Chair team

Leandro Dias studied law at the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and completed his first master's degree at Torcuato Di Tella University (Buenos Aires) with a master's thesis on ‘Hypothetical Consent and Patient Autonomy’. After completing his law studies, he worked for many years as a research assistant at the Chair of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure at the University of Buenos Aires (chair holder: Marcelo Sancinetti).
With the support of the DAAD, he completed his doctorate with a thesis on ‘Provocation of Self-Defence’ under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dr. Eric Hilgendorf and was awarded ‘summa cum laude’. He also completed a second doctoral degree at the University of Buenos Aires, graduating with the highest grade of summa cum laude with his thesis ‘Excessive Self-Defence and Positive Duties’ under the supervision of Dr. Marcelo Lerman. His legal focus and research interests lie in the areas of general criminal law, legal philosophy, moral philosophy, international criminal law and comparative criminal law.

Johannes Härtlein studied law at the University of Würzburg and passed his first state examination in the 2023/I examination period. He has been working at the chair since the 2023/24 winter semester and, among other things, heads the Legal Tech Centre at the University of Würzburg's Faculty of Law, which deals with issues relating to the digitisation of legal processes and technologies in the legal system. He is also pursuing a doctorate on the topic of ‘Deepfakes – A Regulatory Proposal for Generative Artificial Intelligence’.

Together with Prof. Dr. Dr. Hilgendorf, he publishes a legal commentary on the European AI Regulation.

Masha Khoshantash has been studying for her Master's degree in LL.M. Digitalisation & Law since October 2023. Since January 2024, she has been working as a research assistant at the chair of Prof. Dr. Dr. Eric Hilgendorf and is also responsible for supporting foreign members at Juristen Alumni e.V. She also oversees the ‘Digifriends Alumni’ project.

Baran Kizilirmak studied law at Ankara University (Turkey) and completed his first master's degree at Istanbul University with a thesis on ‘The Use of Preventively Collected Data in Criminal Proceedings.’ He then completed a second master's degree in European and European Legal Studies at the University of Hamburg, which he attended as a Jean Monnet scholar. After successfully completing the master's programme with his thesis ‘Cross-Border Transfer of Personal Data Under GDPR Regime and Turkish Legal Framework’, he was awarded the academic degree LL.M. After completing his education, he worked for many years as a research assistant at Kadir Has University (Turkey) in the Department of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. 

With funding from the DAAD, he completed his doctorate on the topic of “Criminal Liability in Offences Involving Autonomous Systems Driven by Artificial Intelligence” under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Dr. Eric Hilgendorf and was awarded “summa cum laude”. His legal focus and research interests lie in the areas of information technology, data protection law, artificial intelligence and criminal law.

Jo Lechner studied law at the University of Würzburg and passed her first state examination in the 2024/II examination period. She has been working at the chair since the summer semester of 2025 and, among other things, is responsible for all events and matters as managing director of Juristen Alumni e.V. In addition, she is pursuing a doctorate on the topic of ‘Mentally ill offenders and prisoners’.

Friederike Persitzky studied law at the University of Würzburg and passed her first state examination in the 2024/2 examination period. She has been working at the chair since the winter semester 2025/26 and is responsible for teaching, among other things. If you have any questions or comments regarding teaching, please feel free to contact Friederike Persitzky at any time.

María Lucila Tuñón Corti studied law at the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina. She then enrolled in a German-language Master's programme in law at the University of Würzburg in 2019, graduating summa cum laude in 2021. In the same year, she received a full scholarship from the DAAD for a four-year doctoral programme. Her doctoral thesis is entitled ‘Ex-post triage and criminal law’. After her scholarship ended in October 2025, she began her Barbara Huber Scholarship at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law in Freiburg.