Laurène Mennesson

My name is Laurène Mennesson and I am 24 years old. I'm French and I spent my childhood in the South of France. I did my bachelor's degree, as well as my first master in international law in Bordeaux. Having spent my life in France, I wanted to broaden my cultural experience by spending my second year of this master's degree in Hanoi, Vietnam. During that year, I wrote a thesis in investment arbitration and I realised that if I wanted to work in international arbitration, I had to spend a year specializing.

For this reason, I started looking for an LL.M. programme in international arbitration abroad, to perfect my English, and to explore a new country in Europe. In this way, the LL.M. programme offered by Erasmus University in Rotterdam met all my expectations. The LL.M. programme provides a unique curriculum, notably about international arbitration skills with expertise in international business law.

Living in the city of Rotterdam, I decided to adapt to Dutch culture and get around by bike, which I realised I love, because it gives me a huge sense of freedom. Everything around Rotterdam is very close by. And I loved having a sports complex right on campus, which allowed me to do a lot of sports.

The main advantage for me at Erasmus University is the large group of international students. There is a lot of diversity which is the reason I wanted to continue my education abroad. Our class this year was quite small compared to France which is an advantage, as it allows you to have real discussions with the teachers. The teachers are very attentive to our perfection of the course, both on a theoretical and a practical level. Furthermore, from the beginning of the year, we are prepared for the programme as we had to write a mini dissertation that allowed me to better understand the writing of my final thesis. I definitely have a better understanding of international arbitration. In particular, because of the practical exercises. It is very different from the French system, in the sense that the LL.M. programme is very practice-oriented, and the use of the law in our future professional life.

Moreover, I really feel that there are more professional opportunities in the Netherlands than in France. In addition to the LL.M. programme, the programme department provided us with opportunities to work in the field. I was successfully handpicked and I used to work twice a week at Linklaters in Amsterdam at the Dispute Resolution Department. This experience gave me practical insight supporting what I studied during the LL.M. programme.

I would advise students who want to join this master's programme to make sure that they find accommodation in advance because it is quite hard to find. You also must take into account that this LL.M. programme is very demanding, I spent most of my weekends at the library, but the efforts always payed off. More importantly, expect a great year with a lot of fun!