Alumni

Hi, I'm Nikki Bhandari. I'm from Nepal. I used to work as a lawyer in corporate law firms, and I also used to do and litigation department.

Why did you choose to pursue the legal field? 

I used to debate, and I was very good at speech and all those things at the beginning of my school. And that's why I thought about it. And then I wanted to pursue law.

Dr. Eyüp Kul, an alum of the UC Davis School of Law Master of Laws (LL.M.) ICL Degree Program, is leaving his mark in the legal landscape of his home country, Türkiye. Beginning his journey at Marmara University Law School, Kul continued his pursuit of legal excellence by enrolling in UC Davis in 2008. After completing his LL.M., he returned to Marmara University to obtain his PhD at the Institute of Social Science. Since then, Dr.

My name is Hironobu Kumoto. I'm from Tokyo, and I have been a Japanese lawyer since 2016.

Why did you choose to pursue an LL.M. degree?

In my legal firm, there is a set of international law matters. So there, I have to cooperate with U.S lawyers. So I want to know the common sense of the U.S lawyer.

Why did you choose to come to UC Davis School of Law?

Because I want to take my family to the United States. I have to choose a very safe place. Davis is very good for my family.

Passing the bar exam and achieving personal bests, UC Davis LL.M. alumna Olga Krzyszton exemplifies that success is all about raising the bar. Originally from Nowy Sacz (near Krakow) Poland, Olga completed her first Master of Laws in Legal Practice at Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom, where she earned a sports scholarship for Olympic weightlifting.

LL.M class of 2018 Alumnus Faisal Alotaibi, now a lecturer in law at the University of Hafr Albatin in Saudi Arabia, gained a valuable global perspective during his time here at UC Davis School of Law that has proven useful in many aspects of both his career and life. He now uses and shares this perspective to help students connect legal principles to real-world practice.

My name is Andrew Timothy. I was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia.

What are your plans after graduation?

I’m planning to go back to Indonesia and work as a corporate lawyer. Especially in the field of business or maybe construction law.

Why did you choose to come to UC Davis School of Law?

Well, UC Davis School of Law is one of the best law schools here in the U.S. And it's part of the UC system.

What is it like attending school in Davis, California?

14 years after completing her LL.M. at UC Davis School of Law in 2011, we checked in with Shamay Zurayeva, an Azerbaijani attorney who currently sits as in-house Counsel at BP’s Baku office.

BP is a multinational energy company and the largest foreign investor in Azerbaijan, with most of the country's economy and GDP related to the oil and gas industry.

Rowena Evangeline, a 2025 LL.M. graduate from Malaysia, is already helping shape the future of legal technology as Legal Annotator for a San Francisco-based AI startup.

It was a colleague from Petrobras, one of Brazil’s major companies, who first introduced João Mateus Borges da Silveira (LL.M. ’14) to the UC Davis LL.M. program. João soon found himself traveling from Maranhão, Brazil, to Davis, California a decision that he still fondly looks back on, “When I see back in the past, I have a feeling of being such a lucky guy for being in a nice place, with so many nice and polite people.” 

Ilker Dogan’s career in banking and finance law has taken him from Istanbul to UC Davis School of Law and back, where he now plays a pivotal role in shaping Turkey’s digital banking landscape. As Deputy General Manager of Lydians Electronic Money Institution and a board member of FUPS Bank, Turkey’s first digital deposit bank, Dogan credits the UC Davis LL.M. program with giving him the knowledge and confidence to pursue his career at the highest levels.