“Pour faire de grandes choses, il ne faut pas être un si grand génie ; il ne faut pas être au-dessus des hommes ; il faut être avec eux.” – Montesquieu, Pensées, no. 1083 This quote captures what leadership means to me: not standing above people or merely directing them from the front, but working alongside them—a lesson I experienced firsthand while leading Unidad Para Bolivia, where some of the most meaningful moments were spent side by side with our volunteers packing food, loading trucks, traveling to remote communities, getting stuck in the mud along the way, and doing whatever work was necessary, together, to turn our shared purpose into tangible help for others.

1. What inspired you to pursue a law career?

I have always been fascinated by law, justice, and the machinery that allows societies, communities, and nations to function cohesively through the protection of individual freedoms and the creation of conditions necessary for peace, stability, development, and economic prosperity. To me, the law is one of the fundamental building blocks that make this possible.

I am from Santa Cruz, Bolivia, but I grew up between Paris, London, and Miami, which gave me the opportunity to experience very different societies and legal systems firsthand—some more functional than others. As I came of age, I became particularly drawn to Rousseau’s  Social Contract and, more broadly, to the political thought of the Enlightenment: how societies are formed, how power should be distributed, how individual freedoms can be protected, and how laws and institutions can be structured in a way that actually works.

One thing became very clear to me through those experiences: where the rule of law is strong and institutions function effectively, people have a greater ability to build, create, invest, and prosper; in turn, the country as a whole enjoys greater stability, economic growth, and development. To me, these things are deeply interconnected and, in many ways, form a self-reinforcing cycle.

I also became fascinated by the architecture of constitutional government—the separation of powers, checks and balances, and the recognition that institutions must be designed with an understanding of human ambition and fallibility. I chose to study law in the United States because of its extraordinary constitutional tradition and because I hope, throughout my career, to carry some of those lessons with me and ultimately contribute to the continued development of my own country, Bolivia.

For me, practicing law is a way of becoming part of that institutional machinery—helping give the “social contract” practical effect, ensuring that the rule of law has meaning beyond theory, and helping provide people with a mechanism through which their rights can actually be protected and vindicated.

2. Why did you choose the areas of law that you practice?

I was drawn to international litigation and asset recovery because they bring together many of the reasons I became a lawyer in the first place: the pursuit of justice, the fight against corruption and wrongdoing, and the opportunity to help restore assets to those from whom wealth was wrongfully taken—individuals, institutions, and sometimes even entire nations.

Having grown up across different countries and cultures, I have seen how profoundly corruption and the rule of law—or lack thereof—can affect people’s lives and a country’s development. Our practice allows me to work at the intersection of those issues—to pursue wrongdoers across borders, untangle complex international problems, and help clients recover what was taken from them. I find that incredibly meaningful and impactful.

3. What skills do you draw upon when it comes to your specific practice areas?

Creativity. Of course, legal knowledge and rigorous analysis are fundamental, but I think one of the most important skills in our practice is, indeed, creativity. The matters we handle rarely come with a simple roadmap. One must synthesize complicated facts, different legal systems, procedural tools, jurisdictions, and sometimes entirely novel issues in developing a path forward.

That requires being willing to think differently and innovatively—building arguments that have not been made before, identifying avenues others may not have considered, or combining existing legal tools in new ways to solve problems. I think that creativity is one of the things that makes this work so interesting and one of the qualities that makes Sequor so distinctive.

Further, I believe my international background also plays an important role. Speaking four languages and having lived in different countries allow me to feel very comfortable working across cultures, communicating with people from varied backgrounds, and approaching international matters with an appreciation for the different cultural, institutional, and legal contexts in which problems arise.

4. What is the most rewarding part about your job?

The most rewarding part is helping vindicate the rights of others—taking a difficult problem, finding a solution, and seeing that work have a tangible impact. As so much of our practice is international, that impact can extend far beyond one courtroom or one jurisdiction, which makes the opportunity to pursue accountability and help those seeking redress particularly meaningful to me. I truly love the idea that our efforts can make a difference across borders.

5. Tell us about a mentor who made an impact on your career.

My greatest mentor has unquestionably been my mom—Mama, as I call her. She is a lawyer, an extraordinarily strong woman, and, first and foremost, a mother—a single mother who sacrificed enormously to raise me while building her own career, always putting me at the forefront of her priorities and creating invaluable opportunities that helped shape me into who I am today.

What she gave me went far beyond education or professional opportunity.

Growing up, our conversations constantly shaped the way I thought about ethics, honor, responsibility, history, culture, and what it means to do the right thing even when doing so is difficult. She gave me the extraordinary privilege of seeing the world, understanding different cultures, learning from history, pursuing sports and the arts, and never stopping being curious.

None of that came without sacrifice, however. She accomplished it through years of extraordinary work, discipline, and determination—and she did it alone. Whatever ambition, resilience, energy, and deep sense of responsibility I bring to my own career has, in one way or another, its roots in her example.

6. If you weren’t practicing law, what would you be doing?

I would likely be trying to make a difference in Bolivia. In 2019, I founded Unidad Para Bolivia, a pro-democracy civic movement built around the idea of bringing Bolivians together—both within the country and across the world—in order to contribute to Bolivia’s fight for democratic rule and stability, while also working toward its broader social and economic progress.

Over time, that mission extended from civic initiatives and raising awareness to humanitarian work, including the aid projects we carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. For me, contributing to Bolivia was never only about advocating for stronger democratic institutions; it was also about finding tangible ways to help its people and contribute to their well-being.

If I were not practicing law, I imagine I would be devoting my time to building or doing something that could have a positive impact in my country—and, hopefully, my efforts would contribute to Bolivia’s democratic, social, and economic development.

7. What might people be surprised to learn about you?

People who know me primarily through law might be surprised by how much of my life is also creative, in the artistic sense. I love fashion and have a small design project through which I create pieces and accessories. I have always had a strong connection to the arts—I sing, play the piano, draw and paint, and generally love the process of creating something that did not exist before.

I think that creative side of me is actually more connected to my legal work than it might initially appear. Whether I am working through a difficult legal problem or designing something, I enjoy starting with disparate elements and figuring out how to bring them together into something coherent, original, and effective.

8. What is a good book or article you read recently?

I have recently been reading Aristotle’s Rhetoric, which was a law school graduation gift from a very good friend. I find it fascinating that, more than two thousand years later, so much of Aristotle’s thinking about persuasion, credibility, logic, emotion, and understanding one’s audience remains directly relevant to advocacy. What I enjoy most is its reminder that strong advocacy is not only about having the right argument, but also understanding how to communicate it clearly, effectively, and persuasively.