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Law student Rakesh Parekh
has lived his whole life in the United States. Last year
when he was awarded a fellowship that took him to India,
he learned a lot about being a foreigner. As a legal intern
for the South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre,
he wrote a chapter for an Indian criminal procedure manual
to be distributed to rural attorneys and activists who did
not
have access to traditional law libraries. He also did research
about people who were killed while
in police custody. His third project focused
on advocating for a Bhutanese leader’s due process
rights afforded under the Indian Constitution. When he wasn't
working, he traveled and saw what he
called "true poverty" -- people and cows eating from
garbage
piles at the end of streets. He says the entire trip made
him value his culture and heritage even more.
Expected graduation: May 2006
Degree Objectives: Juris Doctor
Other degrees:
B.S., Psychology, cum laude, University of Georgia
A.B., Criminal Justice, cum laude, University
of Georgia
University highlights, achievements and awards:
Last year, through the support of two public
interest fellowships (Edward D. and Carol J. Spurgeon Public
Service Fellowship and the Equal Justice Foundation Fellowship)
and support from the Dean Rusk Center for International
Law, I was privileged to travel to India to work, advocate,
and improve my analytical and research aptitude in Indian
and international human rights law at the South Asian Human
Rights Documentation Centre in New Delhi, India.
While in India, I also worked two days per week at a boutique
international arbitration law firm as a Summer Associate.
This past year, I was
the President of the Asian Law Students Association, where
I co-chaired a Tsunami School Adoption Project with the law
school. Now, I am the president-elect of the UGA Student
Bar Association for the 2005-2006 academic year, and I am planning,
among a full-calendar of exciting events, the first Southeastern
Public Interest Law Conference at UGA.
Current employment:
During
the school year, I am an associate for LexisNexis, Inc.,
a company that provides law students and practitioners with
legal, news, public records and business information. This
summer, I will be working for a non-profit organization in
Washington, D.C. called the American Constitution Society
for Law and Policy. I will be involved in coordinating
the national convention in July and working to create issue
groups for various areas of the law such as international
human rights law. Also, I plan to help with the North American
South Asian Bar Association’s
annual conference in Washington, D.C.
High School: Warner
Robins High School
Hometown: Warner Robins, Georgia
Family
ties:
My household consists of my father, mother, sister, brother,
and my two paternal grandparents. My family history gives
me the drive to travel and do international work. My father
was born and raised in Kenya and then England, while my mother
was born and raised in South Africa. They married and lived
in England for a year before moving to the United States.
I was born in Tifton, Georgia, raised in Sycamore, Georgia,
and then Warner Robins, Georgia. Today, my family owns a
business in Warner Robins where my father also does health
insurance and real estate work.
I choose to attend UGA because...
…the combination
of UGA and the city of Athens has more to offer than anywhere
else in the Southeast. Both
the law school and the city are remarkably affordable, and
the school’s
reputation is among the best public schools in the nation.
I particularly enjoy the local atmosphere -- the sense of
a college town -- and the talented musicians everywhere.
The abundance of like-minded students interested in the local
and international community was also an attraction that made
it easy to come back to my alma mater.
My favorite things to do on campus are...
…to
work out, play racquetball, and take yoga classes at the
Ramsey Center as often as possible. I realize that
when I leave UGA, this ultimate gym and sports complex is
probably the best facility I will ever have had the opportunity
to use.
My favorite place to study is...
…at various coffee
shops around town. Because I stay so busy with school,
I enjoy spending my time in public places like coffee shops
because it gives me the feeling of being part of society
with all the background conversations and noise.
My favorite professors are...
...Professors Dupre and Ball. Professor
Dupre is not only a true pedagogue of the law, but she educates
her students on practical aspects of lawyering as well. Her
teaching style forced us to not only learn the material
but to have a master understanding of it. Professor Ball
was my professor for Constitutional Law. Because of his
interest and previous work in public interest law, he is
a role model for students who will pursue
public interest work as a career.
If I could share an afternoon with anyone, I would love
to share it with...
…former UN Secretary
General Boutros Boutros Ghali. He was a champion for diplomacy
in the 1990’s. I admire his advocacy for the imperatives
of universality of human rights, particularly his fight for
guarantees for protection and democratization as the necessary
political structure to ensure these objectives. I really
look up to him; I would love to discuss his
thoughts about international relations and law since 9/11.
If money was not a consideration,
I would love to...
…be a traveling international
human rights activist, making the rules and norms of international
law more promising and stable, and ideally advocating for
victims of human rights abuses. After that, I would be very
interested in assisting refugees and asylum seekers about
immigration procedures in the U.S. and other safe-haven countries.
After graduation, I plan to...
…work
for a non-profit organization dealing with law and/or public
policy or an immigration law firm with a serious commitment
to public interest law. I also hope to incorporate my knowledge
and interest in international human rights as well.
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