Director's Welcome
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Greetings from the Law Tower! Summer is rapidly winding down, the Red Sox are in first place (well, not really) and we're already gearing up for another "fall classic" - the arrival of a new American Law class and the beginning of the new academic year! It's also time to share news about recent happenings at BU Law - new faculty, new programs, new staff -- and preview what's ahead. Enjoy the update and keep your emails coming!
Best wishes,
John N. Riccardi
Join the American Law Program's New On-Line Global Community -- the "BU Law Connection!"
The American Law Program's virtual alumni club is open for membership! We're pleased to announce the launch of the American Law Program's new on-line global community -- the "BU Law Connection," a virtual alumni meeting place that will keep you connected to each other and the BU Law community. As a virtual alumni club, this new feature offers you:
- An Online Directory: You'll be able to search for and locate fellow alumni (LL.M. and J.D.) by class year, region, practice area, student groups and common interests.
- Message Boards: You can have online discussions with other alumni about professional interests.
- Career Networking Services: You'll be able to find alumni around the world willing to network and provide referrals and career advice. Anyone know a bankruptcy lawyer in Cairo? Search and post résumés, become a mentor and allow current students to access your profile.
- Class Notes: You can stay current on news about your fellow alumni and keep track of who is where and doing what.
The BU Law Connection promises to be a robust and valuable alumni resource. But it needs your participation to be effective. We will be sending you a separate email within the next week or so, with registration instructions and the "password" you will need for enrollment and to access the services (Your password is your old BU ID number.) You can access the BU Law Connection from the law school's home page. We hope you all sign up and enjoy the benefits. And please let us know what you think.
New Faculty
Over the past year, there have been several new additions to BU Law's acclaimed faculty.
James E. Fleming joined us from Fordham University School of Law where he was the Leonard F. Manning Distinguished Professor of Law and served for several years as the faculty moderator of the Fordham Law Review. He writes on constitutional law and constitutional theory and teaches courses in constitutional law, constitutional theory, torts and remedies. View Professor Fleming's full bio. | |
Sean J. Kealy joined us as Clinical Associate Professor of Law and the new director of BU Law's Legislative Counsel Clinic. He was formerly an assistant attorney general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a legal advisor to State Senator Cynthia Stone Creem ('66) and counsel to the General Court's Joint Committee on Criminal Justice and the Joint Committee on Revenue. View Professor Kealy's full bio. | |
Linda C. McClain joined us from Hofstra Law School where she was the Rivkin Radler Distinguished Professor of Law and also co-director of the Institute for the Study of Gender, Law, and Policy. She recently published her book, The Place of Families: Fostering Capacity, Equality, and Responsibility (Harvard University Press, 2006). Linda teaches Family Law, Gender and the Law.View Professor McClain's full bio. | |
Kevin Outterson joined BU Law from West Virginia University College of Law, where he received the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award from the WVU Law Review in 2006 and the Professor of the Year Award at the College of Law in 2007. Professor Outterson teaches courses in health care, business law and globalization. Much of his scholarship focuses on global pharmaceutical markets and health care disparities. View Professor Outterson's full bio. | |
Anna Di Robilant will join BU Law in fall 2008 as our newest internationally-trained faculty member. Professor Di Robilant received her LL.M. and S.J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was awarded the Byse Fellowship in 2006-2007 and the Graduate Program Fellowship two years in a row (2004-2006). She graduated with a law degree from the University of Turin in Italy and received her Ph.D. in Comparative Private Law from the University of Trento in Italy. She will be teaching European Union Law and Property. |
New Director of Graduate Tax Program
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We are pleased to announce the arrival of Dan Berman, as the new director of BU Law's Graduate Tax Program. Dan is an expert in international tax, with vast experience in tax planning, tax controversies, tax policy and tax treaties. He has worked in both the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government, as well as in private practice, most recently as a partner with Thalen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner in Washington, D.C. Dan takes over from Associate Dean Ernest Haddad, who will be assuming responsibilities in alumni development and special projects after several years of distinguished service to the program. Read more about Dan Berman's appointment.
Bragging Rights
BU Law continues to gain recognition for its teaching excellence. The 2008 edition of The Princeton Review's Best 170 Law Schools named BU Law one of the nation's most outstanding law schools and ranked our faculty #1 in teacher quality. The 2008 Leiter Report on Law School Rankings also named BU Law #1 in America in Teaching Quality. The Princeton Review ranked BU Law #5 in "Best Classroom Experience" and #6 in "Best Career Prospects." U.S. News and World Report's specialty rankings placed BU Law #7 in Health Law; #8 in Tax and #9 in Intellectual Property law.
Other rankings released in 2008 show BU Law is outperforming its old record highs and breaking into new competitive categories. Surveys from the National Jurist and the National Law Journal prove what our students, faculty and alumni already know -- BU Law is on top. Read more here.
At commencement in May, Professor Andrew Kull received Boston University's Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching - the university's highest teaching honor and the 8th law school faculty member to receive this distinction. Professor Kull's classroom excellence in on display each day at BU Law through his classes in contracts, commercial law and remedies.
New Geneva Program
Our leadership in study abroad continues. We recently established our thirteenth exchange program -- a new partnership with the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, in Geneva, Switzerland. This program, set to launch in fall 2009, will allow J.D. students the opportunity to study at the most acclaimed center for international human rights and humanitarian law on the European continent.
Summer Legal Institute in London
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| Participants in Part A of the Summer Legal Institute enjoy a reception at Shepherd + Wedderburn Law Firm in London. Also attending were ALP alumni, Christine Tretzmuller-Szauer (1998), Grazia Gatti (2006) and Rainer Hoerning (2003). |
For the sixth consecutive year, BU Law's faculty traveled across the pond to teach international lawyers at our Summer Legal Institute in London. Forty-six lawyers from 22 countries -- from Ghana, to Romania, to Barbados - arrived at our South Kensington campus in July and August, to study U.S. law from Professors Robert Volk, Connie Browne, Dan Partan, Mark Pettit, Kevin Outterson and Virginia Greiman.
Summer International Internship Program
Working with our Career Development Office, we have launched a new Summer International Internship Program -- an innovative initiative to support J.D. summer internship opportunities outside the United States, specifically, at the overseas law firms, companies and organizations where BU Law alumni work. Through this summer's program, students are interning in such offices as Clifford Chance in London and at International Bridges to Justice in Switzerland. If your firm or organization has an overseas office that would be interested in hosting a BU Law J.D. student for a summer internship - paid or unpaid - please encourage it to sign up for the Summer International Internship Program.
Program for Legal English Academic Development
Building upon the law school's experience in Legal English programming, we have entered into an exciting collaboration with Cambridge University Press, CELOP and TransLegal, the world's leading provider of Legal English materials and services, to develop PLEAD -- the Program for Legal English Academic Development. PLEAD is a program of Legal English instruction that combines live classroom teaching based on the best-selling Cambridge University Press course book, International Legal English, with online self-study. We worked with CELOP to author the online self-study component of PLEAD. Law schools around the world will have the opportunity to develop their Legal English curricula by offering PLEAD to their students. This will provide BU Law with a unique opportunity to instruct the next generation of global lawyers. You can learn more about it at http://www.translegal.com/plead/index.php. If you believe your law school alma maters would be interested in developing their ability to teach "Legal English" through the PLEAD program, please let us know!
American Law and Intellectual Property Law Classes of 2008
The 2007-2008 academic year marked the thirteenth year for the ALP. Seventy-three students from twenty-two countries received their degrees in May - our second largest class ever. The program's alumni base now stands at 668, from 68 countries around the world. Roughly 63 percent of the Class of 2008 came from Asia; 27 percent from Western and Eastern Europe; 6 percent from Central and South America; and the remainder from the Middle East and Canada.
The past year's LL.M. in American Law Program was filled with high achievers - like every year!! We took note of three outstanding individuals for their accomplishments. Wanting Zhang received this year's Outstanding Achievement Award. A graduate of the University of Beijing, Wanting distinguished herself by being the first LL.M. to participate in the school's legislative drafting program; she then went on to secure a coveted internship with the state's Attorney General's office. Read more about Wanting.
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Nikolas Gregor received this year's Sabastian Horsten Prize for the highest-cumulative grade point average. Nikolas joined BU Law as a Fulbright Scholar, after completing his law studies at the University of Cologne in Germany and completing his Ph.D. thesis on the international protection of copyright in film. |  | |
| 2008 Commencement. Front: Jessica Teague, Assistant Director, and John. Back from left: Yoninah Orenstein, Mayalen Lacabarats, Francesco Spreafico, Daniel Puente, and Nikolas Gregor, recipient of this year's Sebastian Horsten Prize. | ||
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Andrea Armelin da Cunha lead the ceremony as the Class Marshall. Andrea received her law degree from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sol in Porto Alegra, Brazil, in 2005 and was a spirited, enthusiastic member of the class, who truly helped unify her classmates, in celebration of the program's diversity. |  | |
| Andrea da Cunha, Class Marshall for 2008, on the Harbor Cruise! | ||
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This past year's LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law Program graduated Carolina Rossini, an intellectual property scholar from FGV Law School in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Carolina completed her thesis on "Innovation and Patent Ownership Policies and the Role of Universities as Public Spaces," under the supervision of Professor Mike Meurer. She also initiated a BU Law conference called IP Dialogues, which brought together scholars in the spring to discuss issues related to open source. |  | |
| Carolina Rossini with Professor Kevin Outterson at commencement. | ||
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One of the true highlights of this year's commencement ceremony was at its beginning: our beloved Sarah Bellott sung the Star Spangled Banner before thousands of students, family, friends and loves ones in attendance. |  |
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| Sarah Bellott singing the "Star Spangled Banner" at the 2008 commencement. | ||
Our New Name and New Staff
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| Sara Marshall, Alexis McBride, Nick Danis, Sarah Bellott, and John Riccardi |
Recent developments at the OFP include the fact that we are no longer the OFP! That's right - we've changed our name. We're now the Office of Graduate and International Programs (OGIP, for short) (gradint@bu.edu) in recognition of our broadened mission in overseeing the administrative operations of all of BU Law's graduate initiatives.
To that end, one of our new functions is to house the LL.M. career advisor - and it is with great pleasure that we have welcomed Sara Marshall as OGIP's assistant director for LL.M. Career Advising. Sara has a unique background in law and higher education. She received her J.D. with honors from New England School of Law, where she was senior editor of New England Law Review and graduated second in her class. She is now completing her Masters of Education in Higher Education at Suffolk University. After law school, she worked as a corporate associate at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo in Boston. Prior to BU Law, she was a career advisor at MIT. Sara will be the point person for employers seeking to recruit LL.M. students and will be the principal advisor for current LL.M. students and alumni. You can look forward to hearing from Sara (smarshal@bu.edu) about our impressive pool of LL.M. talent. And you should rely upon Sara for advice and guidance on your own career issues.
We have also welcomed Nick Danis (ndanis@bu.edu) as OGIP's new Program Coordinator, who will be supporting Sara Marshall and Sarah Bellott in all things graduate and international at the school. Nick is a recent BU graduate (undergrad), where he majored in film and linguistics.
Last and certainly not least is the recent arrival of Alexis McBride (mcbridea@bu.edu) as OGIP's new assistant director, replacing Jessica Teague, who relocated with her husband to North Carolina after two years of dedicated service to the office. Before BU Law, Alexis was the assistant director of Student Care at Lesley University's Office of National Programs. Before that, she was the internship coordinator at Berklee College of Music in Boston. No stranger to the law world, for four years prior to entering academic administration Alexis was a paralegal in Boston at Foley Hoag and at Dechert, LLP. An honors graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (majoring in Spanish), Alexis studied abroad in Alicante, Spain, and while in college, she worked on programming initiatives for Wharton's international MBA students. Please join me in welcoming Alexis!
Global Gatherings
Over the past year, ALP and IP LLM alumni gathered near and far, including in:
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| Lucas Brabers, John, Juliette Haex and Anne Koh reunite in Amsterdam. |
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| LLM's from 2001-2007 reunite in Geneva last October. |
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| Daniel Otte and Kyrill Makoski welcome Professor Beermann in Dusseldorf. |
Amsterdam: Lucas Brabers, Wouter Van Den Berg, and former Leiden Exchange students Michelle Van Mook, Juliette Haex, and Eun Anne Koh welcomed John in Amsterdam in the fall.
Geneva: In November, several alumni reunited for a fondue dinner in Geneva, including Joachim Knoll (2004), Caroline Ming (2004), Mehmet Can (2001), Pascal De Preux (2003), Fabian Gillioz (2007), Nadia Cosandier (2007), Nicholas Golovtchiner (2000), Henri Pierre Dupraz (2003) and Daniel Shafer (2001).
Berlin: Florian Geyer (2001) and George Jacobs (IP LLM 2005) organized a mini reunion in Berlin, during the International Trademark Association Annual meeting in March 2008. Carsten Kociok (2002), Matthias Orthwien (2000), Mauro dos Santos (2007) toasted BU Law at a local watering hole in Berlin-Mitte. "We definitely should try to have a meeting at the next INTA in Seattle," wrote Florian.
Dusseldorf: Daniel Otte (2001) and Kyrill Makoski (2003) hosted Professor Jack Beermann on his trip to Germany last year, where he lectured at several law faculties. John also met with Tobias Wintermantel (2001), Peter Polk (2002), Christine Tretzmuller-Szauer (1998), and Nele Gorny (2000) in Frankfurt, while attending the LL.M. recruiting fair.
Mexico City: Juan Martorelli (2000), Paula Sanchez (2006), Armando Rimaldi (2004) Federico Coronado Guerra (2006), Jesus Guerra Mendez (2003), Luis Pailles (2003) and Miguel Peralta (2001) all welcomed John in February, as he visited schools and law firms to spread the word about BU Law. Thank you for all your help and hospitality!
Upcoming Travels: John will be visiting Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Santiago and Bogota in October to meet with schools and law firms for LL.M. recruiting - and to say hello to ALP alumni. He will be visiting Taiwan in November, through an invitation from National Chengchi University College of Law. A Taiwan reunion will be planned! Graduate Tax Program Director, Dan Berman, will be hosting a reception in Brussels on September 1st, in association with the Annual Meeting of the International Fiscal Association. For more information, you can contact Director Berman at bermand@bu.edu.
Class Notes
Enough about us! Finally, here's the latest on you . . .
1998
Yasmin Rao Bhumgara has accepted a position as in-house counsel and North American Group Legal Coordinator with Innovation Group in Newton, MA. "It's a global company and I will be facing many challenges here and learning new things all the time."
Christine Tretzmuller-Szauer has moved to London from Frankfurt, where she had been working at Clifford Chance since 1998. She reported that her husband, Andreas, "is already working in London since last year and we thought it a good idea to stop the week end travelling with the boys." She recently attended a reception in London to welcome the participants of BU Law's Summer Legal Institute.
1999
Silva Annovazzi is now with Dewey Ballantine in Milan (a result of a collaboration with her old firm, Galgano). "As for my area of practice - Corporate Criminal Liability and Corporate Governance - I became head of a team of four talented lawyers and, since Dewey does not have a corporate criminal responsibility department, I look forward to developing new synergies with my new colleagues."
Alessandra Bonetti Rubelli recently wrote that "after spending five years in NY at Latham & Watkins (pre- and post-BUSL) and two years in Milan at Coudert Brothers, I am now living in Venice and am currently In-House Counsel for the Guggenheim Foundation, Venice branch. I am now in charge of the Guggenheim's Legal Affairs- which span from intellectual property protection (the most interesting aspect of Law - and I thank my IP course at BU!!), to insurance agreements, exhibition agreements and relations and agreements with artists' estates and the protection of artists rights, among others."
Christian Lewke has published a doctoral thesis on Broadcasting, Culture and Art. He was promoted "Dr. jur." at Hamburg University in 2007. He has published several articles on copyright, media law and filmmaking. He has been working with a Berlin intellectual property-law firm for several years and now has his own firm in Berlin, specializing on European and U.S. Commercial and intellectual property law. Visit www.lewke.de. He is married with a son, born March 2, 2008.
Harun A. Reksodiputro is a partner in the Corporate Commercial Practice Group of Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners in Jakarta. "I just came across BU LLM Program website. It brought a lot of good memories," he wrote.
2000
Ayca Akkayan reported last year that she had been working on her doctoral thesis on "Covered Bonds" and conducting research at Max Planck Institute for Foreign Private and Private International Law in Hamburg, Germany, one of the leading comparative law libraries.
Luisa Arosio is now counsel to Telecom Italia in Milano, Italy.
Roberto Grane is a partner in the Buenos Aires office of Baker & McKenzie, where his practice focuses on Commercial Agreements & Contracts, Mergers & Acquisitions, Information Technology Advisory, Oil & Gas Law and Telecommunications.
Stéphanie Hodara El Bez recently joined the Swiss law firm Altenburger, to head its Geneva banking practice. "After having worked for more than 10 years in the fields of commercial and banking law, I was more than ready for a move enhancing both my professional development and my entrepreneurship."
Allan Kato wrote from Manila, the Philippines, "I'm still connected with the same firm. I currently do a lot of commercial, labor and intellectual property litigation. The law firm I work for has changed its name from V.E. Del Rosario & Partners to Del Rosario Bagamasbad & Raboca."
Juan Martorelli is a senior associate at Basham, Ringe y Correra in Mexico City - and played master host to John's visit to Mexico in fall 2007. Thank you, Juan, for keeping John out of trouble!
Emilia Mesquita and her husband, Jason, became the proud parents of a baby girl, named Nicole, on February 26th. "She's really healthy and mom is doing great as well! Mom and Dad couldn't be happier!! Look how cute she is! Come visit us!," wrote Emilia.
Ludger Schult is in Munich, working as an associate in the Global Corporate Department of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP. He wrote that on "May 13th, 2008 our son Julian Lovis was born at 8:12 pm. Julian weighs four kilogram (8.6 pounds) and is 52 cm (20.5 inches) tall. He and Tina are doing well. We are very happy."
Laurence Toso wrote from Geneva that she "has started an executive MBA in order to have a better understanding of economics. I am still working at Ernst & Young. I got married in September 2006. With all of these, life is pretty busy! I however hope to be able to come back to BU to say hello soon."
Faisal Yamani is working in the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia office of Ahmed Zaki Yamani, focusing on corporate finance, project finance and commercial matters.
2001
Amir Bernstein was recently appointed as Head of Europe for a multinational real estate company with 500 shopping centers. Amir wrote, "The price I had to pay was to relocate once again to Hamburg from Zurich (where we have bought a house and finally settled down). Daniela (Gnaegi) and our two girls (Neomi is 4 years old and Daphne, 11 months) are still in Zurich for the time being since I travel almost every day. Eventually they will move to Hamburg as well. Other than that no life left....."
Mehmet Can Ekzen is completing his Ph.D. at the University of Geneva in the area of civil and commercial law.
Fernando Fiallos had a busy 2007: He and his wife, Marcela, had a baby girl, Cecilia Maria. He wrote in haste: "I don't know if it's "fatherly love" but I think she is very cute."
Stefanie Fleischmann became general counsel of Bicent Power LLC in NY in October 2007 and will be getting married in the NYC in September.
Florian Geyer and his wife, Astrid, gave birth to their son, Vincent, on December 29, 2007. Florian wrote, "Tobias Wintermantel, Hubert Eisenack, Malte Reiss and I recently reactivated the Frankfurt LL.M. connection. It was great fun to meet with them. The next meeting is scheduled already and we plan to broaden the circle soon." Florian is an intellectual property lawyer in the Frankfurt office of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek.
Alex Gilardini visited BU Law and OGIP last year. He is practicing at Gilardini Law Firm, in the firm's Torino and Warsaw offices.
Cynthia Kalathas is head of the New York representative office of Arendt & Medernach (the Luxembourg firm) and a member of the firm's Corporate, Tax and Intellectual Property practice. She specializes in corporate law focusing mainly on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and transactional business law.
Kanchan Ketkar is in New Jersey, working for the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company as a legal advisor to the company's Global Marketing group. "I am learning a lot about drug development and the legal issues arising from it. As I was part of the German/European Legal team during my time in Munich I am now also acting as the liaison lawyer to the European team (I do miss my European colleagues a lot). I get to work with lawyers from our other regions which makes my work very interesting and diversified. I see Cynthia Kalathas now and then when I am in New York City," wrote Kanchan.
Chulwoo Lee was recently appointed as a part-time professor at Kyungpook National University Law School and Choungpook National University in Seoul.
Dryden Liddle returned to the U.S. in January and will be interviewing at firms in the California Bay Area, after having spent the past couple of years in London.
Stephanie Raue Chalberg writes "I switched jobs from Cooley Godward Kronish to Latham & Watkins (Palo Alto, CA, office) in November 2006 and changed my law concentration from corporate work to life sciences licensing. I love what I do and the people I work with. I am currently helping Stefanie Fleischmann plan her wedding as her maid of honor. Tom and I are expecting our first child in October!!!"
Ariel Weindling is Of Counsel at Littler Mendelson, P.C., in Los Angeles, CA. A member of the California and Belgium bars, Ariel focuses on international employment and labor law and cross-border human resources issues.
Tobias Wintermantel continues his work at Allen & Overy in Frankfurt, having passed his German oral exams for his dissertation in June 2007. He and Aila are now married -- and are expecting the birth of their first child this summer. "This is becoming a very interesting year," he wrote.
2002
Takanori Abe was recently appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, where he will be teaching medical law and intellectual property law. He wrote that "what I have learned in BU helped me a lot in my career. My teaching career is parallel to my practice as an attorney. I am continuing to handle various patent litigations. For those cases litigating in the U.S., just in the recent months, I have attended depositions in Guam, Hawaii, LA, Seattle, San Diego, a hearing in Baltimore, and a jury trial in San Francisco. All of them were wonderful experiences and without my learning at BUSL, I could not have achieved this."
Eduard Bottling reported "I was admitted to the Paris bar in 2005 and I'm now working for 2 years in the derivatives and derivative-based Structured Finance team of the Finance Department of Gide Loyrette Nouel in Paris. Besides that, I've been married to Fabienne since August 2006."
Sumei Chang wrote "I am still working for Wistron Corp. in Taiwan, and guess what? A big change has happened to my life: my first baby was born! We named her Yi-Jen, which means she's 'happy and blessed.' Though we have been lacking sleep ever since she joined our life, my husband and I still enjoy each moment when being with her!"
Nicole Haidar reported "I'm working in Mexico City as the legal counsel to a non-bank bank called Hipotecaria Vertice (bridge loans and mortgage loans)."
Leila Hubeaut is a senior associate in the Mining, Oil and Gas practice team at Gide Loyrette Nouel in Paris, having returned there after working in the firm's NY office. She wrote, "I am involved in new transactions (derivatives) and I am trying to develop an African practice for American clients willing to invest in Africa."
Carsten Kociok is an associate at Olswang in Berlin. After attending a mini-reunion in Berlin at the International Trademark Association Annual Meeting, organized by Florian Geyer (2001) and George Jacobs (IP LL.M. 2005), he wrote: "That was indeed a great reunion. Hope to see all you guys soon at the next meeting."
Gulzada Korkmaz lives in Cambridge, MA, and works at Oxigene, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, where she provides legal advice on various local and international contractual matters. So-Young Jang (LL.M. 2002), who works at Procter & Gamble's IP department in Japan currently, visited her in Boston. "We decided that we should go to Brazil when Juliana Calil puts together our next reunion there."
Rebeca Lizasoain Brandys wrote that "In June 2006 I joined the Rome office of the international law firm Bonelli Erede Pappalardo as an associate with the corporate and finance department. I focus on M&A, international corporate law, cross-border dealings, drafting and negotiating of international commercial contracts and financial instruments. I am near completion of my Ph.D. thesis on Privacy on the Internet, at the European University Institute in Florence." I have recently been admitted to practice law in Italy (Rome Bar). I am now admitted in three jurisdictions: Spain (Madrid), Italy (Rome) and New York. I am very much enjoying Rome; it's such a beautiful city." She also reported marriage plans to fiancée, Cosimo Parenti.
Mads Lowe and Evgenia Otchkovskaia moved to New York in October 2007. Mads transferred there with DLA Piper. Evgenia accepted a position in the NY office of Renova Management as deputy in-house counsel. Mads reported that in February, "Evgenia gave birth to our beautiful daughter, Alexandra Karoline Loewe. Although it was a long ordeal, everything went well and we have enjoyed every moment with her since. It's amazing to see how she grows and changes day to day. My other news is that I am starting the MBA program at Wharton in the fall. I hope that it'll expand my profile even more and I would branch into a more of a business role whilst keeping my focus on Russia."
Eduardo Mantilla-Serrano wrote that "in October 2007, after four years of practice in international trade law and international business transactions; my partner (a former co-worker) and I made the decision to open our own consulting firm -- M&M Trade and Law." Eduardo also married Johana Alvarez-Botero in April 2007 in Bogota. "Definitively, 2007 was a year full of important changes in my life!"
Lisandra Meltzer wrote that "besides working in a law firm (Tavares Advogados, in Sao Paulo, Brazil) I'm currently writing for a magazine as a columnist. The magazine is called TPM (www.revistatpm.com.br), and I write about fashion, behavior, gastronomy and style. It's fun and I'm enjoying to develop another side of me - I sign the column as 'Lica Melzer.'"
Genaro Fernandez Ortiz has joined De Icaza y Martinez law firm in Lomas de Santa Fe, Mexico, as partner.
Julio Quiroga is president of his own sports business company in Buenos Aires, TMC - Talent Management Co. S.A.(www.tmc.com.ar) - and is the proud father of a new son, Julito.
Annabelle Richard is now a senior associate within the Telecommunication Media and Technology Department of Ichay & Mullenex Associés in Paris, working mainly on international telecom and new technologies projects. "I have been working a lot in post-war countries such as Afghanistan, Kosovo and Lebanon, for example, on major telecom projects. My firm works pro bono for a French association dedicated to the protection of children over the world. As such, I am a member of various governmental study groups, working on the protection of individual rights (and children in particular) on the Internet. I am also a member of the French National Commission on Human Rights, whose purpose is to advise the French prime minister on the possible consequences on human rights of the French regulations and their application."
Amélie Trevoux wrote, "I work in a law office as a Parisian and New York attorney (both swearing in ceremonies held in 2004), Cabinet Le Mazou, which has a focus on real estate, from development to litigation. We also deal with commercial and financial law issues."
Erika Watty Urista gave birth to Alexis Blaudszun Watty on February 25, 2008 (3,320g, 48cm). She wrote "I am not living anymore in Mexico but in Geneva since I married Julien Blaudszun (from BU's Banking and Financial Law Program) in October 2003. First I learned French here in Geneva and then I studied a Master in Business Law in the University of Geneva, then I worked in the legal department of DuPont de Nemours International S.A. here and for the moment I have decided to be a full time mother. Julien and I remembered our great moments in Boston and in BU."
2003
Luis Denuble is with the firm Noetinger & Armando in Buenos Aires. He wrote, "When I was studying at BU, I was married and I had one son. Well, time passed by and now I have four sons. Yes, believe it or not, all boys. I am still working at the same law firm. I am very pleased, since there is an excellent environment to work and progress. I am in charge of the Product Liability Department, working also in some intellectual property litigation. Two years ago I joined the AIJA (Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats) and I was lucky to have some beers with Pascal Depreux in Geneva. Last year I had the chance to participate as a speaker in a panel of International Arbitration in the 45th Annual Conference of AIJA, in Toronto, Canada. I am also teaching Consumer law at the Universidad de Ciencias Empresariales (UCES) and Civil Procedure in a postgraduate course. Last but not least, I am in touch with many of the BU classmates, Ramiro Barbosa (Banking and Financial Law, 1998) and other BU alumni from Argentina."
Unni Fredheim wrote to us last year:"I am still very happy in Geneva, working for the same company (although we have changed our name to Valartis Asset Management). I am also getting married and will change my name to Turrettini. I discovered that my fiancés cousin, Maurice Turrettini, graduated from BUSL. What a coincidence!"
Marc-Alain Galeazzi is an associate in the Corporate Department of Davis Polk & Wardwell in NY, assigned to the Financial Institutions Group.
Rainer Hoerning recently moved with Credit Suisse to London and has been working there on an internal assignment, with his home location still being Switzerland. He joined a BU Law reception in July for the Summer Legal Institute in London.
Flavio Jardim has accepted a position as a judicial clerk at the Supreme Court of Brazil, in Brazilia. He paid a visit to BU Law in March 2008, while on a short vacation to Boston. Congratulations to Flavio on his prestigious appointment!
Kyrill Makoski is now a married man (to a fortunate Bernadette) and admitted to the German bar. For the past few years, he had been a Teaching and Research Associate at the chair of Public Law at the Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf. He now practices law at Rechtsanwaelte Moeller und Partner in Düsseldorf. Kyrill and Daniel Otte (LL.M. 2005) hosted Professor Jack Beermann, who gave a series of talks in Germany in association with the German-American Lawyers Association (DAJV). "We took care of him in Düsseldorf, showed him the city and gave him the necessary bearings. Hopefully we made BU more visible to prospective students," wrote Kyrill.
Sangeeta Prakash (Sindwani) and husband Raj wrote with recent happy news: "We are so happy to announce the arrival of our newest bundle of joy, Sasha Prakash Sindwani, on July 11, 2008 weighing a whopping 4 pounds, 14 ounces. Mom and baby are home and doing well. Big sister Sienna is overjoyed as well (well, sort of)." Congratulations!
David Quinke is an associate in the Dusseldorf office of Baker & McKenzie, where his work focuses on international arbitration matters. He recently wrote two articles about his BU Law experience for the German publications, "Justuf" and "Z.f.R." Many thanks, David!
Celine Sellam wrote to us in April, "I actually just had a baby girl on Thursday morning, her name is Mia Rivka and she is 7 pounds 8 oz and we are doing great! It is our third child and Leah and Naomi (3 and 5 years old) are very excited!"
Tomás Sutton has joined the law firm of Moreno Crotto & Asociados Abogados in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as partner and head of the corporate practice group.
Minoru Tanaka recently hosted a welcome reception for new BU LL.M. students, along with Shuhei Takahashi (2001). He continues his work at Sony, where he now works with Yoshi Mochida, who joined Sony in March 2007 from Kao Corporation. "Yoshi will belong to a separate section from mine, but I am looking forward to opportunities to work with him."
2004
Sang He Lee left Samsung Electronics last year and joined a law firm in Seoul, Jisung Law Offices.
Margarita Llorente proudly announced the birth of her first baby, a girl named Juliana Madriñán, on July 24, 2007.
Caroline Ming and Joachim Knoll tied the knot of marital bliss in March 2008, with a service at the church of Saanen (way up in the Swiss mountains, next to Gstaad) and reception on the shore of Lake Geneva, in Vevey. Caroline is international legal counsel for SGS Group in Geneva and Joachim is with Lalive, in Geneva. They both joined John at a dinner in Geneva, in November.
Yugo Nakamura reported that since last year, "I moved to brand new organization at Panasonic HQ and then moved again to Brussels, where I think I will be for approximately 3 years. I finally got married and had a small wedding party in Osaka, Japan. Some BUSL members kindly joined this party. Thanks to my life in Boston life, I do not feel so cold in Europe!"
Satoshi Matsuo is working for Hitachi in Japan and reported his engagement to a professional tennis player. Congratulations, Satoshi!
Ade Oremosu wrote to us that "Everything is great. I was in Switzerland for Joachim and Caroline's wedding, and I met up with quite a few LL.Ms. It was like a mini-reunion, and the whole event was very nice. We had such a good time! Career-wise, I am moving to Chicago (from NJ), still with Verizon Wireless, to head the area legal team, so that's some good news from me. I've moved very quickly within the company, thanks in a large part to the LL.M program. I hope to come back one of these days to see you all."
Armando Rimoldi is in-house counsel with Telemex in Mexcio City.
Lauracelis Roques Arroyo was recently appointed as a Superior Court Judge within the Court of First Instance of the Judicial System of Puerto Rico. Congratulations, Lauri! She had previously been working at Martinez Obell and Calabria in Puerto Rico. She stopped by the Office in Spring 2008 to deliver this news in person! "I'm very happy with this new step in my professional life. Certainly, Boston University was an essential part of my preparation as an attorney," she wrote.
Po Keng "Brian" Tsai wrote that he is "now working for HSBC insurance in Taiwan as a compliance officer. My previous job was with ING group. I have to tell you but for the BU LLM degree, I wouldn't have the opportunity to work in those international companies."
2005
Lucas Brabers is at Allen & Overy in Amsterdam, and hosted a visit from John in fall 2007.
Rasmus Goksor is writing his dissertation for Duke Law School and also spending his days as a Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School.
Cesar Gonzalez wrote "I am currently working in Madrid in an M&A boutique and am quite happy here, although I miss the States. I keep in touch with numerous LL.M.'s. By the way I met Lorena Vazquez (1998), the first Spanish BU LL.M."
Koh Hinokawa reported: "since April 2007, I started working for a pharmaceutical company in Japan. I work at the legal department and mainly review contracts. Gradually I am getting involved with negotiations for co-development and co-marketing. The pharmaceutical business is quite unique, but I find it very interesting and I'm very happy with my job."
Jong Huang reported "I am taking care of our family business -- light weight monorails in Korea. It's a lot better to schedule your own time for a change." He is also the proud father of a baby girl.
Alexander Israel and his wife, Nadine, moved to Brussels, where Alexander is now an associate at WilmerHale.
Georg Jacobs (IP LLM, 2005) is an intellectual property attorney at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek in Dusseldorf, Germany. He and Florian Geyer (2001) helped organize a BU Law mini-reunion in Berlin, at the International Trademark Association annual meeting.
Pauline Loiseleur des Longchamps, as of her last report, told us "I have just moved to the US again! I arrived in Milwaukee, WI, to work for a year. I am on a special employment contract where I am working for Veolia ES Solid Waste, Inc., a subsidiary of a French company, Veolia Environmental Services, the world's largest waste management company."
Takaaki Oki wrote, that "after I went back Japan, I retuned to my previous company, Recruit Co., Ltd. and did several M&A transactions. I then joined the Legal Division of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. as an in-house counsel, working for its Asia-Pacific businesses. In October 2007, I was assigned to be Director of the Legal Department in Mitsui & Co (USA), Inc and worked in New York office for a half year and then relocated to its LA office as a Regional Director. I think I will be in LA for several years and I will send updates to my friends soon."
BU Law mourns the passing of Sang Kyu Song, who died of natural causes in spring 2008 in Seoul, Korea.
Kiyoshi Tsujimoto wrote that he has "been working as a vice president of Tsujimoto Law & Patent Firm. I sometimes give my clients legal advice regarding international contracts written in English, utilizing what I learned in BU. And personally, I got married in 2005 and now have a daughter. I would love to visit BU Law School with my new family members and see you soon."
2006
Chika Igarashi (Araki) is a senior associate at Japan's largest firm, Nishimura and Asahi. She wrote that "I am mostly dealing with corporate transactions and banking regulations both in domestic and cross border fields. Recently, I also lectured to our client corporations about sexual harassment regulation which is one of the hot topics in Japan. Thanks to my BUSL life, I could also take on some lectures to foreign clients in English."
Wolf Bussian is an associate with Lovells in Frankfurt, Germany. "Everything is fine here in Germany, including daughter Leonie, son Noah -- and another son scheduled for delivery. "We miss Boston and hope to come back as soon as our children allow us to do so."
Luli Coronel completed a clerkship with Judge William Young at the Federal District Court in Massachusetts and most recently became the proud mother of Antonio Jose, born on May 5th.
Mathilde Fabre has been working for a French beauty products company called Eugene Perma France in Paris, mainly in the area of intellectual property. She and Franz Muller (a Fall 2006 exchange student from Leiden) randomly crossed paths with John in Marrakech, Morocco in January 2008, while he was vacationing with his wife, Victoria. Small world!
Grazia Gatti is in London, working for Dewey & LeBoeuf. "I joined the Italian Desk and am responsible for advising on legislative updates concerning Italian and European Law. I am working hard, but I am very happy to practice in this field. She joined the BU Law reception for the Summer Legal Institute in London.
Bjoern Grund wrote in the spring: "I am completing the final part of my Referendariat at the German Mission to the United Nations in New York. The work is really exciting. My supervisor is posted at the 6th committee -- that is legal committee at the UN. So my work assignments include all different kinds of international law. My final oral examination will take place in the second half in August."
Natalie Guelfi wrote, "I am currently working in the corporate department of Allen & Overy in Luxembourg. I recently found out that there were two other BU alumni working with me here, Anne-Marie Nicolas (2002) and Jan Vanhoutte (2003). We do live in a small world!"
Paola Sanchez Hernandez is an associate at Barrera, Siqueiros y Torres Landa, S.C., in Mexico City. She hosted a visit by John in fall 2007, which included connecting with Federico Coronado Guerra, and Louis Pailles, Miguel Peralta, Juan Martorelli and Armando Rimoldi, Jesus Guerra Mendez. Juan, Louis and Miguel are all at Basham, Ringe y Correra.
Cristy Himes has most recently been working on international trade matters in the Washington, D.C. office of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, LLP -- an international law firm headquartered in New York.
Deborah Journo is an associate in the commercial and intellectual property law departments of August & Debouzy in Paris.
Gyorgy Kovacs wrote, "I think that during the past two years since I left Boston I have benefited a lot from my studies at BU in the daily work and in my career as well. I continue teaching in the Pazmany Peter Catholic University in Hungary. I started working as an attorney at the Austrian law firm Wolf Theiss in Budapest. I am also actively involved in the organization of the Hungarian Fulbright Alumni Chapter. I am convinced that BU was the best place to develop my teaching skills and my lawyering skills at the same time. In the regular teaching work at the university I made good use of the Socratic method and the other teaching methods I learned at BU."
Santiago Lynch and his wife, Fatima, are proud parents of Bautista Lynch, their first son, born on February 21st, 2007. The proud father wrote, "He's a healthy young man. We don't get much sleep but we still enjoy it." The Lynch family has returned to Argentina, where Santiago accepted a position at Cueto Rua, Landaburu & Lynch. He had previously been working at Fox, Horan & Camerini in NY.
Greg Margoline has been working at Linklaters in Paris since July 2007.
Stefan Rath is at Bridgehouse Law in Munich, He wrote, "Even though I am really happy with my job here in Munich I miss Boston a lot."
Byron Rooney is with Davis Polk & Wardwell in NY, where he is an associate in the capital markets group of the corporate department. He is also pursuing a Masters in Mathematics of Finance through Columbia University, part-time.
Daisuke Takei has returned to Japan to accept a position in the legal department of Sumitomo Chemical.
Maricarmen Valls Esponda is working at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in NY. She wrote, "I'll be here until August, then I am going back to Mexico where I'll work in America Movil, where I was working before Cleary."
2007
Bertrand Fisson-Balckwell wrote: "I took my French bar exam in September after a 2 month trip (1500 miles) across Europe. In March I went into the Great North with my uncle to test robotic material. This summer I will be trekking for one month across South Africa with friends. Otherwise, I am trying to enter the French military academy. If I succeed, I will then enter the Special Alpine Forces (always loved the cold) and hope to be sent to Afghanistan, Chad or Kosovo. Having done BUSL and the pro bono program was a real plus in my application. I miss BUSL a lot."
Francesca Fulchignoni is at Arendt & Medernach in Luxembourg. She reported that "Just a few floors down is the office of Nathalie Jastrow (2005), the one over mine being occupied by Anne Elbaz, and you probably know that Sophie Limbioul is working in Lux as well."
Arno Keuning wrote last fall, "You won't believe where I am right now! Sitting next to Megan in Juijeigou, China, near Tibet, also together with my sister. We are having a great time. I also visited Pedro in Venezuela and Andres in Equador! Good times!!" He is now at Clifford Chance in Amsterdam with Wouter Van Den Berg.
Rika Koinuma wrote last spring, "After graduation, I traveled around the U.S.and returned to Japan to work for the Japanese government, in the Japan Patent Office." Most recently, Rika got married (with BU LLM classmates in attendance at an April 2008 ceremony) and accepted an offer to work for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva for two years. "I was chosen for this position by the Japan Patent Office, where I have worked for six years. My responsibility at WIPO will be planning and providing IP related training programs for countries in Asia and the Pacific region. I believe that I couldn't get this chance without the year in Boston which you gave me a lot of support. I was so happy to be a student of American Law LL.M.. Thank you for everything you gave to me."
Tae Hoon Lee is the proud father of his first baby - a boy, named Jay Lee - who was born on July 26. Congratulations, Tae Hoon!
Sophie Limbioul wrote:"I'm moving to Luxembourg as I have been hired by PricewaterhouseCoopers to be tax advisor...a whole new thing!!!"
Wolf (Philipp) Mueller-Hillebrand is house-counsel at Parexel International in Waltham, MA - and a frequent supporter of campus activities at the Law Tower. Always nice to have you stop by, Wolf!
Thanarak Naowarat wrote last year that "I am now working as a specialized judge for the Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court in Bangkok. It will be my great pleasure if I have a chance to welcome all of you in Thailand. Please come to visit Thailand. I guarantee that you will like my country a lot." Last summer he participated in the China ASEAN Legal Training in China, as his court's representative.
Pedro Ossorio Caraballo is completing another masters degree at Navarra University in Pamplona, Spain. "I will graduate from the corporate law master that they offer here at Navarra University this September 2008," he wrote.
Ernesto Partida F. recently accepted a position as an associate at Galicia y Robles, S.C. in Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico. "I'm sure that the LL.M was the key to open this door on my professional career."
Andrea Tkacikova reports that "I left Switzerland and moved to Belgium. Now I am living in Brussels, working for the US law firm Hogan & Hartson in EC/US antirust area. I am working on international cases, serving clients from various parts of the world, learning about different cultures. I am working hard and long hours, 24/7 but, you know I love antitrust, I enjoy this work and I am happy to be involved in very interesting cases."
Diego Mauricio Rojas Peña has been is pursuing a MA degree in Dispute Resolution at UMass Boston, which he expects to complete in about 18 months.
Megan Shao wrote that "I am now working for an American Insurance company, Chubb. I am based in Shanghai and am overseeing specialty claims matters for Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. It's been a fun ride and I think this is the kind of career I dreamed of pursuing even before I started practicing law. The best thing is that I get to work with lawyers from all over the world. It always reminds me of an extension of the LL.M. course."
Anita Vadgama has accepted a position in Boston with Littler Mendelson, the largest U.S. firm specializing in Employment and Labor law. "It's the perfect job for me and they want me to give their clients UK employment law advice. In return they will teach me US employment law."
Pei-Yu Wu wrote in September that she had recently joined Baker & McKenzie's Taipei Office as an associate. "I have met several BU Law alumni here, and every one misses Boston and BU Law. I would never forget how beautiful Boston is in this season."
Guk Yeol was promoted to a partner in the law firm Lee & Ko in Seoul, in March 2008. Congratulations, Guk!
Boknam Yun has returned to his position as a partner with Hankyul Law Firm in Seoul. He recently published an article on "Getting the Deal Through - e-Commerce 2008."
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