Our Staff

Masoud Shafaee

After practicing law in the private sector in Washington, DC for a brief period out of law school, I joined the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) in 2013 following my successful placement on the roster of the National Competitive Recruitment Exam, the predecessor to the UN’s current Young Professionals Programme.  Working in OLA has proven to be an ideal fit for me, as it ties together my professional background as a practicing attorney with my educational background, having also received a master’s degree in International Affairs.  After a brief stint in the Codification Division of OLA, where I worked with colleagues to service the 69th Session of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly, I returned to the General Legal Division, where I am currently a Legal Officer on the Division’s Institutional Support team.  In that regard, my practice area resembles that of an in-house counsel’s office in many respects, albeit with a notable international dimension, whereby my colleagues and I offer legal advice to the various offices and departments of the Secretariat on a myriad of issues, from various financial and funding arrangements to issues involving intellectual property, to the negotiation and conclusion of various modalities pertaining to project implementation and the provision of technical support.  Working at the United Nations has been the culmination of my professional aspirations, and I look forward to continuing my career as an international civil servant with the UN in different roles and capacities for many years to come.

Vita Onwuasoanya

Following several years mainly as a lawyer in government service, I joined the United Nations in 2008, thus realizing a dream I had had as a young undergraduate student reading law. The goals and aspirations of the United Nations resonated with me and I keenly desired to be a part of the organization and contribute to its work in the service of humanity.

I consider myself privileged to be working in the Office of Legal Affairs, presently in the Office of the Legal Counsel and prior to this, in the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. I have found it to be a very rewarding and humbling experience, knowing that the work my colleagues (with whom I am proud to serve) and I do goes beyond pen on paper, and the walls of this building, to impact on so many lives and livelihoods in different corners of the world. I am happy that our work also provides room and opportunity for both professional and personal growth as the organization requires of us a high standard of professionalism, integrity, and respect for diversity.

Diana Taratukhina

I joined the Office of Legal Affairs/Office of the Legal Counsel in 2013.  Serving in this division of OLA is rather challenging and exciting as it operates as a "first-response" team of lawyers addressing most urgent requests.  Together with my colleagues I work on various legal issues, including the issues of the International Court of Justice, the privileges and immunities of the Organisation, the legal aspects of the Agenda 2030 and the SDGs and the rule of law.  I believe that the joint efforts of all OLA staff members contribute to the UN agenda, including the peaceful settlement of international disputes and the implementation and wider dissemination of international law.  I am truly proud to serve the United Nations and to be a part of the legal service of its Secretariat. 

Jae Sung Lee

Unlike other colleagues who have shared their stories here, I am one of the twenty or so staff members of the Office of Legal Affairs based across the Atlantic. The International Trade Law Division of OLA functions as the Secretariat of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and its offices are located with other UN and related agencies at the Vienna International Centre in Austria. I had the pleasure of working at the Codification Division of OLA earlier in my UN career, which started in 2007 and it has indeed been an amazing experience since. I feel great joy when member States supported by the Secretariat negotiate a legal text that promotes harmonization and modernization of international trade law - the most recent example being the Singapore Convention on Mediation, which attracted 46 States upon opening for signature in 2019. It is also exciting to provide technical assistance to States to support their commercial law reforms, for example, in the areas of dispute resolution, secured transactions and electronic commerce, where I had the pleasure of contributing to the development of respective UNCITRAL texts.

Henry Mathias

I joined the United Nations in Bahrain in 1991 working with the Iraq Programme.  Couple of years later, I moved to UNHQ, New York to work for the same office.  Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Office of the Controller, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and presently in the Office of Legal Affairs, Executive office in the finance unit from 2009.  I am happy to bring my years of experience to contribute to the successful functioning of Executive office, serving all my clients and proud to be part of OLA and the United Nations, as I strongly believe in the principals for what UN stands for. I strive to learn new things every day and adapt to the changes in the present times.