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Centre for Commercial Law Studies

Nathan Koneru (2017)

Nathan Koneru graduated from CCLS with an International Business Law LLM, and has since joined Kaster, Lynch, Farrar & Ball, LLP located in Houston, Texas, as an associate attorney.

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Nathan Koneru in a blue suit

How did you come to choose to study at CCLS?

My older brother attended CCLS in 2009-2010. I saw the positive experience CCLS had on him, both on a personal and professional level. I saw how he was able to develop close friendships with people from all over the world and I saw how his experience at CCLS helped him get his first job as a lawyer for a multinational corporation in the United States.

I also knew that an opportunity to study at CCLS would allow me to fulfill my passion for traveling and experiencing different cultures, while at the same time learning about the global effect of the American legal system with the rest of the world.

What is your favourite memory as a student at CCLS?

My favourite memory at CCLS was meeting such a diverse group of people from all over the world and developing close friendships. Still to this day I talk to and text with my classmates and have even visited some of them in their home country.

Attending CCLS also gave me the opportunity to satisfy my travel bug. With London being so well-connected to nearly every country in the world, I was able to visit and experience the culture of several different places during my time at CCLS.

What does being a member of the CCLS community mean to you?

It means being part of a global community of incredibly intelligent and motivated lawyers who are both eager and happy to help you at a moment’s notice.

How did your CCLS experience contribute to your career?

My experience at CCLS directly contributed to my career both from a networking and academic perspective.

The friendships I made during my time at CCLS and my dissertation on the Hague Evidence Convention have been incredibly useful and have had a direct impact in my field of practice to the tune of several million dollars.

My firm had two lawsuits against a multinational French tyre company and its Indonesian tyre manufacturing partner. The lawsuits had been at a standstill for over five years because we couldn’t get the Indonesian manufacturer properly served with process. With the help of an LLM colleague (Antonius Tigor LLM, 2017) who practices in Jakarta, I was able to effect service on the Indonesian manufacturer. As soon as that happened both the French tyre company and the Indonesian manufacturer immediately settled.

In a lawsuit against a Chinese tyre manufacturer, I won a contentious legal argument involving a Motion to Compel the Inspection of the Chinese tyre manufacturer’s plant located in China. The Chinese manufacturer tried to argue that the Hague Evidence Convention should apply instead of the U.S. Rules of Civil Procedure in an attempt to prevent my firm from inspecting their manufacturing facilities, but they didn’t know I had written a 40-page dissertation during my coursework at CCLS on the exact same issue. I was able to essentially resubmit my dissertation to the court and, as a result, successfully persuaded the court in my favour. Once the court ordered the manufacturer to allow my firm to inspect their facilities, the manufacturer very quickly settled the lawsuit.

Why do you think prospective students should study at CCLS?

CCLS is the ultimate networker. The legal world is rapidly changing and is becoming more and more connected globally. There are few institutions, if any at all, that can connect people from all over the world and then create an environment to help develop intellectual and meaningful relationships.

Useful links:

Find out more about studying International Business Law LLM at CCLS

Find out more about CCLS Alumni

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