Current LLM Students
PROFILES OF LL.M. STUDENTS IN 2009-2010
FT and PT indicate full-time and part-time students, respectively. Profiles of continuing part-time students appear after the new students.
New Students
Mr. Salam Alyasiry (FT) was born in Baghdad, Iraq, and earned his bachelor's degree from the Baghdad University School of Law in 1990. He opened a law practice in Najaf, Iraq, but Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990 which caused him to go in a different direction. In March 1991, he led an uprising against Saddam. He was lucky to escape Saddam's secret forces and found himself in a Saudi Arabian refugee camp. He came to the U.S. in 1992 and has built an international reputation as a writer against dictatorship in Iraq and around the world. He managed an international radio station for four years, hosting a program on the Iraqi Freedom Radio Station, which was broadcast daily in Iraq from the U.S. He returned to Iraq in 2003 and reopened his law practice. He has worked as a special advisor for the U.S. government in Iraq to secure freedom and peaceful dispute resolution between tribal leaders. In 2007, with support of the U.S. and Iraqi governments, he helped negotiate a peace treaty for Iraqi civilians.
Ms. Christina Baker (PT) is a senior public counsel with the Office of the Public Counsel in Jefferson City, Missouri. She is licensed to practice law in Missouri and holds professional engineer licenses in Missouri and Illinois. She received a J.D. degree from St. Louis University School of Law and a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology). Christina appears before the Missouri Public Service Commission and courts on behalf of public utility ratepayers of Missouri. She worked as an environmental engineer with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and previously worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and in private consulting. Christina and her husband, Bruce, live in Ashland, Missouri. They love to cruise and have traveled all over the world.
Ms. Brandy Bryan (PT) earned a B.S. degree in management of technical operations from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2002, after serving as a Spanish linguist for the Intelligence Corps of the U.S. Army. She worked as an expeditor for several years, handling logistics for such companies as Chevron Cabinda Gulf Oil Company and Stewart and Stevenson. Later, while teaching middle-school Spanish classes in Texas, she spent a summer vacation in Costa Rica studying the culture and language. She earned a J.D. from the University of Missouri in 2009, completing an internship with the Business Litigation Division of the City of Houston City Attorney's Office and an externship with MU's Athletic Compliance Office. Brandy recently accepted a position with MU's Health Services Institutional Review Board. She enjoys time with her daughter and walking the trails with her dog.
Ms. Mary Jude ("Judy") Cantorias (FT) is a member of the Faculty of Instruction of the Arellano University School of Law (AUSL), Philippines, where she obtained her LL.B. degree in 2000. She passed the Philippine Bar exams in 2001 and did a clerkship at the Philippine Supreme Court with Associate Justice Leonardo Quisumbing, later becoming a legislative officer in the Philippine Senate. Her desire to diversify her legal skills prompted her to join the VERA law firm, where she handled intellectual property law cases. After two years of doing litigation, she became a documentation lawyer in one of the biggest commercial banks in the Philippines. More recently, she was engaged as legal specialist / national consultant, assigned with the public sector group / sovereign lending activities in the Asian Development Bank. Since 2001, Judy has been a lecturer at AUSL in advanced legal writing, alternative dispute resolution, and intellectual property law. She is currently on sabbatical from her AUSL duties, both as a faculty member and adviser to the Arellano Law and Policy Review, the official law journal of AUSL Through MU's LL.M. Program, she looks forward to the opportunity of further contributing to Philippine legal education, especially introducing students to an invaluable alternative to litigation, which she is convinced will have a tremendous social impact on practitioners and parties.
Ms. Valerie Chaffin (FT) comes to us from North Carolina and Virginia. After graduating from East Carolina University in 1979, she taught math and English to middle school children. In 1982, she went back to school and obtained an associate degree of applied science in paralegal technology and then practiced for 24 years. During that time, she became one of the first certified paralegals in North Carolina. For the past ten years, she has been an adjunct faculty member of the Legal Assistant Programs at Meredith College and Fayetteville Technical Community College. She has been active in civic affairs, serving as a committee chairman on the blue-ribbon board celebrating the 50 th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education in 2004 and as a member of the advisory boards of the Wake County Volunteer Lawyers Program and the Methodist College Paralegal Program. In 2007, Valerie worked with the National Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) office in Seattle, Washington, in refining its national recruiting and volunteer screening policies. She has received numerous honors including being named to "Who's Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges" in 1982, one of "2000 Notable American Women" in 1991, "Who's Who Among Rising Young Americans" in 1993, " Paralegal of the Year" by the Volunteer Lawyers Program of Wake County, North Carolina in 1999, "Pro Bono Paralegal of the Year" by the National Federal of Paralegal Associations, Inc. in 2001, "Outstanding Volunteer" by the White House (greeting President George W. Bush when he visited Raleigh in 2004), and "Volunteer of the Year Buchanan County, Virginia" in 2009. In 1998, she began work as a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) advocating for abused and neglected children, trained GAL volunteers, and served on the executive board of the Friends of the GAL Program. In 2006, Valerie enrolled in the Appalachian School of Law (ASL) so that she could serve abused and neglected children as a lawyer. At ASL, she trained fellow law students to be GAL/CASA volunteers. In 2008, she studied at the International Human Rights Institute in Galway, Ireland and studied constitutional law under Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Valerie plans to use her education at MU to continue providing service to children.
Ms. Kalisia Findley (FT) is from the Caribbean island of Jamaica. She received her bachelor of laws degree, with honors, from the University of the West Indies, Barbados, in 2003 and her B.A. degree in Spanish and Political Science, with honors, from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica, in 2004. She received her certificate of legal education in 2005 from the Norman Manley Law School, in Jamaica, where she earned a place on the Principal's List for outstanding academic achievement. She is currently a managing partner at the Law Offices of Gloria Brown and Company in Jamaica, where her main areas of practice encompass real estate transactions, conveyancing, estate planning and settlement, matrimonial proceedings, and company incorporation. She was recently approved by the Chief Justice of Jamaica to be added to the Supreme Court Roster of Mediators. In 2008-09, Kalisia taught advanced level law at Campion College in Jamaica. Early in her legal career, she realized the pressing need for dispute resolution processes, not only as an alternative to litigation and other court processes, but also as a means of preserving relationships and eliciting meaningful resolution of conflicts. So she took mediation training and serves as a mediator for magistrate court matters. In the future, Kalisia intends to pioneer the incorporation of dispute resolution courses in Jamaica's legal curricula.
Ms. Marlo Goldstein Hode (FT) holds an M.A. degree in intercultural communications and has a background in international business, customer service, teaching/training, mediation, conflict coaching, and organizational development. She has worked throughout Latin America and Europe. She provides training, facilitation, coaching, and mediation (in both Spanish and English) to a wide range of clients including university employees, human resources professionals, staff of nonprofit organizations, government agencies, local business owners, and community members. She provides a wide range of conflict management and cultural services a consultant to nonprofit and educational organizations in Oregon and North Carolina. In addition, she is an adjunct instructor for Portland State University's Conflict Resolution Program.
Dr. John ("Jack") Healy (PT) is the associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Central Methodist University (CMU) in Fayette, Missouri. He earned his B.A. degree in English from Creighton University (Omaha, Nebraska) in 1985, his M.A. degree in English (1988) and his Ph.D. in English (1997) from the University of Kansas. He wrote his dissertation on the early poetry of Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, a native of Northern Ireland. Jack has published articles and presented papers in the U.S. and Ireland on Heaney's poetry and Irish novelist Colum McCann. He has a particular research interest in the impact of sectarian and social violence throughout the 20th century in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Jack taught English for 24 years at the University of Kansas, Baker University, and, since 2000, at CMU. Before his promotion to associate dean, he served as the chair of humanities at CMU. He was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminar at the University of Notre Dame in 2003, focusing on images of Ireland and the Irish from the Irish and British perspectives throughout Irish history and literature. In Spring 2006, he taught in the Missouri London Program at Imperial College, London, where he taught Travel Literature and Post-colonial British Literature. Jack hopes to use his knowledge and experience in the LL.M. Program to develop helpful skills in higher education administration. As a hobby, he has twice performed roles in productions by the Fayette Area Community Theatre, the most recent, in February 2009, requiring several singing performances from a wheelchair. Jack and his wife, Kathy, who works for MU's University Affairs, live in Columbia with their sassy tabby cat, Kerry.
Mr. Ziyi ("Daniel") He (FT) was born and raised in Shanghai, China's largest city. Ziyi received his bachelor of law (LL.B.) degree in 2009 from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in China. His main areas of interest are international law and business dispute resolution. Realizing the increasingly important role that China plays in the world economy, Ziyi plans to pursue a legal career specializing in international business and trade. Prior to joining MU's LL.M. Program, Ziyi worked at several law firms in Shanghai. In 2008-09, he worked as a legal assistant in Shanghai Yan Dansheng Law Firm, where he investigated a case involving fraud in an international business transaction, assisted in a business dispute resolution between the majority and minority shareholders of a public corporation, and prepared legal documents for a commercial defamation lawsuit. In the summer of 2008, he worked for the Shanghai Yueping Law Firm, where he helped resolve a dispute between a real estate developer and sixty new home buyers. In the summer of 2007, he worked at Shanghai HuangPu District Public Notary Office for a legal internship. In addition, as part of the social practice program at HUST Law School, Ziyi participated in a large-scale research project investigating the legality of collective land ownership of farmers and land acquisition by the local government in central China. He is very active and outgoing with a wide range of personal interests. He spends his spare time reading books and watching movies. He also enjoys running, biking, and playing badminton. He is a big fan of sports and his favorites include NBA basketball and European soccer. While this is his first time coming to the U.S., Ziyi has traveled to Australia, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Macau, as well as many places in China.
Mr. Randy W. Hoerschgen (PT) has spent the majority of his career working with disadvantaged and at-risk youth for the Jefferson City Public Schools and the Cole County Juvenile Court. This is where he first experienced the successful use of mediation. Randy later began his own mediation practice (DecisionOne) in Jefferson City. He is a volunteer mediator for the Missouri Bar Fee Dispute Resolution Committee. Randy is a social and behavioral science graduate of Indiana University and is in the final stages of his master's degree in behavioral science from California State University-Dominguez Hills, with an emphasis in negotiations, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding. Randy serves as a board member for the Association of Missouri Mediators and was formerly the executive director. He also is a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution, Missouri Restorative Justice Coalition, Victim Offender Mediation Association, National Association for Community Mediation, Labor & Employer Relations Association, Kelley School of Business (Indiana University), Missouri Chamber of Commerce, and the Jefferson City Chamber of Commerce. He is married to Tracy, who is a registered nurse at University Hospital. Randy has three children and one grandchild.
Mr. Wei Hu (FT) was born in Xi'an, a Chinese city which has a long history, Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses (called the "eighth wonder of the world"), and was the beginning of the Silk Road. He received his bachelor's degree in engineering from China University of Petroleum (Beijing) in 2006, majoring in chemical engineering and processing. In the summer of 2005, he did an internship with the Yanshan Petrochemical Company and learned that petrochemical companies have many patent disputes which impede the development of the Chinese petroleum industry. To learn how to deal with these disputes, he entered into Huazhong University of Science and Technology (Wuhan) for his master's degree in intellectual property (IP). He worked as an assistant in JiuChou Law Firm, which handles domestic and international IP cases, and had experience with litigation, negotiation, and mediation in IP cases. He decided to enroll in MU's LL.M. Program to help China deal with the international IP disputes regarding petroleum. He is interested in sports, especially in soccer and swimming, as well as debating, politics, and law.
Ms. Martine Pieterkosky (FT) received her B.A. degree from the University of Cape Town in 2000 and her LL.B. degree in 2008 from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). She was on the Dean's Merit List at UWC in 2006-2007 and received the Golden Key International Honour Society award in 2007. Martine was born and grew up in Cape Town and has spent time in the United Kingdom as well as in the United States. She feels that with the burgeoning court queues, rising costs of litigation, and time delays, more legally-trained mediators and arbitrators will make the system more efficient for those who struggle to afford proper legal advice. She has worked with juvenile offenders, which has reinforced her belief that everyone should have the right to adequate legal services. Outside of her studies, she is interested in fitness and has a black belt degree in karate. Martine is excited to be a part of the LL.M. program this year and looks forward to a rewarding and life-changing experience.
Mr. Chipili Salati (FT) was born in Zambia in Southern Africa. He completed his primary and secondary education in Zambia and received his LL.B. degree at University of the Western Cape in South Africa, where he finished in the top 10 percent of his class. He was on Dean's Merit List throughout his years of study and is a member of the Golden Key Honour Society. He worked as a law faculty coordinator under the Department of Student Counselling, where he managed the work of thirteen mentors to reduce the dropout rate and increase the pass rate. He volunteered to do work for UWC's HIV/AIDS Program and was actively involved a qualified peer educator in HIV/AIDS projects. In the final year of his degree, he worked on legal disputes, handling several divorce and insolvency cases. He is an avid follower of international politics and intends to use this opportunity to enhance and complement his leadership skills and character in an international arena. His interest in international law led him to choose to pursue a career in ADR, after which he hopes to be involved in practicing law at the international level.
Mr. Hakim Salum's (FT) roots are in Bujumbura Burundi and the east African nation of Uganda. He lived in Burundi until the age of nine, when he moved to Nairobi, Kenya for five years, and then to Uganda, where he completed high school. He received his LL.B. degree from the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa. He earned various honors, including being in the top three students of his class for the entire LL.B. degree, was a member of the Golden Key International Honor society, and received the Law Faculty Medal. He was a member of the Muslim Students Association, working on the Public Relations and Health and Welfare portfolios and was a student mentor. He served an internship at Jans de Villiers Attorneys where he made court attendances in the Cape High Court and labour court as well as working on litigation, tax, insolvency, competition and labour matters. He worked as a legal researcher in a National Research Fund project that assessed the right to manifest religious beliefs by wearing of religious clothing in South African public schools. He also was a legal researcher for the Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative where he helped conduct a study on the causes of prison gangs and violence as well as methods of preventing prison violence. He is employed as a graduate lecturing assistant in property law at the University of the Western Cape Law Faculty. He is enrolled in the LL.M. degree program in humanitarian law and his thesis focuses on whether traditional mechanisms of dispute resolution (specifically the Ugandan Mato oput ) can bring about reconciliation in the war-torn region of northern Uganda. Because he comes from sub-Saharan Africa, which is infested with violent conflict, he has a keen interest in dispute resolution. He hopes to use the tools he gets from MU's LL.M. Program to promote peace and prevent human rights atrocities through negotiation and other peaceful methods.
Mr. Dongdong ("Michael") Song (FT) was born in Zhengzhou, China, the capital city of Henan Province. He received his bachelor in law (LL.B.) degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in July, 2008, focusing on property law for his junior and graduate thesis. He volunteered in the Law Clinical Program in Wuhan, helping farmers to protect their interests and improve their lives. He translated a part of the Report of Wuhan City 's Intellectual Property Rights Protection law of 2008. In the summers of 2007 and 2006, he worked as an assistant to a judge in the Dengfeng Municipal Court, which handles civil cases. In this position, he had opportunities for direct experience with negotiation and mediation.
Ms. Hui ("Anita") Yang (FT) earned her LL.B. degree from Tianjin Medical University in 2008 in a new medical law program that integrates law and medical courses. In 2007, she completed a three-month externship in the Department of Medical Affairs of the General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University where she worked on several cases that were negotiated. During the past year, she worked as a law clerk in the economic tribunal of the local court when she found that parties could reach win-win results by negotiation. She is interested in studying dispute resolution at MU, believing that, by integrated training in learning dispute resolution techniques with her medical knowledge, she can help patients and medical organizations.
Mr. Shengming Zheng (FT) received his bachelor's degree in law from East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai in 2007. During his studies, he published an essay in a professional magazine regarding corporate crimes and, as a result, was awarded a scientific research prize of the university for the year. Prior to graduation, he went on a summer study trip to Yale University and has expanded his knowledge of American Law since then. He is currently a junior associate at Beiten Burkhardt law firm, representing overseas investors in foreign direct investment, mergers and acquisitions, and dispute resolution. He deals with establishing companies, corporate compliance, and liquidation. His dispute resolution practice includes representing clients in commercial arbitration tribunals and he has a lot of experience in labor dispute negotiation and arbitration. His professional work has stimulated Shengming to explore deeper into the area of ADR and his passion led him across the ocean to join MU's program. He is looking forward to learning both theoretical and practical ways to develop professional skills in ADR. Apart from his career, he is a sport fan, is addicted to photography, and loves traveling.
Mr. Bin Zhou (FT) earned his J.M. (juris master) degree in 2009 at the Law School of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, focusing on intellectual property law. Before that, he graduated from Jianghan University as a mechanical and electronic engineering major in 2000. After graduating from Jianghan University, he worked as a salesman for a year and a half in the C-BONS Group, which is one of the largest daily necessities companies in China. He then returned to his hometown, working as a marketing manager in a private trading firm for about four years. Because of his business experience, he was frequently asked why he chose to pursue a law degree rather than a business degree. He always answers that he believes that a lawyer without a business degree could be a successful businessman but the opposite is not true. During this spring, he worked as a judge's clerk in the Hubei Supreme Court. Participating in several civil mediations, he came to appreciate that mediation is a difficult art. Considering the low efficiency in mediation in China's legal practice, he expects that what he will learn from MU's LL.M. Program will contribute greatly to his career. He lives in Wuhan, a beautiful central-China city with two rivers and more than 50 lakes. He likes swimming and plays football and other outdoor sports.
Continuing Students
Ms. Jacquie Shipma graduated in 1985 from the University of Missouri with a B.A. degree in political science. She then attended her first year of law school at the University of California-Berkeley and returned to Mizzou and received her J.D. degree in 1988. She was in private practice until January 2000, when she became general counsel for the Missouri National Education Association in Jefferson City. Jacquie has had an interest in alternative dispute resolution since college when she wrote her honors thesis on the subject of an ADR program created by a Federal Trade Commission settlement with General Motors. In her current position, she is involved in labor arbitration in the private and public sectors. Jacquie hopes to use the knowledge she acquires in this program to help define the future of public sector labor disputes in Missouri. She lives in Columbia with her husband, Michael, and two children, Paige and Nicolas.
Mr. Won Seok Park earned a bachelor degree in 1989 in international business/trade at the Business School of Korea University (KU). In 1995, he also earned his LL.B. degree at the Law School of Sung-kyun-kwan University (SKKU). He got both a master degree of international relations and a LL.M. degree of international economic law from KU, respectively. The title of his master's thesis for the LL.M. was “A Study on the Legal System of China with respect to Foreign Direct Investment after the entrance into the World Trade Organization (WTO), in 2002.” After completing a Ph.D. coursework major in international law in 2005 at the Graduate School of SKKU, he has prepared a doctoral dissertation essay, “A study on the Protection and Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) under the World Trade Organization System.” As a researcher at the Institute of Legal Studies at SKKU since September 2007, he has studied international law and international relations, especially in the dispute settlement system of the WTO, as well as intellectual property law. In addition , he has a long-term plan to study in depth about dispute resolution theory and practice, and then introduce the advanced experiences of other developed countries in this field to his country. He likes to make good friends and play all kinds of sports, including soccer and baseball with his folks.
Ms. Lise Nyrop comes to us with a colorful history. The daughter of a foreign-service officer, Lise (pronounced “Lisa”) grew up overseas. She was born in Kiel, Germany and lived in Kiel and Stuttgart in her early years. During her middle school years, her family was in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she attended the Joint Embassy School (now the Jakarta International School). From there, she went to Oslo, Norway and a Department of Defense school. Lise graduated from Millfield School in Street, England where she attained a number of O levels and an A level. From there, it was the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a degree in literature. After a career on the production side of theatre, Lise moved to Missouri and joined the staff of the University of Missouri in the Human Resource (HR) Services Department. In 1998, she began to attend MU's School of Law, graduating in 2004 with a certificate in dispute resolution and an informal emphasis in employment law. Lise recently joined the Office of State Courts Administrator as its HR manager. As an HR professional, dispute resolution techniques are in daily use! Lise is active in the triathlon community and completed a full Ironman race in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. She is very excited to be part of the LL.M. Program.
