Raktima Roy

1) Who are you? Tell us about yourself!
I am a tech lawyer, previously Senior Associate at one of India’s leading law firms, currently back to school for an LLM in Tech Law and Policy from Georgetown Law, graduating in May 2023. For the past few years, I’ve worked as counsel for Big Tech companies, international nonprofits, start-ups with innovative tech and business models, as well as the Indian government. At Georgetown, I’m working on different projects relating to AI, privacy, disability, queer rights. In my free time, I feed people Indian food and run after squirrels in DC with a camera.

2) What drew you to Georgetown’s Tech LLM?
I like that it’s a relatively new program with enthusiastic investment from all the folks at the Tech Institute as a labor of love, and its focus on tech policy in addition to law. Being in DC is also a bonus, where you can discuss the politics of law-making at happy hours and hikes. It’s a two-way street where I learn from the kind of people whose work I’m interested in, and I am also able to bring in my own expertise in dealing with the same issues or the same companies from a different continent.

3) What have you enjoyed most about your experience here?
The diversity of learning opportunities. I learn in class about not only laws but different advocacy techniques in tech law policy from professors who have been there and done that, and I learn enormously outside of the classroom from my peers in the Tech Law and Policy LLM, especially other women from across the world who bring their diverse perspectives and resilience to their journey at Georgetown.

4) What are you looking forward to most about your ILPF Junior Fellowships?
I’m excited about the podcasts and writing opportunities which should allow me to explore tech policy and its intersection with various other interests I have, and platform marginalized voices in tech. The other ILPF Fellows are truly amazing and I’m so excited and humbled to have an opportunity to share this space with them.

5) What advice do you have for students who share your interests in tech law and policy?
Speaking as someone who worked for several years before taking a break to come back to school, your time as a student is simply invaluable in terms of getting to try everything you were ever curious about, without being directed solely by client instructions or billable hours. Enjoy this time and exploit this freedom. Talk to all the people you find interesting, go to all the conferences and tech policy happy hours, sit in for classes that are outside your credit limit or even outside law school (I have done this, it’s led to good things). This is a field where expertise is constantly evolving, which is good for students and newcomers.

6) What other interests do you have outside of law?
I like to meet new people, ideally over interesting food, hikes and board games. I am also a part of community organizing efforts both in India and in the US on various social issues and am generally interested in politics and technology even outside of their intersections with law.