Akshay S. Ralhi

Akshay S. Ralhi is a seasoned corporate and securities lawyer with eight years of legal transactional and advisory experience. Prior to joining the LL.M. program at Georgetown Law, he worked at India’s largest law firm as a senior associate in its corporate and capital markets practice. He advised prominent clients on a wide range of high-profile transactions, including market-first and cross-border offerings across diverse sectors.

At Georgetown, Akshay is a Merit Scholar specializing in corporate, securities, and financial law. He is actively engaged as a CTBL Fellow and is a Research Assistant to Assistant Dean Alicia Plerhoples, focusing on corporate law and ESG issues. Additionally, Akshay is a Teaching Fellow for Professor Jonathan Rusch, working on corporate compliance matters, an Advisor to the Georgetown Journal of International Law, and a Member of the Corporate & Financial Law Organization.

Wenyuan Zhou

Wenyuan Zhou is a Third-Year JD Candidate at Georgetown University Law Center, and a
merit scholar. Originally from China, she earned her Bachelor of Laws in International Politics
with a minor in Finance from Tsinghua University. After graduation, Wenyuan worked for two
years at a leading China’s law firm, where she focused on commercial litigation and contract
disputes. During her JD studies, Wenyuan worked at DLA Piper’s Beijing office, where she
gained extensive experience in international project finance, investment, and mergers and
acquisitions. She supported Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in energy, power, and
infrastructure projects across multiple jurisdictions.

As a CTBL Fellow, Wenyuan expects to bring her international legal expertise and unique
perspective to advance the center’s mission. She is particularly passionate about advancing
global investment through China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Through her fellowship, Wenyuan
seeks to contribute to research and policy development that addresses the complexities of
transnational business and law.

Julie Gutiérrez

Julie Gutiérrez is a Colombian lawyer who combines expertise in law, policy, and technology to drive impactful solutions that combat corruption and promote good governance in both public and private sectors. Julie is an LLM candidate and Merit Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center, with master’s degrees in International Law from Universidad de los Andes and Policy Management from Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

She has professional experience promoting integrity, anti-corruption initiatives, anti-money laundering (AML), and human rights. As a law clerk at the Council of State, Julie contributed to landmark cases that strengthened human rights protections and standards in administrative and constitutional law.

As a legal consultant for multinational companies, Julie has fostered a culture of corporate integrity by developing and implementing robust compliance programs to combat corruption, money laundering, and terrorism financing risks.

She also has experience leading internal investigations and representing companies and governments, including the United States, as victims in criminal investigations involving corruption and other offenses.

Ignacio Tasende

Ignacio is a Uruguayan lawyer, currently doing an externship at King & Spalding in Washington D.C. He has experience in international arbitration at FERRERE, one of the largest Latin American law firms. He represented companies in commercial arbitrations under ICC rules, and an investor in an investment arbitration case under ICSID rules. Additionally, he has served as secretary to arbitral tribunals in ICC cases. Ignacio has published articles, presented at conferences, and held leadership roles in international arbitration organizations. He is eligible to sit for the New York Bar Exam.

Thi Thuong Le

Thi Thuong Le is a legal practitioner with nearly a decade of experience across both Vietnam and international legal environments. She has extensive expertise in capital markets, private equity, M&A and complex dispute resolution. She has played a key role in advising on multi-billion-dollar transactions, high profile bond issuances, and complex mergers in sectors such as energy, real estate and finance. In the realm of dispute resolution, she has represented clients in high-stakes arbitrations, including investor-state disputes and commercial cases, leveraging her deep knowledge of international arbitration frameworks. She has also contributed to the preparation and negotiation of transactional documents and has supported foreign investors throughout project implementation in Vietnam. Her experience spans multiple jurisdictions, including Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, and she is adept at navigating the legal complexities faced by foreign investors in emerging markets. Currently, she is both a Fulbright Scholar and a Georgetown Law Merit Scholar, pursuing an LL.M. degree in International Business and Economic Law.

Renan Silva

Renan holds a Bachelor degree from the University of Brasília (UnB) and has a career dedicated to infrastructure regulatory law and anticorruption, with multiple experiences in dispute resolution before regulatory agencies and public administration auditing bodies. Renan is currently an attorney at Manesco Law Firm, a leading Public Law focused boutique in Brazil, and is expanding his regulatory and white-collar knowledge by pursuing an LLM in International Business & Economic Law.

Jonas Cruz

Jonas is an LL.M. in Taxation candidate and a Graduate Tax Scholar at Georgetown
Law. He obtained his law and accountancy degrees from the University of the
Philippines, where he also taught tax courses.

Jonas’s practice focuses on tax controversy and litigation, and he has broad interest in
subject areas such as tax policy, taxpayers’ rights, and cross-border and international
tax. Jonas is a law clerk for an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the
Philippines, where he assists in the drafting of opinions as well as in the management of
judicial reform projects. Prior to this, he was a law clerk for the chief judge of the
Philippine Tax Court. Jonas has written numerous articles focusing on various tax topics
that have been published in leading law journals in the Philippines.

He is currently a research assistant to Professor Anupam Chander, and an extern at the
Office of Chief Counsel of the DC Office of Tax and Revenue under Professor Adam
Levine.

Paula Regina Brendolan

Paula Brendolan is currently an LL.M. candidate in the General Legal Studies program at Georgetown University Law Center, with a certificate in International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution. She is the Arbitration Co-Chair of the Georgetown Brazilian Law Association (BrazLA). Paula holds an LL.B. from the University of São Paulo (USP) and a Postgraduate Degree in Civil Procedural Law from the same institution.

Paula has worked at top-tier Brazilian law firms in dispute resolution, gaining significant experience in handling complex arbitration and litigation cases across a variety of industries. She has been involved in high-stakes arbitration disputes in sectors such as energy, construction, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).