J.S.D. students often contribute a unique global perspective to Berkeley Law, bringing a wealth of experience from their countries’ legal systems. Our most recent Robbins Collection J.S.D. Fellows are no exception, as they plan to use the Fellowship to examine modern legal queries relating to comparative and religious law. Since 2019, the Robbins Collection and Research Center has provided funding for over a dozen incoming J.S.D. students who work on comparative, civil, or religious law topics. Two students in the J.S.D. class of 2026 received a Robbins Fellowship: Gunn Jiravuttipong and Helen Jennings.
Gunn Jiravuttipong’s research focuses on the diffusion of digital economy regulation from the United States and the European Union to developing countries, especially regarding digital competition law, data protection law, and content moderation law. “The challenge of the developing country is first you have to really understand what’s going on in [the] US or EU. But the second challenge is that there’s a lot of adaptation to make it fit to [a country’s] local realities,” Jiravuttipong said. He hopes to bring the knowledge he gains from the Robbins Fellowship and the J.S.D. program back to Thailand to continue to analyze international technology law and policy. Before joining the J.S.D. program, Gunn received an LL.B. from Thammasat University, Thailand, and an LL.M. from Berkeley Law School.
Coming to Berkeley Law from Ireland, Helen Jennings is building on her LL.M. thesis exploring a transitional justice response to the child sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. “I hope that my research can contribute a new depth of analysis regarding the Catholic Church’s response to the crisis of child sexual abuse, and can suggest a pathway to justice for the victims, drawing from the principles of transitional justice,” said Jennings. A barrister from Northern Ireland, Jennings previously studied law at the University of Cambridge and received an LL.M. from New York University School of Law in 2021 as a Fulbright scholar. She has also worked for the United Nations in multiple capacities, first for UN Women as a legal researcher, then as an intern at the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, and acted as a legal assistant at the International Law Commission. She credits the support of the Robbins Fellowship for making it possible for her to enter a J.S.D. program.
There is no doubt that Jiravuttipong and Jennings will leverage their participation in the J.S.D. program, especially their utilization of the Collection, to make worthwhile contributions to the world of modern legal thought. The Robbins Collection and Research Center was established as a place for scholars to conduct research related to modern issues in the fields of civil, religious, and comparative law. “These students’ work will enhance the legacy of that vision,” said Laurent Mayali, Director of the Robbins Collection and Research Center.