From the Booth to the World: Journey of a Criminal Defense Lawyer and a Human Rights Activist

Explore the journey of a passionate criminal defense attorney and human rights advocate, who transformed challenges into opportunities, expanded her legal practice across continents, and continues to fight for justice and equality. Learn about her insights on the impact of technology, gender equality, and her vision for the future of law.

A Dream from Childhood

Since my childhood, I have dreamt of devoting myself to being an attorney. From within, the concept of justice, law, and order made me feel that it should be my calling in life. But it was not simply a passion but rather a much deeper thing—an urge to stand for the weak and helpless, to serve justice. Hence, this is the reason for me to have chosen legal education, thereby graduating from law school to embark on this walk, which would be a defining line for my professional life.

As of early practice, I spent the beginning of my professional years working as a judge’s clerk and then an assistant prosecutor. These roles afforded me practical, real-life experience that has given me a distinct vantage point of the legal system. It was from then that I knew what my ultimate goal would be: serving those who need a voice within court, and the dispensation of justice to clients as a lawyer. In fact, this is what, in particular, spurred my interest in a specialty in criminal law, which I then went on to have a passion for.

A Different Path in the Capital City

The capital of Brazil, Brasília, is a city that seems to be governed by an interest in public governmental service. When I was young, I was surrounded by people in this line of work. At university, many colleagues wanted to become judges, prosecutors, and police officers. I was different. I decided to focus on the independent entrepreneur in the legal profession and serve my community as an attorney. I had a fast-growing interest in criminal law and all its complexities with respect to the high stakes. The difficulty and dynamism of this field is what fascinated me, and I did get very much satisfied by the development of defense strategies for complex cases. I would work day and night studying each case, driven by the passion for justice and zeal to help the voiceless, who did not have an adequate voice in the legal system. It has been this that has shaped me and given me a career of fighting for justice and giving a voice to so many who have been wrongly accused or are in prison because they cannot afford to adequately represent themselves.

How Early Experiences Shaped a Legal Perspective

This part of my early practice, especially serving as an assistant to a judge and an assistant prosecutor, shaped my approach to legal practice. These roles gave great experience in understanding the inside work of both the law sides. At present, I understand the thinking process of the presiding adjudicator and the accused as though foretelling the proceedings of the judges or prosecutors. This is very important in preparing my defense strategies with precision and maximum effectiveness.

Of course, my experience was not without a share of challenges. As a human rights activist, I have seen for myself constant violations of human rights throughout the world. Such experiences have been really eye-opening and deeply moving, especially the plight of children in areas of armed conflict, the discrimination immigrants are subjected to, and challenges that women go through worldwide. In a big way, these issues are the weak points of human rights and have notably influenced my call for advocacy.

The Entrepreneurial Leap: Starting Your Own Practice

In 2018, being impelled by an entrepreneurial drive and a passion for the cause of criminal defense, I made the audacious move to resign as a judge’s assistant and start up my own law office in Brazil. This was driven by the urge to see my vision of justice and legal advocacy come to life. It was hard, but the dedication to furnish high quality legal service and being zealous for the interest of the clients propelled the practice.

Although 2020 brought challenges, even a global pandemic didn’t ruin the plan for something good. On the other hand, at that time, I was living in the United States and couldn’t run to and fro from the USA to Brazil to manage my offices. So, this made me obliged to get used to reality these days, such as meetings and consulting with the clients even through hearings remotely. As the business started growing more and more, I realized the necessity of opening a New York subsidiary. The company grew and gave way to MO Brazilian Adivisory, a company dedicated to meeting the needs of foreigners with business interests in Brazil. We currently attend to all aspects of legal work with our clients and offer relevant, exhaustive, and accurate advice.

Keys to Success: Client-Centric Approach and Expertise

The reason for success of my firm of law over the two continents is mainly due to some of the necessary elements. We consider as a company the serving of the best services in terms of precision and quality. Continually, clients proper guidance effective advice and best service. Quality has been showcased by different awards we have won in the journey this entrepreneur.

Feedback of our clients is what likes or plays a very tremendous role in touching atop of success. Many of our clients have complimented that the firm is thorough, pays meticulous attention to detail, and has great skill at managing the most challenging cases. They have also mentioned our prompt and lucid communication and deep expertise in specific areas of the law. Understanding the specific needs of each client and tailoring the legal solutions accordingly has helped us in constructing very good and long-lasting relationships. Innovative solutions, coupled with a commitment to professionalism and integrity, have certainly helped establish our firm as a leader within the legal field.

Criminal Law

Since my school days, I’ve always had a passion for criminal law. I ensure proper protection of the interest of my clients, aiming to guarantee that everyone gets a fair trial. To represent someone accused of a crime is a great duty for the satisfaction of anyone, and I take it seriously. I put in hundreds of hours designing strategies for defense based firmly in the law, but also keeping a clear head. I am motivated by my ardent desire for justice to ensure that every possible right of my client is ensured, and to do this, I work tirelessly.

In addition to being a criminal defense lawyer, I am a devoted human rights activist. I believe that a criminal lawyer is inherently associated with being a human rights protector; everyone has the right to a fair trial, a hearing, and full defense. Instead, these are human rights-laden principles that expound from multiple international human rights treaties and conventions and dictate my work as a lawyer. My participation in human rights matters, while focusing on the rights of the vulnerable and the girl child, further informs and is mirrored in my law practice to hold myself to work in justice.

Leveraging Technology for Legal Practice

Technology has had a major impact on the legal profession in recent years, especially with artificial intelligence. I have actively embraced these developments, which have improved my practice in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. Case management software enables us to handle case files more effectively. Document automation improved our document drafting services, and through AI-powered tools for legal research, we automate all our legal research, further helping us increase our capacity to serve our clients efficiently. Virtual consultations also make things more accessible and open new avenues to reach clients in extremities and provide them with legal advice without any geographical barriers.

As we move into the future, the thing I found most exciting about AI transformation in the legal field is the potential it presents. AI has the power to transform legal research, document review, and case management, providing for the substantial increases in service efficiency and availability. Such strides in technology, of course, need always to be tempered with ethical considerations to assure that tools using artificial intelligence are not only used responsibly but in ways most advantageous to the client and across the greatest wide scope within the legal community.

A Promise of Advocating Gender Equality

Such a demand for gender equality can be seen in my activity as a co-author of the book, Empreendedoras da Lei nos Estados Unidos. The book, released through the effort of Gabriela Barreto and myself, was written in the format of a collection of articles by entrepreneurial women. Quality content related to gender equality has been distributed, starting from the fact that Brazilian and European juristic entrepreneurs are, above all, strength and competence. Further, in this book, we try to sensitize everyone to the matters of gender inequalities and the severe social impact they actually have, specifically within the law profession.

The debate on gender equality with regards to the law, specifically in academic circles, needs to be intensified. Active participation by the law fraternity in the writing of articles, books, and seminars is a must. It is only through debate and advocacy that the status quo regarding women in this profession will change and go beyond.

Future Aspirations and Desires

Looking forward, the ambitions of the growth in my legal practice and advocacy work are huge. The vision is not just about growing my practice internationally, practicing on all means of the continents, and serving clients worldwide. It is to create a globally recognized legal empire where standards of service and advocacy are the rule.

On posterity, I hope to leave an awareness of the very essence of respect for human rights, more so to the legal professionals. A host of conventions has seen the light of day for helping human rights, but there is a lot more work to do. Through my writing, advocacy work, and legal practice, I am able to raise awareness and increase respect for human rights around the world.

It has been a zeal for justice, drive for excellence, and longing to leave a remarkable impression in society; in essence, it’s that which has driven me along the journey as a criminal defense lawyer and human rights crusader. Moving forward, as I grow my practice and make more serious efforts towards advocacy, I will stick to protecting the weak, promoting gender equality, and using technology to open up access to justice.