemporary environmentalism and nature poetry of the Romantic period. At Fordham, Alec is on the staff of the Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal, and a member of the Fordham Art Law Society. Alec has a background in art, having worked in art studios, artist foundations, and commercial galleries, including a role as an Associate Director David Zwirner in New York between 2016-2021. In addition, he has held positions at Hughes Hubbard and Reed LLP and The East Bay Community Law Center. In 2023, Alec was a summer associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, where he worked with the art litigation team. His interests are in the various fields of art litigation, intellectual property, copyright, trusts and estates, authenticity disputes, and criminal investigations.
Maria Douka
Maria studied Law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, from which she gratuated in 2021 at the top 13% of her class. After graduation, she completed an 18-month mandatory legal traineeship in a highly esteemed law firm in Athens, dealing mainly with cases of real estate law, banking and finance Law, commercial law, business and corporate law as well as employment law. In August 2023, she passed her Athens Bar Association exams. Realizing the importance of studying law in a cross-border dimension, she chose to enroll to the European Law Master Program of Pantheon-Assas University, with an eye on pursuing a career in an European Institution or an international law firm. A proud polyglot, Maria is fluent in Greek, English, French and Spanish, as well as elementary in German.
Livia Hoskovec
Livia is from Vienna, Austria and studied law at the University of Vienna, which she completed in October 2022. During her studies, she worked as a study assistant in the department of European, International and Comparative law at the university. She also gained experience during her traineeship at the law firm Dorda. After finishing her law degree she started a clerkship at two different Austrian courts, the Regional Court for Criminal Matters in Vienna and the District Court Josefstadt in Civil Matters. Because of the EU's influential role on national law and the growing importance of unity in Europe to combat urgent global threats she wanted to deepen her knowledge of European Union law. This led her to apply for the LL.M at Pantheon-Assas.
Tanja Krüger
Born in Berlin, Germany, Tanja graduated from the Martin-Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg. During her time at the university, she took part in the Erasmus Program in Ghent, Belgium, and attended the Soldan Moot Court dealing with civil law and professional law. Before pursuing her LLM in Europan law at the Panthéon-Assas Université, she worked at Noerr, an international law firm in Berlin, as a graduate researcher. After this LLM Program, Tanja plans on returning to Berlin to pass her second state exam.
Elise Prakke
Elise was born in Haarlem, The Netherlands, but she moved to Amsterdam when she was 18. She graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a bachelor in law and also graduated with a master in private law at the same university. During her studies she did two internships at international law firms in Amsterdam, one in the Real estate department and one in the employment law department. In both practice groups she experienced how much influence European Law had. So Elise wanted to gain a deeper understanding of European Law as well as the experience of living abroad and improving her French. All of this was possible by applying for LL.M. in European Law at University Paris II – Panthéon Assas, where she is currently studying.
Berin Szóka
Berin has practiced Internet, communications, technology and space law for nearly two decades. He currently serves as President of TechFreedom, the non-profit think tank he founded in 2010, which is dedicated to studying the hard legal questions raised by technological change. His particular areas of expertise include U.S. free expression, consumer protection, child protection, telecommunications and administrative law.
Previously, he was a Senior Fellow and the Director of the Center for Internet Freedom at The Progress & Freedom Foundation. Before joining PFF, he was an Associate in the Communications Practice Group at Latham & Watkins LLP and clerked for the Hon. H. Dale Cook, Senior U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Oklahoma. He received his juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law and Bachelor's degree in economics from Duke University. He is admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and California (inactive).
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to a Hungarian-American mother and a German father, Berin largely grew up in the Washington, D.C. area but has spent extensive time in France, Germany and Belgium. He speaks French and limited German. A US/German dual national, he’s committed to enriching the trans-Atlantic dialogue on regulation of digital technologies. For that, training in European law is essential.
His passions include history, architecture, art, and baroque music.
Savvas Michael
Savvas is from London, United Kingdom. He studied History in London (UCL) prior to completing an accelerated undergraduate degree in Law at the University of Cambridge in 2012. Savvas has been working in law for a decade – for the first five years, he worked in the City of London, initially at the Financial Ombudsman Service as an Adjudicator and then within the legal team at the Bank of England, where he completed his two-year qualifying work experience. Savvas then moved to The University of Law, spending a few years in London before most recently leading the team in Hong Kong for two years. Savvas returned to Europe in the summer of 2023 and commenced the LLM at Pantheon-Assas in September 2023, given his strong interest in European Union Law. Savvas was awarded a full Hubbard Scholarship, in order to complete the LLM in Paris. Savvas intends to use the knowledge and skills gained from the LLM in his future roles, whether it be within the Public sector, Regulator or University setting, all of which still require EU Law specialists despite the effects of Brexit. Savvas speaks English and Greek.i vim an.
Anthony Lindsey
Anthony is from Paradise, California, and is a J.D. candidate at University of California, San Francisco, and a LL.M. candidate at Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas. He obtained his B.A. in Political Science from California State University, Chico. After retiring as a barista, his legal career has included an internship at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court, working as Staff Editor then Senior Communications Editor for UC Law Journal, and working as a Summer Associate at Arnold & Porter. Upon graduation, Lindsey plans on returning to take the California Bar Exam before rejoining Arnold & Porter.
Ashlyn Phelps
Ashlyn is a J.D./LL.M. dual-degree candidate at Fordham University School of Law in New York City and Panthéon-Assas University. She earned her B.S. in Bioengineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. At Fordham, Ashlyn competed in the 2023 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, served as the Chapter Director of the International Refugee Assistance Project, and was a Crowley Scholar in International Human Rights, where she focused on the situation of migrant domestic workers in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. She has worked as a legal intern with Landesa, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and the Human Trafficking Legal Center. Following graduation, Ashlyn hopes to work with an NGO on issues related to international human trafficking.
Renate Ritter
Renate has studied law at the University of Osnabrück and the University of Cologne, with core subject studies in medical law and healthcare law. After passing both her First- and Second German State Examinations before the Higher Regional Court of Cologne and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, she started practicing law as a Legal Counsel with an internationally operating pharmaceutical company near Hamburg before she began her studies of European Law at the University Paris Panthéon Assas.
Marisa Schönewolf
After accomplishing a voluntary service in Cusco, Peru, Marisa studied Politics and Law at the University of Münster in Germany. In her studies, she specialized in European and International Law and spent one semester at the European Law School in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Marisa first entered the workforce as a Legal Counsel for the German Federal Parliament and a Research Assistant for Freshfields, both in Berlin, before coming to Paris to undergo the LLM Program in European Law at Assas. Marisa hopes to be able to continue her path working in an international environment and of course, to regularly come back to Paris!
Kelsey Anderson
Kelsey is dual-degree law student at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco and Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas. Prior to law school, she earned a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Southern California. She has worked in the nonprofit sector, digital media, and foreign language education.
At UC Law SF, Kelsey participated in the Haiti Justice Partnership, where she interviewed asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border and contributed to a report submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. She worked in-house through the Corporate Counsel Externship Program at Recology, and serves as Senior Articles Editor at the UC Law Journal.
Kelsey’s legal career has included a judicial internship for the Honorable Justice Joshua P. Groban at the Supreme Court of California and a legal clerkship at a firm focusing on land use and housing legislation. She is currently working in the international securities litigation practice group at a US-based firm.
Janne Helmkamp
Janne is originally from Germany and studied Law at the University of Osnabrück. Throughout her education, she focused on languages and international aspects of law. Prior to her studies, she did a voluntary year of social service in Reims, France and later completed a specialized foreign language training course "Legal French and Introduction to French Law" in addition to her legal studies. Her interest in European Law first developed during an exchange semester at the Université Paris Est-Creteil, where she focused on different aspects of European Law. Later, she interned at the Representation of the State of Hesse to the European Union in Brussels to gain practical insights into the European Institutions. Before graduating in 2023, she specialized in European and International Private Law and wrote her thesis on Comparative Private Law.
Jessi Lord
Jessi is a dual-degree law student at the University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco and Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas. Originally from California, Jessi moved to Madrid, Spain at the age of seven. She earned her B.A. in Government and Psychology at Wesleyan University. Prior to law school, Jessi completed her Teach for America commitment and taught first grade. Throughout her education, she developed a strong passion for foreign languages and comparative aspects of law. At UC Law SF, Jessi served on the e-board of the Human Rights and International Law Organization and currently serves as a Senior Executive Editor on the International Law Review. During her legal studies, Jessi studied comparative law at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University which encouraged her to pursue the LL.M program in European Law.
Kate Maguire
Kate is a third year JD-LLM student at Fordham University School of Law. Originally from Washington, D.C., Kate received her BA in Political Science and French from New York University, where she developed an interest in international law through her research of comparative political systems. At Fordham, Kate has studied international law, human rights, and arbitration, and is particularly interested in investor-state disputes. She was a human rights scholar at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice, a competitor at the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration moot in Vienna, Austria, and a board member of Fordham's LGBTQ+ affinity group, OUTLaws. Following her time at Assas, Kate will return to New York to write the bar exam and join globally renowned law firm Squire Patton Boggs as an associate. Kate is looking forward to a career in international law where she can continue forging relationships with colleagues around the world.