The SEED Team
Faculty Directors and Staff
Stephen Choi
Bernard Petrie Professor of Law and Business
Director, Pollack Center for Law & Business
Stephen Choi is the Bernard Petrie Professor at NYU School of Law. He graduated first in his class from Harvard Law School in 1994 and received his PhD in economics from Harvard in 1997. His research interests focus on the theoretical and empirical analysis of corporations and capital markets as well as on judicial performance. He is the co-author of Securities Regulations: Cases and Analysis (West Academic, 4th ed. 2015). He has published in the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Southern California Law Review, Duke Law Journal, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and Virginia Law Review, among others, and has presented papers at numerous conferences and symposia.
David Yermack
Albert Fingerhut Professor of Finance and Business Transformation at the NYU Stern School of Business
Director, Pollack Center for Law & Business
David L. Yermack is the Albert Fingerhut Professor of Finance and Business Transformation at New York University Stern School of Business. He serves as Chairman of the Finance Department and Director of the NYU Pollack Center for Law and Business. Professor Yermack has been with NYU Stern since 1994. His primary research areas include boards of directors, executive compensation, and corporate finance. Professor Yermack has published more than 25 articles in leading academic journals in Finance, Accounting, Economics, and Law. He is a Faculty Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and has been a Visiting Scholar at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. Professor Yermack received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics (1985), Master of Business Administration (1991), Juris Doctor (1991), Master of Arts in Business Economics (1993), and Doctor of Philosophy in Business Economics (1994) from Harvard University.
Anat Carmy-Wiechman
Associate Director, Pollack Center for Law & Business
Anat Carmy-Wiechman is the Associate Director of the Pollack Center for Law and Business. She graduated magna cum laude from Tel-Aviv University School of Law in 2006. Upon graduation, she worked in the litigation group of Amit, Pollak, Matalon & Co., one of Israel’s leading law firms. She earned her LLM degree from NYU School of Law in 2011, and worked as an associate at Tuckner, Sipser, Weinstock & Sipser Sipser until joining the Pollack Center in September 2013. She has published in the American Law and Economics Review, and in Precedent and the Law: Reports to the XVIIth Congress International Academy of Comparative Law, Utrecht, 16–22 July 2006. Carmy-Wiechman’s research interests include corporate law, empirical legal scholarship, law and finance, and securities regulation.
Giovanni Patti
Associate Director of SEED Research, Pollack Center for Law & Business
Giovanni Patti is the Associate Director of SEED Research. He graduated summa cum laude from the Università degli Studi di Palermo School of Law (Italy) in 2008 and received his PhD in Corporate Law from the Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata (Italy) in 2013. Following graduation, he worked for four years as an associate at Ranieri, Guaccero, Cornetta, a boutique law firm in Rome specializing in corporate and banking law. In 2018, he earned his LLM degree in Corporate Law from NYU School of Law, where he received the Dean’s Graduate Award scholarship, worked as a research assistant for Professor Stephen Choi, and served as a graduate editor for the NYU Journal of Law & Business. He has published in the Capital Markets Law Journal and the NYU Journal of Law & Business, among others. His research interests include corporate law and securities regulation.
Peter Robau
Senior Professional Fellow, Pollack Center for Law & Business
Before joining the NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business, Peter served as an associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP where he advised financial institutions clients on issues arising under the Advisers Act and Investment Company Act, CFTC issues, compliance and SEC enforcement, as well as regulatory issues in connection with private equity transactions and fundraising. Peter's research interests include securities regulation and enforcement, financial systems, and law and economics.
Gad Weiss
Wagner Fellow, Pollack Center for Law & Business
Gad is a Wagner Fellow at the NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business, where his research focuses on venture capital, corporate law, securities regulation, and law and economics. Prior to joining the Pollack Center, Gad practiced as an emerging companies and venture capital attorney, advising tech startups, venture capital investors, and the innovation arms of multinational corporations. He also regularly provided mentoring sessions in several tech accelerators. Gad is currently a J.S.D. candidate at Columbia Law School, where he previously earned an LL.M. degree. He also holds an LL.M. and LL.B. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Gad is admitted to the New York and Israel bar
Graduate Student Research Fellows
SEED depends on the contribution of students from NYU School of Law and the NYU Stern School of Business. Graduate student fellows from the institution perform all research, including gathering enforcement action documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission website and collecting variables for review. We anticipate student research fellows will use our data for their individual research projects.
Kheyransa Aliyeva ’25
Kheyransa Aliyeva is an LL.M. candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2025. She holds a bachelor's degree in law with distinction from the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and a master's degree in Commercial Law with distinction from Baku State University. Prior to enrolling at NYU, she practiced law in Azerbaijan, working with local law firms and the Center for Legal Scrutiny and Legislative Initiatives. At NYU, Kheyransa is pursuing a Traditional LLM with a focus on contracts, corporate, and commercial law. She is also a Hauser Global Scholar and serves as a Graduate Editor of the NYU Journal of Law & Business.
Cooper Aspegren ’25
Cooper Aspegren is a J.D. Candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2025. Prior to law school, Cooper worked as a strategy consultant at Accenture and received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago and a Master of Information and Data Science from UC Berkeley. At NYU Law, Cooper is Co-President of West Coast Connection and Chair of the Health Law and Policy Society, and during his 1L summer, he worked at the biotech start-up Octant. He will be joining the San Francisco office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati as a Summer Associate in 2024.
Ethan Goldman ’26
Ethan Goldman is a J.D. Candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2026. He is interested in economic analysis of the law, and the intersection of property law and environmental law. At NYU, Ethan is involved in the Environmental Law Society, and the First Generation Professionals group. Before law school, he worked as a software consultant at Huron Consulting Group. Ethan graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College with a major in Mathematics and minor in German Studies. He is originally from Chapel Hill, NC.
Jane Kim ’26
Jane Kim is a J.D. candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2026. At NYU, she serves as President of the First Generational Professionals Board, Student Fellow for the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and as the Partnership & Diversity Co-Chair for Law Women. Prior to law school, Jane pursued a master's degree in English literature at the University of Oxford, and graduated from Brown University with honors with a concentration in Literary Arts and in History of Art.
Charlotte LeBarron ’26
Charlotte is a Furman Public Policy Scholar and J.D. Candidate at NYU School of Law. Prior to law school, Charlotte practiced as a Certified Public Accountant in BDO's Boston audit practice. She then managed a research team for former SEC Commissioner and NYU Law Professor Robert J. Jackson, Jr, and where she researched SEC rulemaking policy and participated in academic work on misconduct in the insurance industry. Charlotte spent her 1L summer in the SEC's Enforcement division. She graduated from Boston College's Carroll School of Management in 2019 with degrees in accounting and communications.
Evelyn Liu ’25
Evelyn Liu is an LL.M. candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2025. She earned her LL.B. from Peking University. Before pursuing her LL.M., she interned with the funds team at Clifford Chance’s Beijing office. Evelyn has also participated in a summer program at Kyoto University and completed an exchange program at Keio University in Japan. At NYU Law, she serves as an LL.M. representative for APALSA.
Yichun Liu ’26
Yichun Liu is a J.D. candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2026. Prior to law school, she earned a Master of Science in Law from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and worked as a patent engineer at Mauriel Kapouytian Woods LLP. Yichun graduated magna cum laude from Bates College with a double major in Physics and Mathematics and a minor in Asian Studies. At NYU Law, she serves as a staff editor for the Tax Law Review and as the Private Professional Development Co-chair of the Women of Color Collective.
Khushi Maheshwari ’25
Khushi Maheshwari is an LLM candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2026. She graduated from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. Prior to law school, she worked at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas in the general corporate practice. At NYU, she serves as the Graduate Editor for the NYU Journal of Law & Business.
Dhriti Mitra ’25
Dhriti Mitra is a LL.M. student specializing in Corporation Law at NYU School of Law, Class of 2025. Prior to NYU, she worked as an associate with the General Corporate and M&A team of Anagram Partners in Mumbai, India. Dhriti graduated cum laude from Symbiosis Law School, Pune with a Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Legislative Law Honors degree in 2022. At NYU, she serves as a Graduate Editor of the NYU Journal of Law & Business.
Favour Ogini ’25
Favour Ogini is an LL.M. Candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2025. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Benin, Nigeria where she obtained her Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree with first class honors. Thereafter, she proceeded to the Nigerian Law School where obtained her Barrister at Law (B.L.) degree with first class honors. Prior to pursuing her LL.M. in Corporation Law at NYU as a Hauser Global Scholar, Favour worked as an Associate in G. Elias, a top-tier business law firm in Nigeria as a key member of the firm’s Finance, Projects and IP practices. At NYU Law, she serves as a Graduate Editor with the Journal of Intellectual Property & Entertainment Law and is a member of the Law and Business Association.
Ashiqur Rahman ’26
Ashiqur Rahman is a J.D. candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2026. He graduated cum laude from the University of Miami, majoring in political science and quantitative economics, and was Champion and Third Place Speaker of the Bill Todd Debate Tournament. At NYU, he serves as a Staff Editor on NYU’s Moot Court Board and as the Treasurer of the South Asian Law Students Association. In addition, Ashiqur works on education policy and research in collaboration with Columbia Law School’s Center for Public Research and Leadership.
Gina Tan ’26
Gina Tan is a J.D. Candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2026. Prior to law school, she worked at the New York State Division of the Budget. Gina graduated, summa cum laude, as the Valedictorian of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University at Albany, where she also earned a Master of Public Administration. At NYU Law, she is the External Partnerships Chair of the Trial Advocacy Society and is the Professional Events Chair of First Generation Professionals.
Kevin Tsao ’25
Kevin Tsao is a J.D. Candidate at NYU School of Law, Class of 2025. Prior to law school, he worked as a data engineer at Capital One for two years. Kevin graduated cum laude from Princeton University with a major in Computer Science and minor in Finance. At NYU Law, he is currently a staff editor with the Journal of Intellectual Property & Entertainment Law.
Krish Amish Vadodaria ’25
Krish Amish Vadodaria is a LL.M. Candidate (Master of Laws) at NYU School of Law, Class of 2025. Prior to pursuing masters, he worked as a transactional lawyer dealing with laws in relation to mergers & acquisitions of listed companies at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (India) for two years. Krish graduated from Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar (India) in 2022. At NYU Law, he is currently a staff editor with the Environmental Law Journal.