It is our pleasure to announce that the winner of AIJA’s 2022 Best International Future Lawyer Award competition is Larisa Munteanu.
A few words about the 2022 BIFLA Winner
Larisa Munteanu is a Data Protection Lawyer and Deputy Data Protection Officer. Larisa has always been driven by her passion for research and was one of the top students at Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Law, Romania. Soon after graduating the Master’s Degree on International and Comparative Business Law, she became part of the JS Information Governance Ltd team, located in the United Kingdom, collaborating with worldwide businesses.
At the same time, merging Cyber Law with International Law was the decision which led to Larisa’s award of the Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance in 2021. In order to achieve this result, she drafted and presented a Global Convention on AI and personal data protection.
She has constantly channelled her efforts in revealing the importance of the field she is extremely passionate about – Cyber Law. Her major areas of interests cover data protection laws and privacy rights, ethical use of AI, and cybercrimes. As a key speaker for various events (organised by actors such as the Council of Europe, Romanian National Cyber Security Directorate and Romanian National Institute of Magistracy, along with private entities across Europe), she is one of the dynamic advocates of personal data protection. Furthermore, her published articles in the field (including in the European Data Protection Law Review), demonstrated her analytical and solution-oriented nature. All in all, she believes studying the future is not only practical, but also crucial.
The video blog submitted by Larisa suggested from the very beginning (reading the title) that it will illustrate the sincere thoughts of a ‘Digital Lawyer’ – how the pandemic affected daily life while being a Law Student and even after graduation. The main point raised during the presentation is that the mindset is the strongest weapon we have when facing detrimental circumstances. This is why, Larisa chose to quote a line from William Shakespeare, shaping her exact reasoning: ‘There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.’
Moreover, acknowledging one’s priorities and striving for personal goals are essential milestones for constant evolution. Accordingly, a context that might have been perceived as unfavourable becomes the key factor in personal and professional development. To be more precise, the COVID-19 pandemic enhanced the process of connecting with worldwide professionals devoted to the same fields of law, enabling us to focus on versatility at the same time.
We are thrilled to invite law students and recent law graduates to participate in AIJA’s 2022 Best International Future Lawyer Award competition!
This year the competition is focused on the future of the legal profession as we emerge from the COVID pandemic into a changed world and a legal profession in flux. Law students who have had their legal educations altered by the pandemic and recent law graduates who have begun their careers in the time of COVID are invited to reflect on the unexpected lessons learned during these challenging times, as well as on the opportunities created by this time of change for new and future international lawyers.
The aim of the competition is to welcome new and diverse voices into a discussion about these timely issues ahead of AIJA’s 60th Annual Congress in Singapore in August 2022
Free AIJA membership until 2025.
Publication of the winner’s name and video blog on AIJA’s channels.
Invitation to attend free of charge AIJA’s 60th Annual Congress in Singapore with travel and accommodation costs paid by AIJA, or, in the event of a conflict or inability to travel to Singapore, attendance, travel and accommodation to one of AIJA’s next conferences.
2020 - “‘Do it right’: The initiative for diversity across the board”, Isabel Lightbody - Read here the essay
2019 - “Taking a Stand: Achieving Climate Change Action through Climate Litigation”, Xuejun Zhao - Read here the essay
2018 - “Lunar Law - Is it mere Colony Law with Cosmic Application?”, Christopher Sawyer - Read here the essay
2017 - “Will the increasing use of technology in law invigorate or diminish legal professionalism as the nature of information in the Digital Society changes?”, Lorraine Chimbga - Read here the essay
2016 - “Governing Shared Natural Resources of the International Seabed Area”, Sharefah Almuhana - Read here the essay
