Ana Sofia Monteiro Signorelli

Sofia is originally from Brazil. She graduated cum laude in International Relations and Economics at IBMEC/RJ and in Law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. After graduation, she pursued her MSc in Finance at COPPEAD/UFRJ having completed her thesis with distinction on “The Impact of Regulation on the Brazilian Fintech Ecosystem”. Right after completing her Master’s degree, Sofia also initiated her Ph.D. studies in Commercial Law at the University of São Paulo.

After two years of working as a lawyer in Arbitration and Strategic Litigation, Sofia joined the Brazilian Competition Authority (CADE), where she served as a General-Coordinator, responsible for analyzing mergers and monopolization cases in service sectors, mainly focused on Health, Education, Retail and Financial sectors. Sofia left Cade for a Clerkship with one of the Justices at the Brazilian Supreme Court, mainly focused on the Economic Analysis of Law.

Today, Sofia is a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at George Washington University, where she is completing her Ph.D. thesis on “Regulatory Litigation and Private Damage Antitrust Claims against Digital Platforms”. Besides working on her thesis, she is also pursuing an LLM as a Merit scholar in Georgetown Law, pursuing the International Business and Economic Law program with a concentration in International Arbitration. Her main interests are global antitrust policy, international trade, and international dispute resolution. Sofia speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

Jorge Saldana

Jorge is an LL.M. candidate and a merit scholar. During the LL.M. program, he will be focusing on Corporate, Securities, and Finance Law. He earned his law degree from the Universidad de Piura in Lima, Peru in 2019.

Jorge has been in practice for 4 years in top-tier law firms in Peru, and his experience is focused on corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and projects and infrastructure matters. He advised local and foreign companies in domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions, as well as in every stage of project development in Peru, especially renewable energy projects under private investment and infrastructure projects under Public-Private Partnerships, G2G agreements, Works-for-Taxes regime, and Public Works.

Noor Aziz

Aziz is an LLM candidate at Georgetown Law, specializing in International Business and Economic Law. He obtained his law degree from Universitas Indonesia and accumulated over 6 years of experience in top-tier law firms in Indonesia.

As a fellow in CTBL, Aziz aims to further enrich his academic journey and actively contribute to the community’s vibrant intellectual exchange. With his prior experience as a practicing lawyer in Indonesia, he brings a wealth of practical expertise and unique insights to the academic community. Aziz’s focus on the intricate details on corporate compliance, mergers and acquisitions, and business restructuring has been key in assisting major companies in navigating complex regulatory environments.

Tolkynay Shynazarova

Tolkynay is from Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan, graduated from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. After graduation she worked at Ernst & Young Kazakhstan for 4 years with the focus on corporate law, including sanctions issues, projects related to Astana International Financial Centre and labour law. After EY Tolkynay continued her employment as a lawyer at Integrites Kazakhstan Law Firm with the focus in the same areas.

Tolkynay’s experience includes provision of legal assistance to companies in various sectors of the economy including banking sector, energy, construction, subsoil use and various holding companies. Among projects the most notable are advising the client on restructuring project, in particular, introduction of a regulated business entity (bank) into a group of Kazakhstan companies and establishing a foreign subsidiary of the group of companies for introduction of new products for investment activities.

Daniel Kim

Daniel is currently a first-year evening J.D. candidate at Georgetown Law, pursuing transactional legal training in enterprise-led development, climate finance, and impact investment. Daniel has a Bachelor of Arts from the Johns Hopkins University and Master of Arts from the School of Advanced International Studies in development economics, international political economy, and international development.

Daniel concurrently serves as a Senior Partnerships Manager for the $250M USAID Climate Finance for Development Accelerator, where he designs, manages and implements global climate mitigation and adaptation projects, with the mandate of mobilizing $2.5B in private and public climate finance. In doing so, Daniel builds public-private partnerships among senior government officials, business executives, institutional investors and fund managers to support global climate goals. Previously, Daniel worked as an Economic Growth and Trade Practice Specialist at Chemonics International, overseeing a global portfolio of 20+ USAID projects in economic growth and trade, providing technical advisory services for business development, and delivering critical management and training support for a USAID innovative finance project.

Maria Alice Del Ponte Camiña Moreira

Maria is an LL.M. candidate and a merit scholar at Georgetown Law. She is also a member of the Georgetown Journal of International Law. She graduated from the law school at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) in São Paulo, Brazil.

For the past five years, she has been working as a lawyer in the agribusiness sector in Brazil, specializing in structuring complex commercial and financial transactions for commodity sales. She has experience in both private practice and as an in-house lawyer at one of the world’s largest multinational commodities trading companies.

Maria Alice is also actively engaged in human rights initiatives. She participated in the ADUS/FGV program, providing legal assistance to refugees in São Paulo. Furthermore, she co-founded and coordinated WOMENTOR, a mentorship program for the women at FGV Law School.

Kailan Chen

Kailan Chen is an LL.M. candidate at the Georgetown University Law Center, specializing in the International Business and Economic Law program. She is qualified to practice law in China and obtained her undergraduate degree in law from Shenzhen University, Shenzhen.

She has a broad interest in subject matters such as cross-border transactions, capital markets, and corporate matters. Prior to her LL.M. study, she interned with Dentons law firm, Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, and China Securities Co., Ltd. She is also an active participant in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, a competition focused on the CISG. She was an oralist in the 20th Vis East Moot and is now the coach in the 21st Vis East Moot. Additionally, she wrote a thesis titled ‘The Applicability of the CISG to UAV Sales Contracts’.

Fernando Ayala

Fernando is an LLM Candidate in the International Legal Studies program and pursing the Certificate in International Arbitration. He graduated in Argentina, from the University of Buenos Aires, where he was awarded the “Outstanding Student Award” twice. He also holds postgraduate studies in Latin America and Europe and usually participates in congress and events about international law, business and arbitration.

Fernando’s practice focuses in cross-border transactions in several industries like commodities, technology, energy and infrastructure. He mainly advises Latin America companies whose do business with Asian companies.

He represented companies in international commercial arbitrations seated in Hong-Kong, New York, Mexico and Buenos Aires. He managed and participated in arbitrations that involved multi-million dollar claims, in the industry of construction, infrastructure and energy.

Joe TIA

Joe is an LL.M Candidate in Taxation and a Georgetown Law Center Merit Scholar. Joe is dual qualified to practice law in New York and Ghana and has over 10 years of work experience in private practice and also as a law lecturer in Taxation in Ghana.