Sasha Filippova

One of the aspects of IntLawGrrls that I value the most is our focus on promoting junior scholars and bringing new voices to the fore.  In that spirit, I’d like to introduce our three fabulous student editors, who have been working hard to get the blog up and running and bring you a variety of posts!
Alexandra (Sasha) Filippova is finishing a dual degree in law and international relations (MSFS) at Georgetown. She is a Global Law Scholar and will graduate with a certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies. During her graduate studies, Sasha successfully litigated an asylum claim as a student attorney at the Center for Applied Legal Studies and contributed to the fifth report submitted to the International Law Commission by the Special Rapporteur on the protection of persons in the event of disasters. She is currently working on a practicum project to analyze judicial and police practices directed at victims of sexual violence and to develop related litigation strategies. Sasha has interned with the Liberia Peacebuilding Office/UN Peacebuilding Fund Secretariat in Monrovia, Liberia, where she conducted a strategic review of Liberia’s conflict factors; the Cambodia Justice Initiative in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she helped to monitor the trials of former Khmer Rouge officials at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia; Shearman & Sterling, LLP, where she worked on a number of international arbitration, litigation, and pro bono matters; and the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, where she worked for the Office of African and Near Eastern Affairs. Sasha graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 2007.

Beverly Mbu

Beverley Mbu is currently a 3L at GW Law from Lagos, Nigeria by way of London, England. Her academic focus is in international law, women’s empowerment, and human rights with a particular interest in sub-Saharan Africa and the Southern Hemisphere more broadly. She was a member of GW’s Jessup team this spring and is a student attorney in GW’s Domestic Violence Clinic. When not consumed by law school she enjoys all kinds of eating activities (including cooking), watching independent films, and yoga.

Maggie Spicer

Margaret Spicer is a law student at the Florida State University College of Law focusing in International Law. Her undergraduate research was in state-sponsored torture, and she defended an Honors Thesis on the quantitative effects of political conflict on levels of human rights abuse. In 2010 she worked at the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a Midwest Coalition for Human Rights Summer Fellow. Currently, she sits on the Executive Boards of the FSU College of Law Moot Court Team and the Journal of Transnational Law & Policy. She is also a contributor for the International Law Students Association Quarterly, writing court and country watch articles for their print and online editions.
Sasha and Beverly have been (wo)manning submissions and Maggie, our resident WordPress genius, has, among numerous other tasks, put together our “Contributors by Expertise” page.  Many thanks to the three of you, and we look forward to your posts!