“Please help me, I do not understand their language!” a dejected woman exclaimed as we finished setting up a legal-aid camp in a village on the outskirts of my city, Chennai, India. As the other volunteers and I conversed with her, we learned that she sought to uncover the reality behind her husband’s untimely demise at a local healthcare facility. Seeking to unravel the truth, our team discovered that medical malpractice had cost him his life and that the perpetrators were far from accountability, as usual. This harrowing experience prompted me to reflect on and investigate Indian health law, which is relevant to this case.
In preparation for a moot court competition, I discovered that the absence of a specialized adjudicatory forum to hold medical practitioners accountable had always plagued our justice system. I identified the doctrine of “Res Ipsa Loquitur” - the thing that speaks for itself – as an especially critical obstacle to realizing justice in medical negligence cases. I began to search for ways to overcome this obstacle in Indian law. The experience filled me with delight as I realized that I was preparing myself for the kind of service to my community of which I have long dreamed.
Interning with a criminal law firm in Chennai allowed me to help a man whose wife was a victim of surgical errors. We could leverage the concept of vicarious liability to hold the hospital responsible for medical malpractice. This intriguing intersection of Criminal Law and Health Law broadened my horizons and has continued to inspire me since, albeit with many more new questions than answers.
Pursuing answers eventually led me to develop a passion for public interest advocacy. I volunteered at an NGO where I had the privilege of educating people on their fundamental legal rights and providing legal advice through legal aid camps alongside lawyers worldwide. My interactions with those lawyers helped me to understand better that my ambition was not something that I wanted to be confined within geographical borders. After completing Law School, I joined an Intellectual Property Law firm and made every effort to be actively involved in pro bono work relating to medical malpractice. My professional position enabled me to explore health law through the eyes of an Intellectual Property lawyer during the pandemic. As a direct result of COVID-19, I understood better the inadequacy of the current pharmaceutical patent system for addressing public health crises. I began questioning the long-term impact of approving the COVID-19 vaccine without proper testing. My pursuit of answers has increased my understanding of the way that current events shape the evolutionary trajectory of Law.
I now hope to earn an LLM Degree in the USA, and ____ University is the only program I am applying to. I am convinced that ____’s experiential learning opportunities will prepare me for the most productive of lifetimes of total immersion in challenging legal complexities, with procedural risk in the international context as my primary focus. The General LLM Program at ____ will provide me with an unsurpassed foundation in Law and Health, inspiring and enabling further specialization in public health emergencies, human rights, and public health and contemporary legal issues, particularly concerning India. I have learned much about medical negligence in India and am highly motivated to combat this scourge. I see the resources and focus of the program at ____ as the optimal springboard upon which to launch my career in such a way as to make the maximum contribution not just to India but also to our community in Georgia. The Global Public Health Law Program at Emory will enable me to develop the necessary foundation to distinguish myself in years to come in the legal arena, engaging with many of the most salient legal issues related to respect for human rights during public health emergencies.
I believe that my experiences working in the field of health law in India will help me to contribute valuable things to class discussions while brainstorming with my peers in ____’s Global Health Law and Policy Project. I see the potential of this project, providing hands-on, student practicum experience, as especially crucial for preparing me to take on critical public health challenges that impact communities worldwide. My most significant contribution to society would be to work for global justice in health care access, helping to formulate policies that will effectively slow the spread of infectious diseases. At some point, I hope to develop my public interest project focused on the intersection between medical and legal issues, providing pro bono representation to as many individuals and families as I can. I look forward to taking full advantage of ____'s Pro Bono Program and the ____ Law School Supreme Court Advocacy Program. I am the best fit for the LLM Program at ____ University primarily because of my passion for Public Interest Law. I look forward to an incredibly close examination of Health Law in the American legal system. I also plan to continue my study of the horrific deterioration of respect for human rights that has accompanied COVID-19, in India in particular, but also worldwide.
Thank you for considering my application.
LLM Global Health Law Personal Statement