Rusty Dalferes Memorial Fund

Thaysa Prado

Thaysa Prado is a Brazilian lawyer, specializing in civil law and international law, with a focus on international contracts. She holds a Master’s degree in Fundamental Rights and Democracy from the Centro Universitário Autônomo do Brasil (Unibrasil – 2009). She currently teaches Human Rights, Public International Law, and Private International Law at Unibrasil’s Law School.

Thaysa has been deeply involved with the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition since 2018, serving as a judge in the Brazilian National Rounds. She has also actively participated in the semifinal and final rounds of the Brazilian National Rounds, contributing to the event’s excellence and development. She has also judges other Moot competitions in Brazil.

She is a member of the International Law Commission and the Arbitration Commission of the OAB/PR (Brazilian Bar Association, Paraná Section), as well as the Brazilian Academy of International Law (Academia Brasileira de Direito Internacional), where she has delivered lectures at several editions of the Brazilian Congress of International Law.

Thaysa is the author of the book Cosmopolitismo e Estado Constitucional Pós-Nacional (Cosmopolitanism and the Post-National Constitutional State), which explores the intersections of global governance, constitutional theory, and international law.

Letícia Haertel

Letícia Haertel is a Brazilian lawyer and historian with a professional trajectory that includes serving as a clerk at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, as a Knowledge Management Consultant at UNICEF, and as Assistant Coordinator of the United Nations International Law Seminar. She currently serves as Legal Assistant to a member of the United Nations International Law Commission and maintains a legal practice focused on international law, immigration, human rights, and cultural heritage. After completing her Bachelor of Laws at the University of São Paulo, she pursued a Master of Laws at Ludwig Maximilians Universität and a Master’s degree in History at Fundação Getúlio Vargas.

Letícia has a long-standing and multifaceted involvement with the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. As a student, she first competed in 2017, an experience that led her to pursue a specialization in Cultural Heritage Law and ultimately to become an advisor to Brazilian institutions in negotiations concerning the restitution of cultural heritage. In 2018, her team from the University of São Paulo won the Brazilian National Rounds and represented Brazil at the International Rounds, reaching the octofinals for the first time. She later coached University of São Paulo teams in 2019 and 2021, with the latter reaching the octofinals at the International Rounds. She has twice received the Hardy C. Dillard Award for Best Combined Memorials, achieving third place as a competitor in 2017 and second place as a coach in 2019. She has also served as a Jessup judge at national and international levels, as Judges’ Coordinator for the Brazilian National Rounds, and as a lecturer at the Jessup School. Through her academic, professional, and mentoring activities, Letícia seeks to strengthen international law education and inclusive communities within the Jessup and beyond.

Fritz Kainz

Fritz Kainz is a PhD candidate at the University of Vienna. He previously worked as a judicial trainee at the European Court of Human Rights. Fritz holds a law degree and a BA in history from the University of Vienna as well as an LL.M. from the University of Virginia, which he attended on a Fulbright grant. Fritz has been active in the Jessup competition since he competed in 2019. He has since returned to serve as a coach as well as a judge, among others at the European Friendly Rounds.

Dominic Njuguna Ndung’u

Dominic Njuguna Ndung’u is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and currently serves as a Senior Legal Researcher at the Court of Appeal of Kenya, the country’s second apex court. In this role, he supports judicial decision-making through legal research, comparative analysis, and the preparation of bench memoranda and draft opinions across a range of legal fields. He previously served as a Legal Researcher at the High Court of Kenya.

Mr. Ndung’u holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Criminal Justice from Strathmore Law School (2025). His master’s thesis examined the admissibility and authentication of digital evidence before the International Criminal Court, engaging international criminal jurisprudence and evidentiary standards applicable in international judicial proceedings. He earned his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

He has been involved with the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition since 2014. That year, he represented the Kenya School of Law at the White & Case International Rounds in Washington, D.C., following his team’s victory at the Kenya National Rounds in the Case Concerning the Malachi Gap. Since 2016, he has served as the Kenyan National Administrator, and later Senior National Administrator, a position he held continuously until 2025. In this capacity, he coordinated national rounds, managed competition logistics, and liaised with the International Law Students Association. He has also served as a judge at the Jessup International Rounds Preliminary Rounds in Washington, D.C.

Abena Achiaa Otuo

Abena received a Dalferes Award in 2024 but was unable to attend the International Rounds. She will join the International Rounds in 2025.

Abena Achiaa Otuo is a Transactional Lawyer at Templars. While studying at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where she earned her LL.B degree, her research focused on protecting internally displaced persons under international human rights, humanitarian, and criminal law.

Abena’s involvement with the Jessup sparked her passion for international trade and cross-border transactions, leading to collaborations with organizations including the UK Department for Business and Trade and the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Since 2018, Abena has actively participated in the Jessup, including emerging as a national round champion and judging memorials and oral rounds. Currently, she serves as the National Administrator of Jessup Ghana and is leading the organization of the largest Jessup national round in Ghana’s history.

Nonso Anyasi

Nonso Anyasi is a Doctoral Researcher at the Open Universiteit, Netherlands. He holds an advanced LL.M. degree in International and European Law from the Vrije Universiteit Brussels. He specializes in data protection law – a passion he picked up from competing in the international rounds of the Jessup 2016 “The Frost Files.” He is a coordinator at Computers, Privacy & Data Protection Conferences (CPDP.ai) in Brussels, and leads the CPDP Africa Project. He has judged the Jessup national rounds in several countries since 2021.

Tatiana Squeff

Tatiana Squeff is a professor of international law at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). She holds a Ph.D. in international law from UFRGS and a master’s degree from UNISINOS in public law. She was a visiting researcher at the University of Ottawa and the University of Toronto. She was appointed Brazilian expert for the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) and serves as Vice President of International Relations of the American Association of Private International Law (ASADIP). She has been involved with the Jessup Competition since 2007, having served as a competitor, coach, and judge.

Keilin Anderson

Keilin Anderson is a Ph.D. student at the University of Cambridge. She has worked as a Judicial Fellow at the International Court of Justice, a Senior Lawyer in Australia’s Office of International Law, an arbitration and litigation lawyer and as an associate and research assistant for judges of the Australian federal and state supreme courts. Keilin holds a Master of Laws from the Australian National University as well as a Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Arts from the University of Queensland. Keilin’s Jessup team made the top 16 teams in the 2017 International Rounds and won the Richard Baxter and Alona Evans Memorials prizes. She then returned to coach the 2018 World Championship team and a 2020 Australian Grand Finalist team. She regularly serves as a Memorials and oral-round judge both at home in Australia and throughout Europe.

Swechhya Sangroula

Swechhya Sangroula is an academic and advocate based in Nepal. She holds an LL.B. degree from Kathmandu School of Law and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, with a focus on international law, negotiation, and dispute systems design. At Harvard, she was designated a Cogan Scholar for 2018–2019 and mentored LL.M. students for a year after graduation. As an Associate Professor of Law, she currently teaches interpretation of law and jurisprudence. She is a regular resource person for the Nepali Army on international law and has been an editor for a journal run by the Nepali Army for the past four years. She competed in the Jessup in 2015, and coached for three years. She has judged national rounds in Nepal and China, as well as the oral rounds (virtual) and Memorials at the International Rounds. She has also trained aspiring Jessup participants from law schools across Nepal on international law. She credits her years of immersion in Jessup in various capacities for sparking her interest in and building her confidence to engage with international law.

Liu Xinchao

Liu Xinchao is a postdoctoral fellow of international law at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Koguan School of Law. He undertook his doctoral research at Tsinghua University, obtained his LL.M. degree with distinction at Georgetown University Law Centre and his LL.B. at Shandong University. He participated in Jessup from 2014 to 2017, placing in the top 100 oralists at the White & Case International Rounds. Xinchao is the author of the first and the most comprehensive Chinese Jessup guidebook, Jessup Beginner’s Guide 3.0. Published online with open access, its all-inclusiveness from international law basics to OSCOLA and oral practice supported many under-resourced and inexperienced Chinese Jessup teams in their preparation process. Xinchao has also been a devoted Jessup coach in the past years, supporting his team to a top ten finish in the 2021 Global Rounds.

Ricardo Rodrigues de Oliveira

Ricardo Rodrigues de Oliveira is a legal adviser in the Office of the Portuguese Minister for Education, Science, and Innovation. He graduated from the University of Lisbon Law School and holds a Ph.D. from the European University Institute, in Florence. He is a collaborating researcher of different legal research centers, mostly working on European and Public International Law. Ricardo has been involved with the Jessup since 2015, having been judging national, friendly, and international rounds since 2020.

Manan Shishodia

Manan Shishodia is an Advocate in New Delhi, India. He holds an LL.M. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. At Penn, he studied Investment Treaty Arbitration and International Law, and was a Research Assistant to Mr. William Burke-White. Manan has been a Jessup judge for the last 4 years, including judging the advanced rounds of the US National Rounds and India National Rounds.

Bruna Gonçalves

Bruna Gonçalves is a Special Doctoral Fellow at the Law Department of the European University Institute (EUI), in Florence, and an MRes. candidate at Universidade de São Paulo (USP). She graduated with an Advanced LLM in European and International Human Rights Law from Leiden University and obtained her LLB from Universidade de São Paulo. Bruna has been involved with Jessup since 2020 as a competitor and coach. In 2022 and 2023, her team was respectively in the semi-finals and quarter-finals of the White & Case International Rounds.

Daka Francis William

Daka Francis William is a Legal Practitioner (Advocate) in Zambia. He is currently practicing as an associate at Makebi Zulu Advocates. He is an up and coming litigator with an interest in Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, Constitutional Law and Criminal Law. Francis holds both a Master of Laws in Legal Studies from the Atlantic International University and a Master of Laws in Human Rights Law from the University of Lusaka. Additionally, Francis is an experienced Jessup Judge who has judged the national rounds for the past 5 years.

Natalia Cortés

Natalia Cortés is a lawyer currently working at the Treaties Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia. She has represented Colombia before technical groups of integration mechanisms in her region, such as the Pacific Alliance and the Andean Community. Additionally, Natalia has experience working on petitions and cases before the Inter-American system of Human Rights. Her main areas of interest are human rights, gender-race matters, and criminal law. She has been a participant and a judge of the Jessup, and her Jessup experience has key to improving her knowledge and skills in Public International Law.

Oluwateniola Akinbodewa

Oluwateniola Akinbodewa is a fourth year SJD candidate in International Legal Studies at Golden Gate University in the United States. She previously studied at Belgorod State University in Russia, where she graduated with honors at both the master’s and undergraduate levels. Her research is focused on the Law of Treaties and state responsibility for internationally wrongful acts. She credits the Jessup for inspiring her love for International Law.

Ramiz Husaini

Ramiz Husaini is the director of Jessup Alumni Association in Afghanistan. Currently, he is initiating a capstone project at Wake Forest University School of Law to bring legal aid in clinical legal education to Afghan law schools. He received his Bachelor of Law from Herat University in 2013 and earned an LLM in the Rule of Law for Development from Loyola University Chicago in 2022. Husaini has several years of experience with prestigious international legal and educational NGOs, including the Legal Education Support Program in Afghanistan, Afghanistan Jessup Moot Court Program, and Friends of the Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan. He is passionate about training capable lawyers and introducing legal educational institutions in Afghanistan.

Dean Ralph Sarmiento

Dean Ralph Sarmiento is an accomplished academic in the Philippines with extensive experience in Public International Law. He is the author of a Bar Reviewer on Public International Law and has served as a Bar reviewer and lecturer on International Law for many years. He was the Dean of the College of Law at the University of St. La Salle from 2010-2017 where he earned his Juris Doctor degree Magna Cum Laude in 1997 and placed 10th in the Philippine Bar Examinations. He has been closely involved with the Jessup for many years, serving as National Administrator of the Philippines, as well as a judge. He has also served as a William Fulbright Institute Fellow at Temple University, a Swiss Institute Du Fédéralisme scholar at Fribourg University, and a consultant to the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Lu Shegay

Lu Shegay is the co-founder of the Institute of Animal Law of Asia and a professor of law. She earned her LL.B degree from KIMEP University School of Law in Kazakhstan and an LL.M degree from Lewis & Clark Law School in the United States. She has been involved with Jessup Competition since 2018, first as a competitor, then as a coach, and finally as a judge at the International Rounds in 2022. She now serves as the National Administrator for the Jessup in Kazakhstan. Lu has contributed to the draft of the Animal Welfare Law of Kazakhstan, published several articles on Animal Law in Kazakhstan, Russia, and the world. She is also the author of a chapter on Animal Law in Kazakhstan in the forthcoming Global Animal Law (Oxford University Press).

Ivonei Souza Trindade

Ivonei Souza Trindade is a Brazilian lawyer with experience at the Inter-American Human Rights System. He earned his Bachelor of Laws at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul- PUCRS in Porto Alegre, Brasil and has served as a lecturer in International Human Rights Law at A PARI MUN – Instituto de Investigación y Debate en Derecho in Peru. Additionally, he has published a number of books on International Law. A Jessup participant since 2011, Ivonei won the Prof. Vasco de Jesus Rodrigues Award in 2020 for service to the Jessup in Brazil.