Third-Year Students
Keton Kakkar '25
Keton is interested in how changes in technology alter the background presumptions of substantive and procedural law. He works on the legal applications and regulations of artificial intelligence, particularly concerning tort, property, and copyright. He holds a B.A. in Computer Science and English Literature, with Honors, from Swarthmore College, where he ran the student newspaper and conducted research on machine learning. After college, he worked at a real estate boutique, guiding clients through property transactions. At the law school, he is a Pomeroy Scholar, a Robert A. Katzmann Fellow, and a Cybersecurity Scholar. He has worked as an RA for Professor Catherine Sharkey and Professor Samuel Estreicher and will serve as a TA for Professor Barry Adler’s Contracts course in Fall 2023. He is an editor on the Journal of Law and Liberty. Keton spent his 1L summer at the US Attorney’s office in Brooklyn. He will split his 2L summer between Susman Godfrey and Gibson Dunn. In the 2026–27 term, Keton will clerk for the Honorable Richard J. Sullivan of the Second Circuit.
Maya Konstantino '25
Maya Konstantino is interested in the intersection of public health law, intellectual property and tort law. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biomolecular Science, English Literature and Entrepreneurship from the University of Michigan, where she was in the LSA Honors Program. Prior to law school, Maya co-founded a pharmaceutical start-up and worked as an analyst for a biotech incubator. During her 1L summer she worked at Synchron – a brain computer interface company – where she researched data privacy laws as they relate to brain data. She spent her 2L summer at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. At NYU, Maya is a Jacobson Leadership Program scholar, an executive editor on the Journal of Legislation & Public Policy, an RA for Kenji Yoshino and Barry Friedman and a teaching assistant for Torts and Criminal Law.
Samuel Orloff '25
Sam is interested in the intersection of U.S. foreign policy, national security law, and procedure. This semester, Sam is serving as a TA for Professor Emma Kaufman’s LRS course, a research assistant for Professor Barry Friedman, and a Staff Editor at the NYU Law Review. This past summer, Sam was a judicial intern in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and worked as a research assistant for Professor Helen Hershkoff. Prior to law school, Sam was a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington D.C. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2021 with a BA in History and Political Science.
Nina Sankey Russell '25
Nina's research focuses on empirical analysis of the modern U.S. corporation. Motivated by an interest in the economic and national security implications of U.S. corporate law, Nina is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Jurisprudence & Social Policy at UC Berkeley and has served as a staff member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, Nina holds degrees from Yale University (B.A., Ethics, Politics, and Economics) and Tsinghua University (Masters, Global Affairs, Schwarzman Scholar). At NYU Law, Nina has worked as a research assistant for Professor Richard Brooks and Professor Robert Jackson, and will be a teaching assistant for Professor Brooks' Corporations course in Fall 2023.
Jordan Waller '25
Jordan is interested in the intersection of constitutional law, administrative law, and the construction of national identity in the United States and internationally. At NYU, she is a Staff Editor for the Journal of International Law and Politics and will be a teaching assistant for Professor Barry Adler’s first year Torts class. Prior to law school, Jordan served as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, worked as a podcast producer for Crooked Media, and got her MA in Russian, Eurasian, and Eastern European studies from The Harriman Institute at Columbia University. At Columbia, her work was supported by a PepsiCo Fellowship. She received her BA from Brown University in 2018 where she studied Political Science and History.
Second-Year Students
Brianna Sturkey '26
Brianna graduated cum laude from Barnard College in 2020 with a dual degree in sociology and human rights. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a litigation paralegal at the New York Civil Liberties Union. There, she provided support to the legal director and senior staff attorneys for a wide-ranging docket of civil rights cases. Brianna’s research interests focus on exploring the intersection of urban policy and educational institutions as landowners. Specifically, she wants to examine to the role of universities as urban planners and help define their legal, socioeconomic, and ethical obligations to neighboring communities.
First-Year Students
Zachary Lewis '27
Zach is interested in the historical origins of America’s criminal justice system and welfare state, and their relationship to the economy and labor market. He received his BA in Comparative Literature, with High Honors, from New York University in 2018. After graduating, Zach worked at a labor union in New York City and as a research assistant for Professor Adaner Usmani in the Department of Sociology at Harvard. Zach is currently pursuing a PhD in sociology at NYU, where his interests include crime and punishment, political sociology, labor and social movements, and inequality and social stratification.
Jess Robinson '27
Jess’s research employs a mixed methods approach to the study of criminal law, social networks, and the politics of expertise, social science, and technology. She holds a B.A. (2020) in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Chicago and an M.A. (2024) in Sociology from Columbia University, where she is currently also a PhD student. Previously, Jess worked as a Senior Data Analyst at CORNERS: The Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science, where she collaborated with community-based violence intervention organizations in Chicago.
Cecilia Zhou '27
Cecilia’s research interests center around ontological issues in art, technology, and intellectual property law. Her article “Real World, Real Time,” on historical scientific instruments, is forthcoming in a special issue of RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics. Cecilia holds an MPhil in History of Art from the University of Cambridge, where she was the Paul Williams Scholar at Emmanuel College. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with an AB in History of Art & Architecture and English.