Flávia Martins Goncalves de Azevedo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Flávia came to Columbia Law School after being an associate member of Veirano Advogados in Rio de Janeiro, where she is a labor and employment specialist on mergers, acquisitions and corporate reorganizations. Flávia has worked on executive compensation matters, negotiated with labor unions, conducted due diligence of employment matters in mergers and acquisitions, and worked with the employment aspects of business planning. As a firm with a strong pro-bono practice, Veirano Advogados encouraged her to use her skills in helping the community. To this end, she worked four years with the Brazilian Symphonic Orchestra helping them with employment and litigation matters. Her experience with this non-profit inspired her to work with institutions and organizations that are committed to making culture and higher level education accessible to the underprivileged. Flávia received her J.D. from Universidade do Rio de Janeiro and is an assistant professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas Law School.
Ali Sami Er, Istanbul, Turkey
Before beginning his LL.M degree at Columbia, Ali Sami had been part of a changing economic and legal environment in Turkey. He worked as a corporate associate at Hergüner Bilgen Özeke Attorneys at Law for three years, counseling international clientele investing in the developing economy of Turkey. During that time in the banking and finance department of the firm, he worked on a broad range of projects involving numerous acquisitions of closely-held and public companies and financial institutions, IPOs and restructuring transactions. At the same time, he provided pro bono legal assistance to several non-governmental organizations in Istanbul concentrating on education and the environment. He aims to increase volunteerism among lawyers, law students and academicians and to spread pro bono legal service in his country. Ali Sami received his Bachelors of Law degree from Bahcesehir University, Istanbul with first class-honors and he was awarded the Fulbright Master's Student Scholarship. He is admitted to practice in Turkey and is a member of Istanbul Bar Association.
Andrés Nieto Sánchez de Tagle, Mexico City, Mexico
Andrés comes to Columbia from Von Wobeser y Sierra, S.C. in Mexico City, where he leads the financial law practice of the firm and also acts as senior associate in its corporate law and arbitration practice. At Von Wobeser y Sierra, Andrés specializes in corporate law and commercial arbitration, both national and international, banking and finance, securities, secured transactions and project finance, and mergers and acquisitions, among other areas. In addition, Andrés has taught law at various prestigious educational institutions in Mexico, such as the Universidad Iberoamericana and the UNAM. Even before he graduated from law school, Andrés joined the Asociación de Servicios Legales, A.C., a subsidiary entity of the Mexican Bar Association, where he created the pro bono project “corporate program,” which helps nonprofit organizations maintain a legal and corporate status that permits them to take advantage of their legal benefits and to focus on their pro bono social assistance. Due to his experience and leadership skills, the partners of his law firm invited him to develop, along with other senior associates, the firm’s pro bono program, which recently received national and international recognition. Andrés also assisted Dr. Claus Von Wobeser in drafting the Pro Bono Declaration for the Americas. Upon completing the LL.M. Pro Bono Fellowship, Andrés plans to return to his firm and to continue teaching law. He also is interested in helping to develop the pro bono program of the Mexican Bar Association.
