Meet the New International LLM Students

Dharmadhir Acharya

Kathmandu, Nepal

Acharya, who is from the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu, has traded one city famously set among mountains for another. After graduating with his Bachelor of Law, the degree required for aspiring lawyers in Nepal, he spent seven years at one of Kathmandu’s top-tiered law firms, Pioneer Law Associates, counseling clients, including the World Bank and Google, in corporate governance, employment law, intellectual property and data privacy.

Acharya had long dreamt of earning an LLM and increasing his knowledge in various areas of commercial law, including of technology law, as well as getting to know the U.S. and its legal system, so Seattle U Law’s LLM in Technology and Innovation seemed to be a perfect fit.

“Seattle is recognized as a tech city, a lot of companies are based here. That added a value for me to connect, more opportunities to explore,” he said. “I’m super excited that I’ll be learning new things, new ideas, from a diverse culture.”

He is interested in various student organizations whose activities pertain to a career in commercial law, including Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), the Privacy Law Student Association, and the Justice in Employment and Labor Law Organization. After graduation, he plans to gain some work experience in the American legal system before returning to Nepal to open his own law firm.

“I love the diversity I have in my classes; it makes the classes unique,” he said. “The professors are very welcoming, they pay attention to how the international students will be accommodated in each class, and are very conscious of how each student is settling in.”

Ashutosh Chandra

Ranchi, India

This is not Chandra’s first occasion to visit Sullivan Hall. During his legal education at O.P Jindal Global Law School in Sonipat, India, he spent the fall 2023 semester in Seattle as an exchange student, made possible by Jindal’s partnership with Seattle U Law.

“I loved the campus, the people, and how accepting they were,” he said of his study abroad experience.

While still an exchange student, Chandra was intrigued by the American legal system, and he began to plan his return to Seattle to enroll in the LLM Program. Now that he is here, he is looking forward to joining the Middle Eastern/South Asian Law Student Association (MESALA) and possibly contributing to the Seattle U Law Review.

With his LLM degree, Chandra plans to return to India to work in technology law and mergers and acquisitions.

“I thought if I could get into the intersection of technology and law, I could make a real difference somewhere,” Chandra said. “Technology is ever-changing and so it requires adapting laws. I realized if I can develop myself into a technology lawyer, I can be at the forefront of the conversations for regulating technologies.”

Tetiana Harmash

Cherkasy, Ukraine

Harmash graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law from Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Kharkiv, Ukraine, earning an academic scholarship from the president of Ukraine in 2018. After graduating, she worked as a lawyer for the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Harmash sought refuge in Hungary, Germany, and, eventually, the U.S. While she was glad to be safe, she felt a void in her life that could only be filled by practicing law.

“From the moment I arrived in Seattle, I knew I wanted to study at Seattle U Law because of the LLM Program,” Harmash said. “It perfectly matched my plans.”

She would like to work in immigration law, using her trilingual abilities and her own experience as a refugee to aid and empathize with others, as she “experienced how alone you are when you come to a new country, culture, and language.”

“I feel like I’m finally coming back to my life. These two years of immigration, I felt like I didn’t know what to do with my life because I had to flee Ukraine and had to stop practicing law. I was not interested in anything except law,” she said. “I feel really excited because I came back to where I belong. I finally see that light.”

Tanveer Kaur

Punjab, India

Kaur graduated last year among the top students in her class from Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law in Punjab, India. She has interned with lawyers at the Indian Supreme Court, the High Courts in Delhi and Punjab, and the District Courts, as well as with law firms and organizations specializing in technology law.

Kaur is very grateful to have earned a merit-based RoundGlass scholarship to attend Seattle U Law, enabling her to fulfill her dream of studying law abroad.

“It validates all of my hard work that I’ve put in in my undergrad years and my internships,” Kaur said.

She enjoys many aspects of an American legal education so far, including greater freedom to choose her courses and a student-oriented approach from staff and faculty that aims to minimize the pressure students feel. Kaur plans to get involved with ADR, which she participated in in India. She is especially looking forward to taking classes from the Technology, Innovation Law, and Ethics (TILE) Program, as she plans to work in IP and data privacy.

“Studying abroad is a whole experience that stays with you later in life, especially the independence it brings,” she said. “Earlier, my university was close to home, but now living in a whole new country and figuring everything out by myself has given me the opportunity to become more self-dependent and grow as a person. Right here, I feel like the world is open to me, I can explore anything, I have so many opportunities around me.”

Agenor Henrique Silva Leite

Recife, Brazil

After earning a law degree and working as a lawyer in Brazil, Leite spent seven years in Portugal, where he completed a postgraduate law degree at Universidade Católica Portuguesa and worked in corporate compliance and data privacy in Lisbon.

Leite is completing the LLM in Technology and Innovation because he hopes to establish a real estate startup after graduation. Geared toward people like him, who often move to new places without the ability to first secure apartments in-person, the site would allow clients to find apartments and complete paperwork online, with measures to ensure the property’s quality and the documents’ compliance.

“Seattle U Law was ideal for me because of the program focused in technology,” he said. Additionally, with Seattle being a center of the tech industry, “all the big companies in Seattle like Microsoft matter.”

He signed up for the IP Law Society and wants to start a new student organization for international LLM students. He also wants to obtain recognition for Seattle U Law’s LLM Program with the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Code for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), considering its emphasis on technology laws.

“Seattle is a great city, everyone here is so nice to me,” he said. “The faculty is awesome. They are very skilled, qualified people.”

Alex Leshko

Rivne, Ukraine

Leshko earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law in Ukraine, followed by stints working as a court clerk, in municipal law, and as an assistant for a Ukrainian politician, a role that required both legal and PR skills. In 2016, he moved to the U.S., in part because he has family in Seattle and in part due to safety concerns after the Russian invasion of Crimea two years previously. He obtained a paralegal certificate at Highline College in Des Moines and worked as a legal assistant in civil litigation, focusing on personal injury claims.

“I am so excited to jump into legal academics and get my official law degree, become a lawyer in U.S.A., help people, and give them a second chance,” he said. “It was always my passion to help people through legal means and communication.”

He especially appreciates the cultural diversity at Seattle U Law. While he anticipates challenges, he noted that “they are a way to grow.”

Leshko plans to go into civil law, perhaps real estate or tech law. In his eyes, the LLM Program is the perfect way to combine one’s international skills with legal knowledge.

“My first impression is that it’s a very welcome, open community,” he said. “Life here is like a sports team, we’re all together helping each other.”

Angie Melissa López Cardona

Bogotá, Colombia

López Cardona has lived in Seattle for the past two years, working at an immigration firm, but she was born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia. She earned a bachelor’s in law and a postgraduate degree in constitutional and administrative law from Universidad La Gran Colombia, but desired to go abroad to practice law. After spending two years as an au pair in New Jersey and Washington, D.C. to learn English, López Cardona researched LLM programs.

“In Colombia, I never thought about technology and the law,” she said. “I was looking for an LLM program with technology, and that’s what caught my attention at Seattle U Law.”

López Cardona said she is now “so happy to be here and loving every single moment.” She is excited to get involved with the Latinx Law Student Association and Privacy Law Society, and is appreciative that her professors have been so kind and understanding with students for whom English is a second or third language.

“I’m Catholic, so the way the university focuses on forming professionals with Jesuit values, to me that’s really important,” she said. “I want to focus my career in data privacy, but I really care about the social, human part of everything. I have seen that the professors focus a lot on social justice and how we can make an impact as professionals on the world. That makes me really excited and shows me that I made the right decision.”

Aashika Patel

Birgunj, Nepal

Patel is originally from Birgunj, Nepal, but has spent more than a decade in Delhi, India, studying and working in law. After completing her Bachelor of Law and Bachelor of Business Administration, she practiced law for four years, specializing in criminal law and family law, focusing on domestic violence, divorce, and alimony issues.

Patel wanted to earn an LLM in the U.S. to learn more about the history and formation of the U.S. Constitution because it has much in common with India, a country that similarly broke away from British rule.

“Every time I searched online for the best law universities in the United States, Seattle University appeared in my search results,” said Patel, who hopes to continue her family law work in the U.S.

So far, she is loving her classes and is looking forward to taking part in the Punjabi Law Society, International and Immigrant Student Association, MESALA, and ADR. She gives a special shout-out to Professor Deirdre Bowen, director of the Family Law Center, Professor Sital Kalantry, and Liz Guinn, LLM Program coordinator, who “is available for us any time we have any questions.”

“Every professor has been really helpful, they understand English is not our first language, and they tell us we can contact them if we need anything. I love this,” she said. “If we’re sitting in class and not getting something, they are willing to help.”

Egor Redin

Ryazan, Russia

Redin earned a law degree in Russia and worked in commercial litigation for a decade before he left for humanitarian reasons in 2022. As a stepping stone to law school, he earned a paralegal professional certificate from Tacoma Community College (TCC) and then served as an immigration paralegal and volunteer for local nonprofits and law firms.

A professor at TCC and Seattle U Law alumnus, Paul Landry ’92, told Redin about the LLM Program for international students and encouraged him to apply and continue his American legal education. Immigration attorney N. N. Mensah ’01, Redin’s supervisor, also recommended that Redin continue his studies and become an attorney in the U.S.

Now at Sullivan Hall, Redin is glad to be among other international students in the LLM Program.

“You feel support from other classmates, and this is wonderful,” he said. “All of these students have real experience as lawyers in their countries.”

Now he hopes to one day work in employment law or immigration law, helping others like himself make a new life in the U.S. He is looking forward to taking part in either the Immigrant Justice Clinic, directed by Professor Zaida Rivera, and the Workers’ Rights Clinic, directed by Professor Elizabeth Ford.

“I am happy to study with other students, especially Ukrainian students, because we can support each other,” he said. “This is a country that can make people a community.”

Nitesh Sinha

Delhi, India

Sinha, who has been an attorney in his native India for two decades, is unique among the LLM students. Despite not having earned a JD or taken the bar in the U.S., he is already allowed to practice law in Washington state in his current role as in-house counsel for Microsoft’s Compliance and Ethics Department, due to a special exemption from the Washington State Bar Association.

However, although he doesn’t need an LLM for his career goals, Sinha still wants to earn it for the knowledge he will gain and the opportunity for personal growth.

“This was longstanding on my list of things to do, and now that I’m here in the U.S., I’ve started pursuing it. It’s never too late,” he said. “I’m doing it more for my interest, looking at it from the perspective of building familiarity with U.S. laws.”

He chose Seattle U Law for its proximity to Microsoft in Bellevue, where he continues to work full-time, as well as the plethora of technology-related classes through the TILE Program.

“The classes have been fantastic, with the way that the professors walk us through the intricacies of the legal system,” Sinha said. “I’m hoping to come out as a more evolved person. I love the classes already and am really enjoying this experience. It has been a great decision to start studying here.”