Meet our 2017-2018 ASPIRE Scholars
Cassandra (Cassie) Deskus is a 3L student interested in criminal justice, technology policy, and tax policy. She is currently participating in NYU’s Technology Law and Policy Clinic. She was a student advocate for the Domestic Violence Advocacy Project, where she worked on the Uncontested Divorce Project, and is a member of the Women of Color Collective. She spent last summer interning at the Department of Justice’s Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section and will spend next summer at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation & Obscenity Section. Prior to law school, Cassie worked for three years as a software engineer and analyst. She has B.S. in Math from the University of Chicago and an M.S. from Northwestern University.
Joshua R. Fattal is a 3L student interested in studying the effects new technologies have had on various topics in national security law and criminal procedure. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the IPELS Cyber Law Committee, and is also a student advocate for the International Refugee Assistance Project. He spent this past summer in the Cybersecurity Practice of the NYC office of Steptoe and Johnson LLP, where he worked on issues concerning data breaches and foreign laws on encryption technologies, and has served as a research assistant for Professor Samuel Rascoff at NYU Law, Matthew Waxman at Columbia Law, and Fareed Zakaria at CNN. He previously studied History at Columbia University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude.
Leonid 
Grinberg is a 3L student interested in how rapid technological developments interact with legal and regulatory frameworks. He is an intern at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, serves as a staff editor on the Annual Survey of American Law, and is on the board of the Supreme Court Forum. Last summer, he worked in the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division in the Department of Justice. Prior to attending law school, he worked as a software engineer at the New York Times. He graduated with an S.B. in Computer Science and Engineering from MIT.
Nathaniel J. Tisa is a 2L student focused on the intersection of national security requirements and civil liberties through the lens of technological change. Nate serves as a student fellow with the Information Law Institute and staff editor on the Journal of Legislation & Public Policy. He spent this summer as a 1L diversity scholar in Morrison & Foerster’s NYC office working on issues of privacy and data security regulation, complex litigation, and enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Additionally, he serves as a research assistant to Professors Stephen Schulhofer and Ira Rubinstein of NYU on national security law and privacy issues. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, where he studied international politics, graduated Cum Laude, and served as student body president.