Michigan Law’s LLM Class gather for a backyard barbecue to get to know one another before the start of the academic year.
Alice Choo
By Sharon Morioka
Michigan Law
On a warm evening at the end of August, 30 LLM students from 17 countries gathered in Ann Arbor for that most American of activities: the backyard barbecue. Michigan Law’s LLM class of 2025—along with doctoral (SJD) students, exchange students, and international research scholars—appreciated the casual setting as an opportunity to get to know each other before their demanding and exhilarating academic year began soon thereafter.
“It was the highlight of orientation,” Alice Choo, Michigan Law’s director of graduate admissions, said of the event, which was held at the home of Eric Christiansen, assistant dean for international affairs. “It was wonderful to see everyone sitting in a large group in the backyard and starting the year with such a warm welcome. This LLM class has fully embraced their integration into the Law School community and life in Ann Arbor, and we’ve barely started the semester.”
For more than 130 years, students have come to Michigan to earn their master of law degrees. Students accepted into this highly competitive program, who have already practiced law in their home countries, are fully immersed in the US legal system and take classes alongside their JD counterparts.
Michigan Law
On a warm evening at the end of August, 30 LLM students from 17 countries gathered in Ann Arbor for that most American of activities: the backyard barbecue. Michigan Law’s LLM class of 2025—along with doctoral (SJD) students, exchange students, and international research scholars—appreciated the casual setting as an opportunity to get to know each other before their demanding and exhilarating academic year began soon thereafter.
“It was the highlight of orientation,” Alice Choo, Michigan Law’s director of graduate admissions, said of the event, which was held at the home of Eric Christiansen, assistant dean for international affairs. “It was wonderful to see everyone sitting in a large group in the backyard and starting the year with such a warm welcome. This LLM class has fully embraced their integration into the Law School community and life in Ann Arbor, and we’ve barely started the semester.”
For more than 130 years, students have come to Michigan to earn their master of law degrees. Students accepted into this highly competitive program, who have already practiced law in their home countries, are fully immersed in the US legal system and take classes alongside their JD counterparts.
Meet a Few of the Students
Kaoru and Kosuke Terauchi
Japan
For Kaoru and Kosuke Terauchi, Michigan Law is a family affair. Every year, family members accompany students to Michigan, but in this unusual case, both spouses are students. They anticipate that it will be “a little challenging” to take an intensive course of study while raising two children, ages 7 and 9. But there is an upside.
“We can share and understand each other’s joys and pains in study at the Law School,” said Kaoru. “We can help and encourage each other.”
Kaoru and Kosuke, who met as students at Hitotsubashi University and married in 2013, each have clear goals for the upcoming academic year.
Kosuke worked as a judge for about 10 years before transitioning in 2020 to entertainment law, providing legal advice for artists, producers, event organizers, and others in their work—from music and museums to movies and manga.
“I had a strong wish to study in the US to enhance my expertise and skills,” he said, “because I want to contribute to the entertainment industry’s further global expansion, and more active cultural exchange with foreign countries, by providing firm legal support.”
For the past five years, Kaoru has worked as an in-house legal counsel at Tokyo Gas Co., one of the largest energy companies in Japan. She handled international energy-related projects, including formation and operation of joint ventures with other foreign companies and various international transactions. Studying in the US has been her longtime goal.
“I want to enhance my expertise and legal skills required to handle and support international transactions,” she said. “Furthermore, I had a strong motivation to come back to Michigan.”
Her first experience at the University came during a summer program for international law students at the English Language Institute, which she refers to as “one of the best experiences and memories in my life.”
While in Ann Arbor for only a short time, Kosuke calls it the “perfect place” for families to live and well worth the coordination, both personal and professional, required to study abroad at the same time and in the same place.
Punya Mehrotra
India
For Punya Mehrotra, studying at Michigan Law is more than an opportunity to learn from peers from around the world, as well as the professors who, she said, “have shaped the legal system.” It’s also an opportunity to “weave a tapestry of courses,” thanks to the LLM program’s flexible curriculum.
Her studies come after years in the profession, first as a judicial law clerk and research assistant to Justice Vikram Nath of the Supreme Court of India, which exposed her to a variety of cases. After that, she joined the arbitration team at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, where she worked on cases involving construction, lease disputes, emergency arbitration, and similar matters.
“An exhilarating opportunity that stands out for me was to work on proposing the amendments to the Indian Arbitration Act,” she said.
Studying at Michigan has presented other advantages for her: a chance to see Michigan Stadium in person. “It is the largest stadium in the United States and the third-largest stadium in the world,” she said. “Who would not want to experience a game there?”
Lautaro Garcia Alonso
Argentina
With a strong interest in public affairs, international law, human rights, and philosophy, Lautaro Garcia Alonso has enjoyed a career that touches on all of these areas. Most recently, he served as a legislative adviser in the Argentine National Congress and as a teaching assistant in human rights and jurisprudence at the University of San Andres. He plans to deepen those interests in his LLM studies.
“The first thing that impressed me was the Law School’s excellence in comparative and international public law,” he said. “Many of the courses and seminars offered, as well as the programs, fellowships, and events coordinated by the Center for International and Comparative Law, were a perfect match for my interests.” Following his LLM studies, he plans to return to Argentina to continue to work in the public sector but also wants to explore opportunities in international organizations. At the same time, he will continue to develop his career as a professor and scholar.
Like Kaoru and Kosuke Terauchi and Punya Mehrotra, he praises the community that has developed among the LLM cohort, even at this early stage.
“I am amazed at how we fit together in terms of our backgrounds, personalities, strengths, and interests,” he said. “I am sure that the friendships I build throughout this year will be among the most valuable outcomes of this experience.”
Japan
For Kaoru and Kosuke Terauchi, Michigan Law is a family affair. Every year, family members accompany students to Michigan, but in this unusual case, both spouses are students. They anticipate that it will be “a little challenging” to take an intensive course of study while raising two children, ages 7 and 9. But there is an upside.
“We can share and understand each other’s joys and pains in study at the Law School,” said Kaoru. “We can help and encourage each other.”
Kaoru and Kosuke, who met as students at Hitotsubashi University and married in 2013, each have clear goals for the upcoming academic year.
Kosuke worked as a judge for about 10 years before transitioning in 2020 to entertainment law, providing legal advice for artists, producers, event organizers, and others in their work—from music and museums to movies and manga.
“I had a strong wish to study in the US to enhance my expertise and skills,” he said, “because I want to contribute to the entertainment industry’s further global expansion, and more active cultural exchange with foreign countries, by providing firm legal support.”
For the past five years, Kaoru has worked as an in-house legal counsel at Tokyo Gas Co., one of the largest energy companies in Japan. She handled international energy-related projects, including formation and operation of joint ventures with other foreign companies and various international transactions. Studying in the US has been her longtime goal.
“I want to enhance my expertise and legal skills required to handle and support international transactions,” she said. “Furthermore, I had a strong motivation to come back to Michigan.”
Her first experience at the University came during a summer program for international law students at the English Language Institute, which she refers to as “one of the best experiences and memories in my life.”
While in Ann Arbor for only a short time, Kosuke calls it the “perfect place” for families to live and well worth the coordination, both personal and professional, required to study abroad at the same time and in the same place.
Punya Mehrotra
India
For Punya Mehrotra, studying at Michigan Law is more than an opportunity to learn from peers from around the world, as well as the professors who, she said, “have shaped the legal system.” It’s also an opportunity to “weave a tapestry of courses,” thanks to the LLM program’s flexible curriculum.
Her studies come after years in the profession, first as a judicial law clerk and research assistant to Justice Vikram Nath of the Supreme Court of India, which exposed her to a variety of cases. After that, she joined the arbitration team at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, where she worked on cases involving construction, lease disputes, emergency arbitration, and similar matters.
“An exhilarating opportunity that stands out for me was to work on proposing the amendments to the Indian Arbitration Act,” she said.
Studying at Michigan has presented other advantages for her: a chance to see Michigan Stadium in person. “It is the largest stadium in the United States and the third-largest stadium in the world,” she said. “Who would not want to experience a game there?”
Lautaro Garcia Alonso
Argentina
With a strong interest in public affairs, international law, human rights, and philosophy, Lautaro Garcia Alonso has enjoyed a career that touches on all of these areas. Most recently, he served as a legislative adviser in the Argentine National Congress and as a teaching assistant in human rights and jurisprudence at the University of San Andres. He plans to deepen those interests in his LLM studies.
“The first thing that impressed me was the Law School’s excellence in comparative and international public law,” he said. “Many of the courses and seminars offered, as well as the programs, fellowships, and events coordinated by the Center for International and Comparative Law, were a perfect match for my interests.” Following his LLM studies, he plans to return to Argentina to continue to work in the public sector but also wants to explore opportunities in international organizations. At the same time, he will continue to develop his career as a professor and scholar.
Like Kaoru and Kosuke Terauchi and Punya Mehrotra, he praises the community that has developed among the LLM cohort, even at this early stage.
“I am amazed at how we fit together in terms of our backgrounds, personalities, strengths, and interests,” he said. “I am sure that the friendships I build throughout this year will be among the most valuable outcomes of this experience.”
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