Winter term across the world

Hurya Ahmed ’25 conducted an independent clinical at the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Islamabad, where she researched the administrative independence of the judiciary in light of the 26th Amendment to the constitution. She also wrote on environmental justice for the country’s rural communities.

Nishant Varma ’25 spent the winter term in Cape Town, South Africa as an intern at the Legal Resources Center with Phoenix Shaw ’25 and Elizabeth Peartree ’25. The L.R.C. is a public-interest organization that specializes in impact litigation and provides direct client services to refugees. The students worked on a memorandum they are submitting to the United Nations, shadowed one of the senior attorneys in court, and conducted research for a motion challenging the constitutionality of certain income tax provisions. 

Meera Shoaib ’26 worked with the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project (CPP) in Durham, North Carolina. The ACLU’s CPP engages in capital defense work across the country to fight for the abolition and reform of the death penalty, including through direct representation of clients. Pictured here, Meera and colleagues are out in the field working on a mitigation investigation in Anniston, Alabama. The ACLU generously arranged this four-day trip for the winter interns to gather some information for an urgent capital appeal they plan to file shortly. They are standing in front of the World’s Largest Office Chair (located in Anniston, Alabama!). 

Shayna Toh ’25 undertook a placement with the European Parliament for J-term, first in Brussels, Belgium for the first two weeks, where the administrative offices and committees are, and in Strasbourg, France, where the plenary is held, for the third week. I am situated within the External Relations Unit of the Legal Service, which follows and advises Members of the European Parliament on potential legal issues of new regulations and legislation in international trade, foreign affairs, and development. 

Danilo Doche Linhares ’25 conducted an independent clinical in Guwahati, in the state of Assam, India, at the Chambers of Aman Wadud. He worked with other lawyers in the chambers on petitions before the Gauhati High Court and Indian Supreme Court seeking judicial review of decisions of Assam’s Foreigners Tribunals which have denied citizenship to India-born members of the Bengali Muslim community of the state. Danilo is pictured next to Mr. Wadud, speaking at a community event at the Assamese-Bengali village of Chamaria. 

Carolyn Daly ’26 participated in an independent clinical with the Voting Rights team at the Texas Civil Rights Project in Austin, Texas. She learned more about TCRP’s community lawyering model, helped with TCRP’s litigation against Texas’ anti-voter law SB1, and assisted with advocacy work at the Texas legislature against requirements for proof of documentary citizenship and bifurcation of state and federal voting processes. 

Alexandra Gudaitis ’26 conducted an independent clinical at the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) in Paris, France. She researched whistleblower and media/free speech laws in five countries in southern Africa and wrote country reports analyzing the existing laws, identifying weaknesses, and highlighting resource centers for local whistleblowers.

Hussain Awan ’25 served as a winter judicial law clerk at the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the chambers of Senior Puisne Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah. His work centered around conducting comparative international law research, some of which has already appeared in Supreme Court opinions. He also led various projects aimed at strengthening the collaboration between the Supreme Court, Pakistani-origin JD students from the United States, and law schools in Pakistan and the USA.  

Lindsey Perlman ’26 spent the winter term at the New York State Supreme Court. She worked on authoring draft opinions and orders for Judge Lebovits in commercial disputes involving New York businesses.

Mady Womack ’25 spent J-term at the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, a non-profit law firm that represents Native Hawaiians. She worked on a variety of cases: advocating to keep Native Hawaiians in their homesteads, supporting efforts to protect Native Hawaiian traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expression under intellectual property law, and researching novel impact litigation strategies. Pictured here is (L-R) Ryan Foo (HLS ’25), Womack, ‘Ihilani Chu (Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation), and Marcos Andrade (HLS ’26) at a cultural workshop learning how to make ti leaf leis. 

Kelsey Johnson ‘25 spent Winter Term at the Legal Resources Centre in South Africa. She conducted research on education access and assisted in representing cases involving land rights and identification documents. She is pictured here at the High Court of South Africa in Johannesburg. 

Seth Billingsley ’25 spent the winter term at the Arkansas Governor’s Office, working on crafting legislation cracking down on violent crime and reigning in social media platforms trying to push harmful content on Arkansan children. He also worked to ensure that Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ initiative to slash the regressive grocery tax and keep more money in families’ hands complies with the Arkansas Constitution and statutory tax regime.

Sophia Kontos ’26 spent the winter term in London, conducting an independent clinical at the British Institute for International and Comparative Law. She worked with their public international law team on projects relating to the return of stolen cultural property and the protection of cultural property during armed conflict. She is pictured here at the British Museum viewing the Parthenon Marbles, arguably the most well-known artifacts in an ongoing repatriation dispute. 

Harshit Patel ’25 worked at an independent clinical at Salzburg Global Seminar in Austria, where he conducted research on the legality and impacts of Chinese investment in Kenya, particularly the Lapsset Corridor. Harshit is pictured at his workplace, the Schloss Leopoldskron, with Leopoldskroner Weiner and Untersberg in the background. 

Brad Henicke ’25 worked in a placement with the UN specialized agency for intellectual property, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in Geneva, Switzerland.  His projects there primarily focused on sports and intellectual property. 

Emily Kohn ’26 conducted an independent clinical in Stockholm with the American Chamber of Commerce in Sweden, where she researched corporate governance and US-EU trade policy.