Class of 2019

Festus Adewopo, Nigeria

Festus earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.  He also earned an LLM in International Business Law at the Catholic University of Lyon, France.  He is the president and founder of the Nigerian NGO You and I For Development Initiative.  His area of interest is business law and alternate dispute resolution. 

Mohammed Alharthi, Saudi Arabia

Mohammed received his Bachelor of Arts in Judicial Studies with honors from Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.  His interests include business and criminal law.  After his time at Cincinnati Law, Mohammed plans to return to Saudi Arabia to pursue a career in academia.

Abdulrahman Alhenaki, Saudi Arabia

Abdulrahman earned his Bachelor of Laws degree with honors at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  He has interned in the area of legal consulting and has worked as a teaching assistant in law at the University of Ha'il (UoH) as well as a case investigator for the Saudi Arabian Industrial Development Fund.  He earned his Cincinnati Law LLM in 2018 and is currently pursuing his Certificate in Fundamentals of US Law. After his time at UC Law focusing on business law, he plans to return to Saudi Arabia.  

Gulnara Aliyeva, Azerbaijan

Gulnara received her Bachelor of Laws and an LLM in Constitutional Law from Baku State University in Azerbaijan, in addition to a Master's degree in European Studies and Public and Private Management from the Bremen University of Applied Sciences in Germany.  She has interned with the Raoul Wallenburg Institute and is interested in international law and international human rights law.  

Ibrahim Alsubaihi, Saudi Arabia

Ibrahim received a Bachelor of Laws degree from King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  His areas of interest include criminal law and international human rights.

Cécile Bonmarin, Switzerland

Cécile joins us from Switzerland and is fluent in French and German.  She earned both an LLB in Swiss Law and an LLM in Business Law and Litigation from Lausanne University. She is taking time off from her position as an attorney with L'Etude Gillon Perritz Overney Favre & Cie in Fribourg to pursue her LLM at Cincinnati Law.  Her interests include business law and criminal law. 

Monika Ekström, Finland

Monika earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from Åbo Akademi in Finland and an LLM from the University of Helsinki.  She interned with Frost Brown Todd in Cincinnati in 2013 and has since completed her judgeship training in Finland.  Her main area of interest is criminal law.

Olukemi Hambolu, Nigeria

Olukemi earned her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ibadan and is a partner at Grace-Field Solicitors in Lagos.  She also works as a volunteer program coordinator with the Nigerian NGO Lakewood Foundation, where she mentors underprivileged children and works to provide economic empowerment to widows in Lagos state.  Olukemi's main areas of interest are business and health law.

Rodrigo Horna, Peru

Rodrigo earned his Bachelor of Laws with honors from The National University of San Marcos, Lima and is a legal assistant with the Victor Andreas Belaunde Higher Education Teaching Institute.  His main area of interest is business law.

Kitso Matlhape, Botswana

Kitso is the recipient of our first LLM Human Rights Fellowship.  She recently received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Botswana and is a volunteer with The Voice of a Child & Youth Engagement NGO.  She is interested in international human rights and public international law. 

Elena Voicu, Romania

Elena earned her Bachelor of Laws from Ovidius University in Constanta and is currently a legal advisor at Notarial Individual Bureau Petrescu Veronica and at the Professional Notary Society Dumitra Fanula and Dumitra Cristina.  She is interested in criminal law and family law. 

Renata Xavier, Brazil

Renata earned her Bachelor of Laws degree from Mackenzie Presbyterian University in São Paulo.  She has interned with the 5th Federal Tax Court in Brazil and is an attorney at Krikor Duarte & Forssell Advocates where she works in asset recovery and international investigations.  She is interested in business law. 

Ye Zhou, China

Ye recently received her Bachelor of Law degree from Nanjing University where she focused on intellectual property.  She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chinese Pharmacy from the China Pharmaceutical University in Jiangsu Sheng.  She has interned with Wuxi Xin Chuang Tech Corporation in Wuxi, China and led a first place team in the moot court competition in Nanjing.  She is interested in intellectual property, patent law and business law.