Vedat Can Yeginsu

Hometown: London, U.K. & Istanbul, Turkey
HLS Class: LL.M. class of 2008

Prior Education: B.A. 2002, Oxford University; Procter Fellow 2002-03, Princeton University; LL.B. 2007, City University London

Career goals: To build a public law and human rights practice as a Barrister at the London Bar while incorporating the teaching of comparative constitutional law into my career.

As I was reaching the end of my legal education in Britain, I wanted to spend a year learning about legal systems other than my own while also refining the advocacy skills that will be crucial to the progress of my career as a public law Barrister at the London Bar. I also want eventually to incorporate teaching into my career and I knew that the work I undertook on the LL.M. would help me to achieve this. I chose Harvard Law School because I knew I would be able to do all of these things there and, I suspected, more.

I have not been disappointed. The academic environment at Harvard is unsurprisingly first class. Professors are drawn from a multiplicity of legal backgrounds and offer a range of courses which ensure that everyone has a forum in which to pursue their own interests. Equally valuable for me has been the diversity of the student body. Meeting talented lawyers (and some judges!) drawn from such a wide range of legal universes has not only enriched classroom discussion – helping me to draw lessons from different solutions to our common problems – but has also meant that I can enjoy a whole array of new friendships. Add to this the constant stream of prominent outside speakers, mooting, and work on various legal journals and you have yourself a year that is as enjoyable as it is intense.

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