Law School and Beyond

Join distinguished speakers to learn more about litigating in the criminal sector. From talking to witnesses to arguing cases in court, these professionals have experienced it all when it comes to criminal defense.

Arianne is a third-year law student at NYU Law. She is from Brooklyn, NY and graduated from Wesleyan University in 2016 with a BA in Economics. She worked in the Diversity, Pro Bono and Training departments at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP for 2 years before law school, and she was an SEO Law Fellow at Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP. At NYU, Arianne previously served as Co-Chair of the Black Allied Law Students Association (BALSA), and she has worked with the Courtroom Advocates Project. She was also a student advocate for the Reproductive Justice Clinic and Mediation Clinic, and she previously interned with the General Counsel at the Brooklyn Public Library. She is currently a Senior Symposium Editor for the Journal of Legislation and Public Policy, and a 3L Representative for the Anti-Trafficking Advocacy Coalition. Upon graduation, Arianne will be working at Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP and pursuing a career in corporate law while continuing to advocate for women's rights.

Roxanne Roman earned her degree in Social Science from New York University Shanghai with the university's inaugural class of 2017. She earned her Master’s in Management Science and Global Affairs at Tshinghua University as a 2018 Schwarzman Scholar. While at NYU Shanghai, Roxanne served as a founding member of student government, the 2013 Fund, a Resident Assistant, and as Student Body President. She studied away in Abu Dhabi and in Washington D.C. as a Global Leadership Scholar, where she also interned at the White House for First Lady Michelle Obama. Before becoming a Residential Life Administrator at NYU Washington D.C, she worked at a non-profit in Okinawa, Japan.

Alec Webley (LAW ’16) is a commercial litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Prior to joining Kirkland, Alec served as a law clerk to the Hon. Rowan Wilson of the New York Court of Appeals (New York State’s highest court) and to the Hon. Jeffrey Alker Meyer of the US District Court for the District of Connecticut, as well as a litigation associate at Covington & Burling LLP. While at NYU Law, Alec was the Editor-in-Chief of the Moot Court Board and Secretary-Treasurer of the American Constitution Society student chapter as well as a research assistant for Prof. Sam Issacharoff. Prior to law school, Alec received an M.Sc. in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (majoring in political science).

Christina Bowllan is a junior from NYU Shanghai majoring in Political Science with a minor in Chinese language. This spring semester, Christina is based at NYU’s Washington, DC site as a participant in the Global Leadership Program, where she serves on the Executive Board of DC Dialogues, a student-engaged initiative created to introduce the NYU DC community to key discussions on politics, culture, business, environment, education, and more. Christina’s studies in China and travels across Asia sparked her interest in U.S.-China relations, diplomatic initiatives, and journalism. She currently interns in the office of the Director of Culture as Diplomacy at the Asia Society. Her in-depth research on governmental, public and cultural diplomacy led to her creation of a virtual cooking competition, “Breaking Bread,” that promotes a new form of virtual diplomacy allowing diverse collaborators to come together around a universal interest: food. For the same project, she moderated a conversation through DC Dialogues on the topic of diplomacy within the virtual realm.

Christina aspires to pursue a career in journalism and will intern with the CNN New York News Bureau in the summer of 2021. When Christina is not busy moderating events or learning how to edit videos, she is running a self-started online Chinese tutoring business, which teaches children ages 3-15 about Chinese culture, language and geography.  

Nikki Wu is a freshman in the Global Liberal Studies program at NYU, and she plans on double majoring in Psychology. Hailing from San Diego, CA, she loves hiking, embroidering, and baking. Besides her hobbies, Nikki enjoys learning more about social justice and advocating for different causes. She is looking forward to working with the other E-Board members to foster passion and growth within the NYU-DC community.

Saat Alety is the Director of Federal Affairs and Public Policy at Allstate, the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, and heads the company's Washington office. Named to The Hill's Top Lobbyist list in 2020, Alety leads Allstate’s advocacy efforts with Congress, the White House, and federal agencies, in addition to its public policy development at the federal, state, and local level.

Alety previously served as Majority Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development under U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. As Sen. Scott’s senior policy advisor on financial services issues, Alety led efforts that resulted in the enactment of legislation to grow consumer access to banking services, prevent synthetic identity theft, and modernize mortgage credit standards.

Prior to his tenure as a Senate staffer, Alety spent almost three years as Communications Director to U.S. Representative Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. While spokesperson, Alety was also a Legislative Assistant to Rep. Royce for his housing and capital markets portfolio on the House Financial Services Committee.

In addition to his Capitol Hill experience, Alety has held positions with the Financial Services Roundtable (now Bank Policy Institute), the leading trade association for the financial services industry, and the Romney 2012 presidential campaign.

A native of Naperville, Illinois, Alety began his career in the office of U.S. Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL). He serves on the boards of directors for the National Network to End Domestic Violence and College to Congress and the grant committee of The Allstate Foundation. Alety is also an alumni advisor to the Congressional Asian Pacific American Staff Association and recipient of its Jose M. Montano Jr. Award for "going above and beyond to sustain a pipeline of AAPI Hill staffers and leaders on the Hill."

Miya Patel brings a unique blend of experience in government, in the private sector and as a public interest lawyer to Fulcrum. Miya joined Fulcrum having served as House Judiciary Committee counsel to Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO), who holds leadership roles in the House Democrat Caucus and vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Rep. Neguse also serves as vice chair of the Judiciary Committee Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee. Miya previously worked as counsel to Rep. John Delaney (D-MD) and as legal fellow in the House Financial Services Committee under Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).

Prior to working in Congress, Miya worked as a senior analyst at Goldman Sachs, where she played an integral role in the original Dodd-Frank implementation team and as a New York City public interest immigration lawyer.

Education: Florida State University (BA); University of Miami School of Law (JD)

Nikki Wu is a freshman in the Global Liberal Studies program at NYU, and she plans on double majoring in Psychology. Hailing from San Diego, CA, she loves hiking, embroidering, and baking. Besides her hobbies, Nikki enjoys learning more about social justice and advocating for different causes. She is looking forward to working with the other E-Board members to foster passion and growth within the NYU-DC community.

Alice Zhang is a freshman Liberal Studies student at NYU, intending to major in Economics and double minor in Finance and Computer Science. Originally from Alberta, Canada, the city life is one she is still becoming accustomed to and she finds herself enjoying cold walks around the National Mall and sketching in her notebook. Apart from her hobbies, Alice volunteers with Genesys Works and helps to promote the intersection between economics and technology in the modern world.