Student Profiles
Our outstanding students bring a rich array of experience, legal knowledge and cultures to USC Law. They come from countries all over the world.
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Lolita Fernandes
India
Lolita Fernandes graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 2008 from the University of Mumbai, where she also completed a Master of Laws degree with a specialization in criminal law. While pursuing her education, Ms. Fernandes worked as an in-house counsel with two of the best private sector banks in India: Axis Bank Limited and HDFC Bank Limited. There she gained extensive knowledge of the banking system and practical experience in drafting and vetting business contracts, commercial agreements for various projects, transactions, products and services contemplated by the businesses, addressing the legal queries raised by branches and rendering advice on compliance and regulatory related matters. Ms. Fernandes was actively involved in the legal matters for the merger of Centurion Bank of Punjab Limited with HDFC Bank Limited, one of the largest mergers in the financial sector in India. She was also a volunteer in a community centre serving the needs of the marginalized sections of the society and the senior citizens in the vicinity. During her work tenure, Ms. Fernandes interacted with many U.S. based companies and found U.S. law diverse and interesting. She is interested in studying the areas of corporate law, securities law and intellectual property law.
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Rebecca Haake
Germany
Rebecca Haake enrolled in law school at the University of Mainz in 2004, where she was first introduced to the common law system when taking legal English classes. Ms. Haake participated in the Willem C. Vis Moot Court competition as member of the Mainz Law School team, which led her to major in international private law and international public law. Her first work experience was during an internship in Miami in 2006, where she interned with Baur & Klein, a German and American law firm. She learned about the connections between German and American Law and how both jurisdictions support and work with one another in international cases. Ms. Haake then interned with the administrative court in Mainz to gain experience in the court room. In 2009 she passed the first German state examination in Rhineland-Palatinate. Since February of 2010, Ms. Haake has been working in the Frankfurt office of Mayer Brown LLP, an international law firm, where she is part of the Corporate Group and has been drafting contracts and memoranda, doing legal research and translating important documents between German and English. During the LL.M. program, Ms. Haake wishes to focus on international corporate and business law. She then hopes to take the California or New York Bar exam in order to be admitted to practice in both Germany and the U.S.
