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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.
Joan De Venecia
Phillipines
Joan De Venecia studied law at the University of the Philippines where she graduated first in her class, cum laude. During her law studies, she was the team captain of several moot court teams, won Best Oralist and Best Memorial in the Asia Cup International Law Moot Court competition held in Japan in 2004, and was a semi-finalist and finalist best speaker in the Jean-Pictet IHL/Red Cross Competition held in France in 2005. She was also an active debater, and was a finals adjudicator in the Worlds Universities Debate Championships held in South Africa in 2002.
After graduation, she joined the biggest law firm in the Philippines, SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, where she was a commercial and criminal litigation associate for three years. She took the Philippine bar exam in 2005, where she place first among 1,526 bar passers. She was also a professor in international law at the Lyceum of the Philippines, as well as a regular lecturer in Procedural Law and Taxation for bar examinees from 2007 to 2009.
She is a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and the Asian Society of International Law. Her concentration at NYU Law will be in International Legal Studies. She has been selected as a Research Associate for Professor Philip Alston and is also a Fulbright grantee.
Mitra Ebadolahi
Unites States
Mitra Ebadolahi received her J.D., cum laude, from New York University School of Law in 2008. While at NYU, Mitra served as the Senior Notes Editor of the New York University Law Review. She was also a Root-Tilden-Kern/Filomen D'Agostino Scholar as well as an Institute for International Law and Justice Scholar. During law school, Mitra focused her studies on human rights, particularly economic and social rights, in the U.S. and abroad. She spent her 1L summer in Johannesburg at the Constitutional Litigation Unit of the Legal Resources Centre, and her 2L summer in New York with the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project. In 2008-09, Mitra clerked for Judge Margaret Morrow of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in downtown Los Angeles.
Previously, Mitra completed an MSc in Politics of the World Economy in 2004 at the London School of Economics, where she was a Fulbright Scholar, received the department's award for best dissertation, and graduated first in her class. She received her BA in International Development Studies and History from the University of California at Los Angeles, graduating summa cum laude with election to Phi Beta Kappa. As an undergraduate, Mitra studied abroad in Cuba in 2000, returning to Havana in 2002 to conduct field research on tourism's impacts on developing countries. She now returns to NYU to complete a thesis-based LL.M. in International Legal Studies, with an emphasis on economic and social rights.
Eran Sthoeger
Eran Sthoeger graduated summa cum laude from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, where he completed a degree in law, history, and Jewish history. During his studies, Eran was an editor of the Israel Law Review and conducted research in the field of public international law for several professors at the Faculty of Law, as well as for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As a student, Eran participated in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, noted as best oralist in the Israeli National Rounds, and went on to co-coach the Hebrew University’s team for the competition. For two years, Eran served as a staff member in The European International Model United Nations (TEIMUN) held annually in The Hague. For his achievements, Eran was awarded the Fritz & Margaret Oberlander Endowment in International Law and the P.E.F. Prize Granted for Exceptional Written Submission to the Israel Law Review.
Following his graduation, Eran clerked for the honorable Justice Salim Joubran at the Supreme Court of Israel. During that period, Eran co-taught a course in Public International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
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.
Niran Anketell
Sri Lanka
Niran Anketell, who is also a Fulbright Scholar, earned his Bachelor of Laws with Honors from the University of Colombo (UoC) where he graduated second in his class in 2007. While he was an undergraduate, he represented UoC at domestic and international competitions/events in parliamentary debate, theatre, moot court and rugby. In recognition of his achievements in academics, sports and other extracurricular activities, the university awarded him the Gold Medal for the ‘Best Student- 2007’. After graduating, Niran has taught courses in Public International Law at UoC and the Open University of Sri Lanka. Since late 2008, he has worked in the chambers of Mr. M.A. Sumanthiran, one of the top human rights and constitutional lawyers in Sri Lanka. Niran appeared for an amicus petitioner in the successful constitutional challenge before the Sri Lankan Supreme Court of a statute designed to vest significant powers over local government authorities with the central government, and has also assisted as junior counsel in a number of human rights and constitutional cases before appellate courts in Sri Lanka. In early 2009, he presented a paper critiquing the restrictions on free speech in Sri Lanka, imposed under the pretext of national security, at the academic sessions of the Law Faculty of the UoC.
Niran will be pursuing an LL.M in International Legal Studies at NYU.
Megan Donaldson
Australia
Megan studied law and arts at the University of Melbourne. After completing an honours thesis in 2006 on aspects of the French Revolution, she spent a year in a commercial firm, was admitted to practice, and in 2008-2009 undertook an associateship with the Honarable Justice K M Hayne of the High Court of Australia.
While at university, Megan was a member, assistant editor and ultimately co-editor of the Melbourne Journal of International Law. She was the editorial assistant for the Public Law Review, and for Anne Orford (ed), International Law and Its Others. She undertook research work in international and constitutional law, and has recently co-authored a chapter on “Values in Australian Constitutionalism” for a collected work exploring the possibilities and limitations of reference to values in comparative constitutionalism.
At NYU she will undertake an LL.M. in Legal Theory, with a focus on history and international law.
Rebecca Van Es
South Africa
Rebecca Van Es graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Psychology from the University of Cape Town in 2000. She was on the Dean’s Merit List throughout the three years of the degree and received a distinction in English on graduation. During this time she also actively participated in the Students’ Health and Welfare Centres Organisation’s tutoring project. For two years following completion of the degree, Rebecca worked in Wales and London, including working on a project initiated by the London Youth Justice Board. She travelled extensively in South America before returning to the University of Cape Town to start a Bachelor of Laws degree in 2003. During her law studies she was a student advisor at the law school’s Legal Aid Clinic, where she consulted with asylum seekers and refugee clients. Rebecca was also a member of the Treatment Action Campaign’s Paralegals Sub-Committee, which involved training and organising law students to educate and inform underprivileged communities about legal rights pertaining to HIV status. She received awards based on academic merit – including the Manuel & Luby Washkansky Scholarship Award, the Faculty of Law Scholarship Award and the LexisNexis-Butterworths Prize for Intermediate Year Best Student – and graduated cum laude in 2005.
Following graduation Rebecca completed the two years of practical legal work required to qualify as an attorney. She did this at Bowman Gilfillan Inc., a firm generally regarded as one of South Africa’s premier corporate law firms and which offers a range of diverse legal services. She worked both in litigation and corporate/commercial departments, and assisted with pro bono matters when possible. In the last six months she focused on competition law and was involved in matters that included the submission of filings by high-profile clients to the Competition Commission. Outside of the firm, Rebecca was actively involved in the formation of the Western Cape chapter of the South African Women Lawyers’ Association. She qualified as an attorney in 2008. Rebecca subsequently spent one year as a legal researcher to Chief Justice Pius Langa at the Constitutional Court of South Africa, working on matters of national constitutional importance. Following that, she moved to Bochum, Germany for six months, where she devised and taught a course introducing German law students at Ruhr-Universität Bochum to aspects of the common law system.
Rebecca will commence an LL.M in International Legal Studies at NYU.
Filippo Fontanelli
Italy
Filippo Fontanelli received his LL.B. degree in 2006 from the Pisa University, summa cum laude. In 2008, he was admitted as a PhD candidate at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa. He worked as stagiaire at the Rome office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, where he practised in litigation and international investment arbitration. His research focuses on the interplay among connected legal orders, from the perspective of the judges. He wrote various essays on the Italian Constitutional Court, the European Court of Justice and the WTO Appellate Body, all of them relating to issues of judicial competence and to the identification of deferential - interferential behaviors vis-à-vis other judicial and institutional players. He is co-editor of two volumes concerning, respectively, the role of the European Court of Justice and the possible application of comity among courts in the fragmented international legal order. He is member of the Society of International Economic Law and of the editorial board of the STALS project (www.stals.sssup.it).
Valeriane Michel
Switzerland
Valériane Michel graduated summa cum laude with law degrees from the universities of Fribourg (Switzerland) and of Paris II-Assas (France) in 2005. She specialized in European law, as well as in international law, and wrote her theses on ‘A Challenge for the European Union: Complying with Human Rights while Countering Terrorism’ and on ‘Non-State Armed Groups in International Humanitarian Law, in the Light of the Statutes and Case Law of the International Criminal Courts’.
Before beginning university, Valériane worked during one year in Lebanon for a non-governmental organisation dedicated to supporting destitute children. While attending law school, she continued volunteering with homeless people, as well as with AIDS patients.
In 2001 and 2002, Valériane interned at the United Nations (UN), both with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Over the two following years, she represented the Government of Switzerland at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly and at the UN Commission on Human Rights. Then, in 2005, she served at the Presidency of the International Criminal Court as an intern. Finally, from 2006 to 2009, Valériane worked as a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross and was sent on one-year missions to Eritrea, Israel and Colombia.
Valériane speaks Arabic, English, French, German and Spanish. She is also a Fulbright scholar. While at NYU, she will undertake an LL.M. in International Legal Studies.
