Rick Da
Bio:
Rick is a PhD candidate at the Yale University Department of Political Science. He is also a graduate of Yale Law School, having received his J.D. in May 2026 and subsequently passed the New York Bar Exam with a score qualifying for any universal bar jurisdiction. He is currently on a leave of absence from Yale to serve as a judicial law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit during the 2026-2027 term.
Rick is interested in the politics and history of international law and national security, as well as territorial disputes, civil liberties, government accountability, and property law. His dissertation focuses on territorial disputes and their historical and legal provenance and resolution (or difficulty thereof), employing a mixed-method approach involving archival, quantitative, legal, and geographic analysis. At Yale Law School, Rick served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of International Law (Vol. 51), a Student Staff Editor with Just Security, and a Knight Law & Media Scholar (student attorney) at the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic, where matters he worked on include:
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Challenging restrictions on press access to the Pentagon on behalf of the Pentagon Press Association, drafting an amicus brief that helped secure a federal court ruling striking down the policy as unconstitutional.
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Representing Voice of America journalists in litigation challenging the broadcaster’s effective shutdown, securing emergency injunctive relief in S.D.N.Y. and then a preliminary injunction and summary judgment in D.D.C. restoring the status of employees and contractors and reinstating funding.
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Litigating FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) cases on behalf of journalists and legal scholars seeking records concerning U.S. diplomacy, wartime conduct in Afghanistan, and the CIA’s response to workplace sexual misconduct, as well as challenging the State Department’s pattern and practice of FOIA violations.
Rick also served as a research assistant for various professors and on the leadership board of the National Security Group and the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association. He completed his B.A. with honors at the University of Chicago, double majoring in Political Science and History. He intends to pursue careers in both academia and litigation.
Contact:
Education:
- J.D., Yale Law School, 2026
- B.A. Political Science (with honors) & History (with honors), University of Chicago, 2019
Fields of Interest:
- International Relations
- Law (American & International)
- Comparative Politics