Anastasiia Sydorenko, a recent graduate of the University of Miami School of Law's White & Case International Arbitration LL.M. program, lives and works as a law clerk in New York City for Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
There, Sydorenko helps International Arbitration, Sanctions, and International Trade practice groups with legal and factual research, legal drafting, and analysis of applicable regulatory practice. Her assignments relate to international arbitration cases before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, U.S. sanctions matters before the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, as well as pro bono work under the auspices of the Lawyers for Good Government foundation helping displaced Ukrainians to obtain legitimate protection status in the U.S.
Sydorenko's life changed forever on the morning of February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded her home country. Back then, she was a 24-year-old international arbitration lawyer who had settled into working as an associate in commercial disputes and trade matters with a prominent local law firm in Kyiv. Sydorenko and part of her family fled Kyiv to find safe shelter ten days after the war began.
Soon after the invasion, Miami Law announced scholarship opportunities to graduates of Ukrainian law schools. Additionally, the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP partnered with a gift to create the Orrick Graduate Law Student Support Fund at Miami Law to provide financial assistance for fees and living expenses to Miami Law graduate students pursuing an LL.M. degree who are experiencing financial and other personal hardship due to events in Ukraine. Orrick also provided mentorship support to these students.
"I am incredibly grateful to the University of Miami School of Law for this opportunity and a full-tuition scholarship I received as a Ukrainian law school graduate," Sydorenko said. "This is indeed a one-of-a-kind opportunity to enhance my professional expertise and later apply it for the benefit of the rule of law and the restoration of justice."
"All of this would not be possible without the support fund generously established by Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, at whose New York office I continued my educational journey as a law clerk," she said.
The LL.M. in International Arbitration, the only program of its kind in the U.S., provides a unique individualized educational curriculum and opportunity for a small group of top-quality students from a range of countries wishing to acquire an in-depth grounding in the field of international arbitration as a platform for a successful career.
"It was a privilege to learn first-hand from the truly legendary practitioners in the field of international arbitration, as well as first-class professors of the U.S. law, including Gary Born, Albert Jan van den Berg, Carolyn Lamm, Kathleen Paisley, Luke Sobota, Daniel E. González, Pedro A. Freyre, Christina Frohock, Jessi Tamayo, Alex Kaplan, to name some," Sydorenko said.
Students in the program receive career advising tailored to their individual interests and professional goals. Students have the opportunity to attend international job fairs, participate in internships with leading international arbitration firms, compete in international arbitration moot court competitions, participate in international arbitration conferences, lectures, and other networking events, publish in U.S. and international legal journals, and get involved in professional arbitral organizations.
"During my LL.M. studies, I also had a chance to work as a legal intern at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes of the World Bank (ICSID), a leading institution in the field of investment arbitration and a unique mechanism for Investor-State dispute settlement under 1965 Washington Convention," Sydorenko said.
Miami Law has one of the oldest LL.M. programs in the U.S. Since 1952, the School of Law has offered a host of master of laws programs for domestic and foreign lawyers that attract students from 30+ countries yearly.
Virtual and in-person tours, information applications, and scholarship workshops are offered weekly in English, Portuguese, and Spanish with program leadership and managers.
Read more about Miami Law's LL.M. Programs.
