Aiming for the Sun: Rebuilding and Reinventing Your Legal Career Across Borders

This week on Studying Law Around the World Podcast, we have a very special panel episode featuring three brilliant legal professionals who have successfully navigated the complexities of international practice. I am joined by Viviana Harrington (licensed in Colombia and Missouri, working as in-house counsel), Elizabeth Ciesielski Saldana (a corporate attorney from Mexico with a master's in France, currently working in the US), and Jorge Barona (a Colombian attorney with multiple European master's degrees, specializing in consultancy for EU-financed projects).In this episode, we discuss the reality of starting over, the undeniable translatability of legal skills, and how to reinvent your professional identity when moving across borders.What you will learn:The Reality of Starting Over: How to navigate the "grieving process" of realizing you must rebuild your professional identity and start from scratch when moving to a new jurisdiction.Skill Translatability: Why core skills like problem-solving, effective communication across time zones, and adaptability are highly translatable, even when the black letter law is local.Career Reinvention: How to look beyond traditional law firm partnerships and utilize a legal background to excel in compliance, finance, or administrative leadership roles.Why this matters For junior lawyers, the prospect of moving abroad can feel insurmountable. You leave behind a network where you are recognized as a competent local attorney to enter an environment where you are largely unknown and must prove your value tenfold. As our guests highlight, an international move forces you out of your comfort zone, humbling you while simultaneously demanding that you become incredibly resourceful. You learn to translate your value beyond your original degree, discovering that a legal background can unlock powerful leadership roles across various industries.If you found value in this episode, please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show on your platform of choice. Leaving a rating and review is the best way to support the podcast, helping us continue to grow and bring these invisible rules of the legal profession to more junior lawyers around the world.Selected episodes of Studying Law Around the World are eligible for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit with the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) and Continuing Legal Education (CLE/CPD) credit with the Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC). For approved episodes, accreditation details, and participation information, please visit:⁠https://law-learn-link.base44.app/Episodes⁠