This month, for Women’s History Month, the White & Case International Arbitration LL.M. Program celebrates outstanding female students and recent alumnae, highlighting their accomplishments from scholarship awards to International Moot Court successes, Practicum placements and challenging graduate legal research.
Miami Law’s International Arbitration LL.M., under the guidance of its distinguished faculty chair Carolyn Lamm, J.D. ’73, a Miami Law alumna and partner with White & Case in Washington, D.C. who also teaches in the program, provides a unique individualized curriculum for a small group of top quality students from around the globe who wish to acquire in-depth knowledge and skills in the field of international commercial and investment arbitration as a platform for a successful career.
U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Accordance with Amicus Curiae Brief Drafted with Help from International Arbitration LL.M. Students
Eleven students from the White & Case International Arbitration LL.M. Program, under the supervision of Sandra Friedrich, lecturer in law and director of Miami Law’s International Arbitration Institute and LL.M. Program, assisted the Miami International Arbitration Society in researching and drafting an amicus curiae brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. Noozyara Eshaba (J.D./LL.M. in International Arbitration), a U.K.-trained law graduate from Bangladesh, was “thrilled” to be a research assistant for the MIAS amicus brief. According to Eshaba, working on the brief allowed her to “vicariously live through” the material she learned in class. “Working on the project,” Eshaba noted, “gave me the opportunity to understand the real-life implication of the New York Convention and the issues regarding its interpretation.” Recently, Noozyara won Best Oralist of the International Final Award at the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) Pre-Moot for the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. The Miami Law Vis Moot Team, also comprised of Deandre (Dre) Joseph (J.D./LL.M. in International Arbitration), Emilio Rodriguez, David Berris, Maria Andreina Hernandez (J.D./LL.M. in International Arbitration) and Blake Fezza, also won the pre-moot finale out of the 95 participating teams from around the globe.
International Arbitration Collaboration - Celebrating 10 Years of Miami Law & Young ICCA Partnership
Recently, Miami Law celebrated its 10-year anniversary partnership with Young ICCA, offering one full-tuition scholarship each year to outstanding Young ICCA members to study in Miami Law’s prestigious White & Case International Arbitration LL.M. Program. Among the nine scholarship recipients so far, was Arundathi Venkataraman, IA LL.M. ’19, the second student from India and the seventh student overall to receive the Young ICCA full-tuition scholarship. “The Young ICCA scholarship is the entire reason I am where I am today!” Venkataraman said. “Without the funding, I would have found it very difficult, if not impossible, to pursue an LL.M. outside India, much less in the United States. I would say that the scholarship has not just influenced my career path, it has been the biggest driving force.” Venkataraman, who also worked with ICSID during her time at Miami Law through the LL.M.’s International Arbitration Practicum and interned at Debevoise & Plimpton, now works at Three Crowns in London.
International Arbitration LL.M. Practicum Program Celebrates Five Years of Successful Practical Training for IA Students
The skills-based International Arbitration LL.M. Practicum Program offers students the opportunity obtain practical experience in the field of international arbitration with law firms and arbitral institutions in Miami and beyond during their LL.M. studies. Colombian-American J.D./LL.M. Joint Degree alumna, Natalia Jaramillo (’20), completed the Practicum Program twice under the experiential learning track of the International Arbitration LL.M. with White & Case LLP’s Latin American Arbitration group and Florida-based Am200 law firm Shutts & Bowen.
“My experience at Shutts & Bowen had an invaluable impact in my career path,” Jaramillo stated. “I was able to work with and learn from leading practitioners in the International Arbitration and Litigation field in Miami and was able to apply all of the invaluable knowledge I had acquired in my LLM classes.” “I was not only an intern,” Jaramillo went on to say, “but also a member of the team. I am forever thankful to our program director Sandra Friedrich and the Shutts & Bowen team for giving me this incredible opportunity.” Having graduated recently, Jaramillo now works as an associate at Shutts & Bowen LLP’s International Arbitration and Litigation Practice Group in Miami, Florida.
International Moot Team Wins Multiple Awards, Places in Top 5 out of 77 Teams at 2020 FDI Moot
During the Fall 2020 semester, Miami Law’s Moot Court Team participated in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) International Arbitration Moot Court Competition. Team member Ana Sarmento (International Arbitration LL.M.), a U.S.-trained attorney from Brazil, ranked sixth best oralist out of 242 participants overall. “The FDI Moot taught me more about advocacy and teamwork than any class ever could,” Sarmento said, “The competition demanded hours of research, drafting, discussion, and oral argument practice. I was amazed by the talent and work ethic of my teammates, and by [moot court director] Paula Arias’s commitment to our success. My teammates and I were juggling other important commitments, but we never failed each other or our coach.” Miami Law’s Team, also comprised of Mackenzie Garrity and Ibrahim Amir (J.D./LL.M. in International Arbitration ’20), also placed fifth overall out of 77 teams competing in the Global Rounds. Recently, Sarmento, a New York-qualified lawyer, also passed the Florida Bar exam and plans to graduate with her LL.M. in International Arbitration later this year.
Meet Select International Arbitration Institute Scholarship Recipients
Each year, Miami Law awards partial-tuition International Arbitration Institute Scholarships to outstanding applicants to the White & Case International Arbitration LL.M. Program, helping students from around the world gain a greater understanding in the field of international arbitration. Recent International Arbitration LL.M. alumna, Thaís Dourado (’20) from Brazil, was highlighted as an International Arbitration Institute Scholarship Recipient.
Dourado decided to come to Miami Law in 2019 because the school has “one of the best LL.M. programs in International Arbitration in the world,” taught by faculty who are “distinguished practitioners in the field, including partners of big law firms, arbitrators, and others.” Throughout her time in the International Arbitration LL.M., Dourado had the opportunity to complete “internships in several global law firms headquartered in the U.S.” through the International Arbitration LL.M. Practicum Program, which boosted her “resume and will open the way for a brilliant career after graduation." Currently, Dourado works in a Miami-based boutique law firm in the area of commercial litigation.
