Mariia Privaltseva, LLM

Mariia Privaltseva

Candidate: LLM 2013

Age: 21

Undergrad: Kyiv University of Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 2012

Languages Spoken: Ukrainian, Russian, English, French. She is working on German and Italian.

Hometown: Lugansk, Ukraine

Current Home: Eighth Floor of “The Tower.” “When there is no fog I can see the bay.”

What Kept Her Busy in Undergrad: Privaltseva worked as a translator and advisor to the president of the World Jurist Association for three years while completing her law school studies. She traveled the world with Valeriy Yevdokymov, then president of the WJA.

Professional Interest: Privaltseva would like to become a plaintiff’s medical malpractice attorney, specializing in reproductive medicine, here in California. She has already been published in numerous international journals on the topic. Her most recent piece is Legal Regulation for Alternative Methods of Reproduction in Ukraine, published in Theses of Conferences Law Journal, Kyiv, January 2012.

Personal Diversions: She enjoys quilling and writes historiographic metafiction in her spare time to relax.

Hidden Talent: She taught belly dancing until a knee injury derailed things.

What Brought her to UC Hastings:  “Fate.” And an interest in the UCSF/UC Hastings Health Law Consortium.  “The law around reproductive medicine is my passion. I chose UC Hastings when I read about the focus on health law here.”

What She Loves About San Francisco: “Everyone has a place here. Literally everyone. The city is so accepting. It is a very special city in that way.”

Look for Her In: Legal Writing and Research with Meri Maffet and Stephen Tollafield, Property with Lois Schwartz, Con Law II with Radhika Rao, and the Law and Health Sciences Concentration with Lois Weithorn. “Con Law is the toughest. My country and America walked completely different historical paths. The principles and beliefs are very different, to the core.”

The Heart on Her Sleeve: Catch Privaltseva in an embroidered hand-made shirt, part of her national costume, which she wears each August 24 to celebrate Ukraine’s Independence Day, in 1991, from the Soviet Union.