The key milestones in my career have all involved taking some risk and not necessarily following the traditional path – trusting my instincts. The first of those moments was deciding not to be afraid to experiment, and even fail, for the sake of getting the right exposure. During law school, I explored different practices and environments, such as clerking for a federal tax prosecutor, an internship at a litigation firm and working in-house at a tech start-up. There was no mortgage to worry about, so I just went for it! These experiences have been extremely valuable not only because they broaden my perspective of what it meant to be a lawyer, but also helped me make a more informed decision about which path to take following graduation. After doing a little bit of everything, I realized that I was better suited to transactional work, which focuses on consensus building and a shared goal of getting the deal done.
Next was a move to Spain for my LLM, which led to a job offer in my firm’s Madrid office. As a Brazilian law-qualified attorney, the safer path would have been to join a local firm back home, but I had a gut feeling that working at an international firm and learning an entirely new legal system would be too interesting to pass up. I remember having a discussion with my parents about whether to take an offer in Spain or in Brazil, and they said something that I will never forget: “Opportunities come and go, and there is no such thing as perfect timing. Don’t miss out on the good ones as they might not be there tomorrow.” When I was later considering a move to New York, Spain had then become the safe choice. I remembered my parent’s words of wisdom and didn’t think twice about relocating to the US to help strengthen our Latin America practice. The key lesson I learned from these experiences, when I look back at the choices I’ve made, is that my most rewarding experiences always involved some risk and trusting my gut.
