J.S.D. Candidate Profiles

Akshat Agarwal is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he served as the Tutor in Law from 2022-2024. He is currently the Drinan Visiting Assistant Professor at Boston College Law School where he is teaching courses on family law. Akshat researches and writes about the legal regulation of families and how societal contexts and the political economy shape the law and are shaped by it. His JSD dissertation focuses on the changing law of parent-child relationships and its impact on legal concepts such as parenthood, parents’ rights, and children’s interests.

Kangyun Bao is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he received his LL.M. degree in 2022. Kangyun also earned a Ph.D., LL.M., LL.B., and B.A. degree at Peking University in China. His academic interests include law and economic development, corporate governance and financial regulation, international economic law, and empirical legal studies. His J.S.D. dissertation explores the role of law and policy in promoting technological innovation and industrial upgrading in China’s solar industry.

Lara Benítez is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School from Argentina. Her research focuses on evidence law, epistemology, and evidence-based public policy reform. Her dissertation examines the problems raised by the use of naked statistical evidence in legal adjudication, with particular attention to the epistemic and cognitive considerations that bear on its perceived inability to satisfy prevailing standards of legal proof. She holds an LL.M. from Yale and law degrees from Universidad de San Andrés (hons). She has served as Legal Advisor at the Prosecutor General’s Office of Buenos Aires, taught at Universidad de San Andrés and Universidad Nacional de La Plata, and worked at the Innocence Project Argentina.

Santiago Carbajal is an Argentine J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he obtained his LL.M. degree in 2024. He holds an LL.B. (Hons) from the University of Buenos Aires, where he taught Analytical Jurisprudence, Professional Responsibility, and Administrative Law. Additionally, he served in the Judiciary of the City of Buenos Aires. Santiago’s academic interests include legal and moral philosophy and administrative law. He is currently working on the nature of reasonableness in the context of the review of authoritative administrative decisions.

Andrés Caro Borrero is a Colombian lawyer currently pursuing a J.S.D. at Yale Law School, where he also obtained his LL.M. degree in 2020 and for which he received the Henry Ralph Ringe Scholarship, after which he was a Fox Fellow for the year 2020-2021. He received the 2020 Barry S. Cohen Prize for the Best Paper on a Subject Related to Literature and the Law from Yale Law School.

Liat Dasht is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School. She holds an LL.M. from Yale (2022), pursued as a Fulbright Scholar, and an LL.B. and a B.A. in Philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2019). Liat’s research revolves around the intersections of law and analytic philosophy, especially in the areas of constitutional law, human rights, free speech, contract law, moral and political philosophy, philosophy of mind and action, and metaphysics. Her dissertation deals with the moral grounds for collective agents’ responsibility and rights and their implications for the desired scope and interpretation of nation-states’ legal responsibility and rights.

Yuval Erez is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he also earned his LL.M. degree in 2025. Yuval’s research interests are Comparative Constitutional Law, Election Law, and the Law of Democracy. His J.S.D. dissertation focuses on contemporary challenges of Election Law, including the growing dominance of illiberal political players in democracies, difficulties in verifying information vital for democratic discourse, and the impact of national emergencies on elections. Before joining Yale, Yuval studied in Tel Aviv University, where he also served as co-Editor-in-Chief of the Tel Aviv University Law Review and worked as a research and teaching assistant in various fields.

Doruk Erhan is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he earned his LL.M. in 2022 as a Fulbright Scholar. He previously studied law in Turkey and the United Kingdom and worked at a law firm specializing in appellate litigation. In 2022–2023, he was a Fox Visiting Fellow at Sciences Po Paris. His research spans transnational litigation and arbitration, legal theory, and comparative law. His dissertation develops an intellectual history of international arbitration from the early Cold War to the present, reconstructing the field’s formative debates and identifying the competing discourses that have produced its current—though increasingly contested—prominence.

Helena H. Funari is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School whose research bridges political theory, electoral law, constitutional law, and data science. She investigates how courts and election rules shape democratic accountability—especially through campaign-finance design, party competition, and institutional safeguards.

Adi Gal is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where she also obtained her LL.M. degree in 2020. She is an E. David Fischman fellow. Before coming to Yale, Adi worked for the Deputy Attorney General (International Law) in Israel, and as a researcher in a leading Israeli think tank. She was also a practicing lawyer specializing in complex commercial litigation and arbitration cases in the private sector. Adi’s dissertation examines the history and practice of remediation for international human rights law and international humanitarian law violations. The project suggests a theoretical framework that draws on private law methodologies, particularly torts. Her research areas include Private Law Theory, Constitutional Law, International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Criminal Law, and Public Policy.

Sarah Ganty is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where she serves as President of the Yale Law School European Law Association. She is also a Postdoctoral Fellow at Université Catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve and a research affiliate at the Central European University Democracy Institute in Budapest. In 2013, she was called to the bar of Brussels. She defended her first doctoral dissertation at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in February 2019. Sarah’s scholarship aims to unveil how societal hierarchies and stratifications are maintained through law. Her primary academic interests include migrants' law in its broadest sense—encompassing refugee law, immigration law, and integration law—as well as citizenship, anti-discrimination law, human rights law, and legal theory. Sarah is particularly engaged in studying poverty and socioeconomic inequalities. With a strong background in EU law, she is also active in analyzing the EU legal system.

Akriti Gaur is an Indian lawyer currently pursuing a J.S.D. at Yale Law School where she served as a Tutor in Law from 2022-2024. She obtained her LL.M. degree from Yale Law School in 2022. Before coming to Yale, Akriti was a policy advisor and an independent researcher focusing on technology and human rights in India. Her doctoral project focuses on constitutional resilience and the distortion of the digital public sphere, particularly the impact of emerging social media platforms on authoritarianism and speech control in the Majority world.

Raaya is a Sri Lankan J.S.D candidate and Graduate Fellow-in-Law at Yale Law School, where she obtained her LL.M. in 2022. Prior to Yale, Raaya worked in legal research, policy and practice in Sri Lanka, and more recently at the European Court of Human Rights as a Robina Fellow. Raaya’s academic interests lie in public law, international human rights law, women’s rights and access to justice. Her dissertation focuses on feminist movements’ engagement with the law through public interest litigation in four countries in South Asia.

Samuel González Cataño is a Mexican lawyer currently pursuing a J.S.D. at Yale Law School, where he also obtained his LL.M. in 2022. He has collaborated at Isonomía, a prestigious Mexican journal on law and philosophy, and served in several positions at the Mexican Judiciary and the General Consulate of Mexico in New York. Samuel’s research interests include comparative law in Latin America & the Global South, legal & judicial politics, and human rights & democracy.

Shira Halbertal is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where she also earned her LL.M. degree (2024). She holds an LL.B. and B.A. in the humanities from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Summa Cum Laude). Shira clerked for the Deputy Chief Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court. She taught legal writing and research at Hebrew University and worked as a research assistant in the fields of administrative and constitutional law, as well as family law.

Shira’s research interests are philosophy of law, criminal law, constitutional law, and human rights. Her dissertation focuses on the nature of obligations and the nexus between obligations and human dignity.

Julius Hattingh is a New Zealand J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School. He holds an LL.M. from Yale (2025) and an LL.B. (Hons) and B.A. in psychology and philosophy from the University of Auckland (2019). Before coming to Yale, Julius practiced IP and technology law in New Zealand and tutored jurisprudence at the University of Auckland. His research explores the intersection of law, philosophy, technology, and human behavior. His dissertation focuses on legal authority, rule-breaking, methods of law enforcement, and the relationship between illegality and impossibility. He is a resident fellow of the Information Society Project.

Yunhang Hong is a Chinese J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he received his LL.M. degree in 2025. Before coming to Yale, he earned dual Bachelor's degrees in Law and History from Peking University, China. His academic interests lie in East Asian legal history. His doctoral research examines the interactions between the ancient Chinese tributary system and Western international law in the 19th century.

Dan R. Israel is a Chilean lawyer and J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he earned his LL.M. in 2023. Before beginning his doctoral studies, he was an Associate Research Scholar at Yale and worked at the New York office of a global hedge fund. Dan is licensed to practice law in Chile and New York. His dissertation examines the Social Security Act and private retirement funds governed by ERISA. In particular, he analyzes legal frameworks governing retirement funds, assesses how demographic shifts strain Pay-As-You-Go funding schemes, and discusses how tax law principles can inform potential paths for reform.

Alexis Lujan is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he earned his LL.M. degree in 2024. Alexis’s research interests lie at the intersection of statutory interpretation, legal ethics, and international tax law. His dissertation focuses on the ethical standards and regulations governing the use of aggressive legal interpretations in designing or approving international tax planning strategies. Before coming to Yale, Alexis worked as a tax advisor and authored a book. He obtained his LL.B. from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), graduating summa cum laude. In 2024-2025, Alexis served as a Fox Fellow at the University of Melbourne (Australia).

Milagros (Millie) Mutsios Ramsay is a Peruvian lawyer and J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where she earned her LL.M. in 2022. She currently serves as the Legal Advisor to the Presidency of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, providing legal advice on contentious cases, advisory opinions, compliance monitoring resolutions, and judicial opinions, while also liaising with the European and African Human Rights Courts. A former Fox International Fellow (2022–2023) and Robina Fellow (2023–2024), she previously taught at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Her doctoral research examines Indigenous sovereignty through public international law and administrative and institutional mechanisms in comparative perspective, with special attention to the governance of extractive industries, climate-related regulatory frameworks, and participatory guarantees such as free, prior, and informed consent. Her work also explores the intersections of economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights with public administration in Latin America.

Ya’ara Mordecai is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where she earned her LL.M. degree in 2023 as an E. David Fischman scholar. She also holds an LL.M. in public and international law, an LL.B., and a B.A. in the “Amirim” Interdisciplinary Honors Program for Outstanding Students from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

María Gracia Naranjo Ponce is an Ecuadorian lawyer currently pursuing a J.S.D at Yale Law School, where she also obtained her LL.M. degree in 2022 as a Fulbright Scholar. Before coming to Yale, she was a practicing lawyer in the fields of tax law, private law, and dispute resolution, clerked at the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, and taught at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ). She is currently a professor at USFQ. María Gracia’s academic interests focus on tax law, private law, and dispute resolution. Her J.S.D research explores the substance over form doctrine and its potential conflicts with due process.

Taís is a J.S.D. candidate and Fellow in Law at Yale Law School. Taís holds LL.B. (2016), M.A. (2020), and Ph.D. (2025) degrees from FGV São Paulo Law School. Taís completed her LL.M. degree at Yale Law School (2022) and served as a Visiting Researcher (Fall 2023) and Fellow in Latin American Legal Studies (Winter 2024) in the same school, under the supervision of Professor Owen M. Fiss. Taís researches and writes about antisubordination-based approaches to equality, constitutional law, procedure and theory, democracy theories, political theory, critical legal theories, and fundamental rights in the Global South.

Thomaz Pereira is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he served as Tutor in Law from 2012 to 2014. He is currently a Professor at FGV Direito Rio in Brazil and was a Visiting Professor at National Law University, Delhi, in India. Prior to coming to Yale, Thomaz worked as Law Clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Brazil, as Chief of Staff to the President of the Brazilian National Council of Justice, and as a full-time researcher at FGV Direito SP. His academic interests include the fields of constitutional law and theory, comparative law, legal and political history, legal and political theory, and civil procedure.

Katharina Isabel Schmidt is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School. Before coming to New Haven in 2012, she obtained law degrees in Germany and the United Kingdom. She is concurrently pursuing a Ph.D. in History at Princeton University.

Omar is a public international lawyer and a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he received his LL.M. degree in 2020. His research interests are international labor law, international organizations law, laws of war, data protection law, and administrative law. He works as counsel at Hadef & Partners, a law firm in the United Arab Emirates, in its regulatory & government advisory practice group.

His doctoral research examines the relationship between collective labour law, international investment law, and human rights law.

Luciano Simonetti I. is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he obtained his LL.M. degree in 2023. He also holds an LL.B. from Universidad Católica de Chile, where he graduated with maximum distinction (summa cum laude). Before coming to Yale, Luciano worked as an adjunct professor at Universidad del Desarrollo Law School, where he taught Economic Regulation with co-professor John Henríquez Oyarzo. Luciano's academic interests include comparative constitutional law, political and constitutional theory, legislation, and empirical legal studies. His J.S.D. thesis explores legal legitimacy from an empirical and comparative perspective.

Sixtine Van Outryve is J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where she also obtained her LL.M. degree as a BAEF fellow in 2018. Combining normative and empirical approaches, her J.S.D. explores how unions, as collective vehicles for workers to express their voice, could be democratized to both increase their legitimacy and strengthen democratic life at large. She also teaches political theory at Radboud Universiteit. In March 2024, she defended her Ph.D. at U.C.Louvain in Belgium, her home country, in which she developed a normative theory of communalist direct democracy and analyzed its practice by social movements through qualitative research methods.

Chantelle van Wiltenburg is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where she obtained her LL.M. degree in 2022. She also holds a J.D. degree from the University of Toronto (2018), and a B.A. in English literature from McGill University (2015). Prior to commencing her doctoral studies, Chantelle practiced for five years as a litigator in Vancouver, Canada with a focus on public law disputes including criminal, administrative, constitutional, and human rights law. She also previously served as judicial law clerk with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto.

Ziqi Wang is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he earned his LL.M. in 2025. Before coming to Yale, he received his LL.B. from China University of Political Science and Law in 2021 and his first LL.M. from Tsinghua University in 2024. Ziqi’s research interests include legal history, constitutional law, comparative law, and political philosophy. His doctoral work focuses on the influence of social contract theory on Chinese constitutionalism.

Elazar Weiss is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he also earned his LL.M. degree in 2020. Elazar’s research focuses on the intersection between law, culture and language. His J.S.D dissertation examines metaphors and paradigms underlying US abortion jurisprudence and “culture wars” (Privacy vs. Destiny). Before coming to Yale, Elazar completed degrees in law (L.L.B.), philosophy and economics (B.A.) through The Lautman Interdisciplinary Program of Tel-Aviv University. In 2021, Elazar served as a Human Rights Fellow at Yale Law School’s Schell center. Visual documentation of his Socio-Political journey through the Holy Land is currently on exhibit at the Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale.

FAN Xiaolu is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where she earned her LL.M. degree in 2022. Xiaolu’s areas of interest in legal scholarship include international law, international legal history, international environmental law, and critical theory. Her doctoral research at Yale focuses on the history of international environmental law from the 1970s to the 1990s. The project examines the involvement and influence of economic institutions on the development of international environmental law and how that reshaped the relationship between developed and developing countries.

Hernán Gómez Yuri is a J.S.D. candidate at Yale Law School, where he obtained his LL.M. degree in 2024 as a Fulbright Scholar. Before coming to Yale, Hernán taught courses on legal theory at the Diego Portales University and the Catholic University Silva Henriquez. He was also a research assistant on a project for the Chilean National Research Fund (Fondecyt) about the rights of people with disabilities. Hernán’s research focuses on comparative public law and political theory. His dissertation explores the design and development of fourth-branch institutions (organismos constitucionales autónomos) across Latin American constitutions and their impact on the system of checks and balances.