Returning to Where It All Began
Photos by Mountain Leaf Photography.
Returning to Where It All Began
Yeqin (Ray) Lei (LLM’17) had just arrived in Boston to study in the BU Law American Law LLM program when she met Ruosi (Roth) Chen (LLM’16, JD’18), a 2L JD student. The two got to know each other after Chen, a fellow resident in Lei’s apartment building, offered to help her with her luggage on move-in day.
“Our connection really started to grow thanks to her cooking,” Chen says. “Yeqin wanted me to try a dish from her hometown, and she perfectly recreated the authentic flavor of this classic Shanghai dish.” Lei enjoyed spending time in the kitchen, and it helped her save money, so she would make extra and invite her neighbor over for meals. Lawyers through and through, they negotiated a “meal plan.” Chen would contribute to the cost of groceries and Lei would make him an extra lunchbox for school. Lei shared, “That’s when we started becoming closer.”
Chen says, “She saved me from junk food.”
Finding a rhythm that enabled them to spend time together wasn’t easy. Lei was facing the challenges of studying law in a non-native language in a rigorous one-year program, and Chen felt the pressure of daily cold-calls as a 2L.
“At one point, Ruosi even refused to study with us because he was afraid that dating would interfere with his studies,” Lei recalls, laughing. “But as we both got used to the intensity and pace of our programs, we began to relax and study together more often.”
Lei and Chen decided to enroll together in one of the BU Law courses available to both LLM and JD students, Mergers and Acquisitions, taught by Professor Stephen Marks. But it was the everyday moments of spending time studying in the library that were the couple’s best memories at BU Law.
“Along the Charles River, we’d study face-to-face in the library,” Lei shares, “then head to the common room on the second floor to enjoy the meals I cooked. After studying, we walked back home together. Those daily routines became our most simple yet meaningful dates.”
Ruosi (Roth) Chen (LLM’16, JD’18) and Yeqin (Ray) Lei (LLM’17) in the second floor Law Café.
Lei was clear about her career. “Becoming a lawyer had always been my childhood dream,” she shares. Once she earned her LLB degree from Shanghai University, she decided studying abroad for her LLM would provide her with more opportunities.
“My time at BU Law had a profound impact on my professional development,” Lei continues. “The exposure to a diverse and intellectually stimulating community helped broaden my worldview, which has been crucial in advising clients on cross-border transactions. The international connections I made and the insights into different legal systems continue to shape my approach to law, especially when working with foreign-invested enterprises and multinational clients.”
Lei currently works in Shanghai as an attorney at law at Longan Law Firm in the areas of private equity and venture capital, financing and mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcy and liquidation, and commercial dispute resolution.
Chen started at BU Law in the LLM program and graduated in 2016. Given his success in the program, many encouraged him to continue his studies in the JD program. Chen felt hesitant to commit to two more years due to the language and cultural barriers, especially in a program in which most of the students were native English speakers and grew up in the United States. However, his parents were supportive, and once BU Law admitted him as a JD student, he was ready to return to campus.
“BU welcomed me back with the handwritten words ‘Welcome back to BU’ on my admission letter,” Chen recalls. “That moment is still etched in my memory, as it not only gave me the opportunity to study along the Charles River for two more years but also led me to meet my wife. Looking back, I guess it was destiny.”
Today, Chen splits his time between Shanghai and Hong Kong as a lead associate at King & Wood Mallesons, focusing on international trade compliance, including export control and sanctions.
Eight years after meeting, Lei and Chen returned to the BU Law campus. “This August, we made a special journey from Shanghai back to Boston to take our wedding photos in the BU Law building, as it’s such a meaningful place for us,” Lei shared. “We had long agreed that if we ever managed to get married, we would return to the place where our relationship began to reflect on those early days.”
They were married in Hong Kong on September 10, 2024. In addition to their parents, they invited friends from BU Law, Li-Chen Lin (LLM’16) and Ken Lee Jun Jie (LLM’16), to act as witnesses.
Lei and Chen relived their BU days once more in 2024 at the Boston University Asia Alumni Forum in Shanghai. “The event brought back so many fond memories of our time at BU Law, and it reminded us of just how much we enjoyed being part of such a wonderful community.”
