Asian Law Center

PhD Profiles 2011-2012

Alfitri Alfitri obtained his LL.B and M.A. in Islamic Law from National Islamic University in Indonesia. He completed his LL.M. in 2006 from the University of Melbourne in Australia sponsored by Australian Development Scholarships-AusAID. He is lecturer at Samarinda State Institute for Islamic Studies in Indonesia, and also has experience as research assistant at the University of Melbourne Asian Law Centre, and for the ARC Federation Fellowship. He has published in several refereed law journals in Indonesia and internationally. His dissertation is about corporate law in Indonesia, with a focus on how the concept of corporate zakat has been incorporated into Indonesian law.

Abdulaziz Al Hamoudi has an LL.B. from King Saud University in Saudi Arabia and an LL.M. from Valparaiso University School of Law. Prior to coming to the United States, he worked as Legal Researcher then as Counselor at the Bureau of Experts at the Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia. His proposed dissertation topic is Saudi-Arabian Pre-Trial Criminal Procedure Law. He has U.S. and Saudi Arabia citizenship.

Anna Bosch Anna Bosch graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Journalism and International Studies. After obtaining her J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1999, Anna spent six years as a prosecutor for King County, Washington. She obtained her LL.M. in Sustainable International Development at the UW School of Law. Her Ph.D. research seeks to identify recipient perspectives of rule of law assistance in Indonesia. Ms. Bosch participated in programs at the University of Innsbruck, Austria and the University of Leiden, Netherlands. She is a member of the Washington Bar, and is both a U.S. and E.U. citizen.

Tao-Chou Chang holds an LL.B. and LL.M. from National Taiwan University and an Intellectual Property LL.M. from the UW School of Law. He is now a district court judge in Taiwan. Whereas in the United States civil liability, is the solution to intangible property infringement, developing countries are required to impose broader and harsher criminal law against piracy. His dissertation examines the effectiveness and equity of Taiwan’s criminal intellectual property law.

Hadar K. Horovitz completed her LL.B Magna Cum Laude from the Academic College of Law, Israel in 1999. For over six years she specialized in insurance and reinsurance law at Levitan, Sharon & Co. She also has an LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law & Policy from the UW School of Law. Hadar teaches Hebrew at the UW Near Eastern Language and Civilization department. Her Ph.D. study focuses on a comparative analysis of the United State and Israel's regulatory regimes governing clinical research on human subjects.

Shinya Imaizumi graduated from Waseda University in Japan with an LL.B. and an LL.M. He then joined the Institute of Developing Economies, a governmental research institute in Japan. He went to Thailand for two years to study Thailand’s legal and institutional reforms. His research interest is in legal systems of Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. His dissertation will be on the expansion of judicial review in Thailand’s Constitutional Court in 1997-2008.

Nisa Istiani obtained her LL.B. from the University of Indonesia and MLI (Master of Legal Institution) from the University of Wisconsin. From her undergraduate years she has worked as researcher at UI’s Indonesian Judicial Monitoring Society and continued until four years later. Just before starting the Ph.D. program, she finished her five years of work as Consultant for the Judicial Reform Team established by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia to expedite judicial reform. She also taught at the University of Al-Azhar Faculty of Law. Her research interest is in competition law, international trade law, investment law, and public procurement.

Bingyan Jiang obtained an LL.M. from Tulane University in 2010, where her studies focused on trade policies and disputes between the U.S. and China. Before studying at Tulane, Bingyan passed the National Judicial Exam in China and then undertook a year-long internship at a top Chinese law firm, where she developed an understanding of legislative procedures and policymaking processes of local Chinese government agencies. Here she also gained experience in representing clients for administrative litigation. Her dissertation topic concerns the need to strengthen food safety regulations in China.

Hong Jiang is a graduate of Jilin University School of Law in China. During school he interned at the office of the public prosecutor. He also has work experience as legal counsel for securities companies, and has recently lived in Canada for three years. He obtained an LL.M. in Asian and Comparative Law from the UW School of Law. His research interest lies in comparative study of banking laws and financial regulations, and his proposed dissertation topic is on the analysis of Basel Accords and the Chinese Banking Industry.

Michelle Kwon received a B.A. in Asian Studies and History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a J.D. from Indiana University School of Law. She obtained her LL.M. in Asian and Comparative Law from the UW School of Law and is a member of the Illinois Bar Association. After receiving her LL.M., she served as legal counsel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea, then as legal counsel for Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd. She has also taught International Commercial Law and International Trade Law at Kyung Hee University as adjunct professor. Her dissertation will analyze how competing forces drive institutional change in the field of dispute processing in South Korea.

Jinkyoo Lee graduated from Korea University with a B.A. in Law. He continued his studies in graduate school of Korea University, College of law for MA in Law and then obtained an LL.M. at the UW School of Law. His research interest is in comparative civil procedure and alternative dispute resolution. Jinkyoo’s proposed dissertation topic is on the emergence of electronically stored information in civil litigation and pretrial procedures in Korea and the United States.

David E. Merrell is a member of the bar associations of the states of Utah and Idaho. Mr. Merrell taught comparative law as a Fulbright Scholar in the Kyrgyz Republic and construction law as a visiting professor at Brigham Young University-Idaho. He received a B.A. from Brigham Young University, a J.D. from the University of Idaho and an LL.M. in Asian and Comparative Law from the UW School of Law where he studied Uzbek and focused his research on Central Asian and Islamic law. He continues his study of Uzbek in the Ph.D. program, and his dissertation topic is on Community-based Dispute Resolution in Central Asia.

Tung T. Ngo is founder and Chairman of VILAF – Hong Duc, the first business law firm in Vietnam established in 1993. He has transformed his firm from an affiliate of the UK law firm Clifford Chance to a respected independent Vietnamese commercial law firm, leading in Vietnam’s economic development and social change. Mr. Ngo has pursued a vision of pushing Vietnam to adopt greater transparency and consistency in the application of laws. He also lectures at Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice’s Judicial Academy and is a contributing columnist to The Saigon Times. He obtained his LL.M. in Asian & Comparative Law from the UW School of Law in 2004 and was then selected as the Yale World Fellow in 2006. His dissertation topic is evolution of property rights in Vietnam and taking land in Vietnam and China today.

Yu Un Oppusunggu has an LL.B. from the University of Indonesia and an LL.M. from Leiden University in the Netherlands. He is lecturer at the University of Indonesia Faculty of Law. His varied work experience includes: assistant lawyer at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, legal manager ad at Indofood (the largest food producer in Indonesia), and legal advisor to the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission.Yu Un's research interest lies in Law Reform in Indonesia.

Haitham H. Osta earned a Master’s degree in Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (Usul Al-Fiqh) at Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 2004, an LL.M. in International Law and Business from Suffolk University Law School in 2007, and an LL.M. in Laws from Harvard Law School in 2009. He served as Teaching Assistant/Fellow and Instructor of Philosophy of Islamic Jurisprudence at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as well as an intern with Judge Nancy Gertner of the US District Court of Massachusetts. While at Harvard, he was selected to work as a visiting researcher at ELRC, a research fellow at CMES, and a research assistant to Prof. Frank Vogel. He is currently researching the Phenomenon of Codification of Islamic Shari’a.

Amira Paripurna has an LL.B from Airlangga University, Indonesia, and an LL.M on International Law of Human Rights and Criminal Justice from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She has worked as counselor at the Women and Children Crisis Center in Indonesia, and as lecturer at Muhammadiyah University, and at Airlangga University. Her research interest is in the Globalization of Crime and Its Implication for Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice and National Criminal Law.

Zhe Peng (Amy) received her LL.B from Shandong University in China. She then obtained her LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law and Policy Program at the University of Washington, School of Law. In summer 2008, she worked in Government Relationship Department of Monster Worldwide as a Tisdale Fellow. Her research interest is in Patent Claim Interpretation in United States and China.

Linda Yanti Sulistiawati obtained her LL.B from Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia, and M.Sc from IHS-Wageningen University, Netherlands. She joined several international organizations, including the ASEAN Secretariat and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), before dedicating herself to teaching in her old campus, Universitas Gadjah Mada Faculty of Law in 2005. She teaches International Law, International Environmental Law, Indonesia Legal Science, and Ethics for the Legal Profession. She is one of Indonesia’s Fulbright Fellows for 2010. Her research interest is in the areas of Climate Change, Regulatory Processes and International Environmental Law.

Bivitri Susanti obtained a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Indonesia in 1999 and a master’s degree (LLM), with distinction, in Law in Development from the University of Warwick, UK, in 2002. She is an associate researcher at the Indonesian Centre for Law & Policy Studies (PSHK), an independent research institution she co-founded in 1998. She was PSHK’s Executive Director (2003-2007); adviser on legal reform for the Indonesian Attorney General’s Office (2005-2007), the People’s Consultative Assembly (2007) and the House of Regional Representatives (2007-2009). She continues her work on legal reform in Indonesia by consulting on legal reform projects, conducting research projects with various organizations, and serving on the board of a number of Indonesian Non-Governmental Organizations. Her Ph.D. research is focused on the rule of law (“negara hukum”) and civil society in Indonesia after 1998.

Hsin-Yang Wu received an LL.B. and an LL.M. from National Taiwan University and an Asian & Comparative Law LL.M. from the University of Washington School of Law. He worked in the Arbitration Association of Taiwan and engaged in several government research projects on the Japanese Colonial Court decisions, the Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance Law, the Administrative Act, and the Fair Trade Law. The Taiwanese government sponsored him to further his research in this Ph.D. program. His dissertation will be on official language legislation in modern states. His research will extend to human rights, especially language rights and equal protection of minorities, indigenous peoples, and immigrants.