Season 3: Episode 7: Paloma Cipolla Moguilevsky
Associate at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC
Paloma Cipolla Moguilevsky
Associate at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC
How did a moot court competition turn into her job offer at BigLaw?
Paloma initially aspired to become diplomat when she began law school. Fluent in Spanish and English and having been raised in Argentina and Spain, she has a keen interest in international affairs. It was not until she started her LLM at Georgetown that she begun to explore a career in international arbitration. Paloma was a member of the team that represented Gerogetown at the 2018 LLM Commercial & Investment Arbitration Moot Competition. One of the coaches happened to be a lawyer at Jones Day. Paloma stayed in touch with her moot court coach after the competition. When a position became available at Jones Day, Paloma applied and ultimately received the job offer.
What was the job application process for Paloma?
How did she get into BigLaw right after receiving her LLM?
What’s her insight on getting a summer internship position at the World Bank?
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Where did you grow up? Why did you study law?
I was born in Argentina and lived there until I was five. My family then moved to Madrid, Spain, because of my dad's job, so I grew up in Madrid until I was around 11, when we moved back to Argentina. As a kid, I witnessed discrimination in Spain, and even though I wasn't directly affected, it bothered me. I felt compelled to address such situations. As I got older, I became deeply interested in foreign affairs. In Argentina, to pursue a career as a diplomat, you typically need a degree in law, political science, foreign affairs, or economics. Initially, I aimed to become a diplomat, so I opted for law school, thinking it would provide a solid foundation for a career, even if I changed my mind later. However, once I started law school, I fell in love with studying law and, I realized I didn't want to become a diplomat anymore. So, here we are.
What do you do as a multilingual lawyer?
Currently, I'm an Associate at Williams & Connolly, focusing primarily on international arbitrations. My current work involves commercial arbitration, but I also have experience with investment arbitrations. I also do a good amount of pro bono work in immigration law.
I speak English and Spanish, and I also have some knowledge of Portuguese, although I haven't used it in a while. Most of my work is conducted in English, but sometimes there's background work that I need to do in Spanish, depending on the cases I'm handling. For instance, I had one case involving investment arbitration against a Latin American country, where many witnesses and experts were native Spanish speakers. And most of the background documents were in Spanish. My language skills and understanding of the region made me an ideal attorney to understand the factual background of the case. Having a cultural understanding of the region that you are working on is crucial to build rapport and foster closer relationships with clients, witnesses, and experts.
I'm now broadening my work scope by delving into U.S. litigation. I must confess, though, that international arbitration is my true passion. I find immense satisfaction in engaging with parties from around the world, working with witnesses and experts, and delving into various legal traditions and cultural backgrounds. It's fascinating to see how different perspectives come together in these cases.
What’s your favorite part of being an international arbitration lawyer?
This is something that occurs frequently in litigation, and especially in international arbitration. When you begin working on a case, you often learn about new industries, such as energy, mining, construction, and so on. In international arbitration, cases often take you to unexpected places, where you learn a great deal about the countries involved, their culture, and political environment. These cases really broadens your horizons, expose you to specialized subject matters, various cultures, and their legal systems. It's fascinating to see how different business ecosystems operate and how courts function around the world, which can be quite different from what you're accustomed to.
I think if the practice is international in nature and probably having an international lawyer is the right thing to do. Because as I said, there are some things that can be learned. You can read a law; you can understand the case, but you will never be able to understand, for example, how to negotiate with a foreign country or with a foreign party that has certain understanding of how business or negotiations should go like. And if you don't have someone that really knows that culture or was raised in that type of environment and it's very culture savvy, then you're probably going to reduce your chances of having a successful outcome.
Is international arbitration something you have always wanted to pursue or a career path you developed after you started law school in the United States?
It was a bit of a journey. As I mentioned, I fell in love with law during my time in law school. Initially, I worked as a law clerk in Argentina, and spent two years assisting a judge. Afterwards, I worked as a litigation associate at a law firm in Argentina for a year. Although my cases were interesting, I couldn’t help but feel that there was something missing in my professional life, and I realized that it was my interest for international matters, which I had left forgotten when I fell in love with law. I began researching the best path for me to enter the international arena as an attorney, and concluded that international arbitration would be the perfect fit for me because it would allow me to blend my love for law and litigation with various international elements.
Could you share your insights on how to get an internship at the World Bank?
Sure. I was a summer intern at the World Bank in 2017. I worked on project called Procuring Infrastructure: Public-Private Partnerships that the World Bank was developing at the time. I wanted to do something productive with my summer and was keen on exploring what it would be like to work at an international organization, especially given my interest in international affairs. Doing a summer internship at an international organization looked like the perfect opportunity to test the waters and see how I felt working at one of these international institutions. I learned about the opportunity through Georgetown. I remember receiving an email from the school’s office of graduate careers mentioning that the World Bank was looking for summer interns. I applied, prepared thoroughly for the interview, and secured the summer internship.
How did you secure your first permanent job in the U.S.?
My first job in the U.S. was as a Foreign Associate at Jones Day. I worked with the Jones Day International Arbitration team for two and a half years. As to how I secured my Jones Day job, I have to say that it all started at Georgetown. During my LL.M. I networked (a lot) and tried to be very organized and disciplined about it. For example, I kept a spreadsheet with details of everyone I contacted, noting whether I needed to follow up with them and when, and whether they responded to my emails or not. I knew I had to bolster my international arbitration profile because I didn’t have any professional experience in the international arena, so I applied to join the team that was going to represent Georgetown at the American University LL.M. Commercial & Investment Arbitration Moot Competition. After trying out, I made the team. Interestingly, one of the coaches of the arbitration teams happened to be an Associate at Jones Day. We kept in touch, and during my second semester, I had a coffee with her and told her that I was in the middle of a job search. We discussed my interests and aspirations, and it turned out that her firm had a need for an associate with my skill set. I applied for the job and went through a lengthy selection process, which eventually turned into a job offer.
Lastly but not the least, do you have any advice for new internationally trained lawyers?
Have a ton of patience and be passionate about what you do. Don’t give up on anything you wish in life. Determination and strategic thinking are crucial. Believe in yourself. Put in the hard work. When you have faith in yourself and do what's necessary, things eventually fall into place. The road may not be easy, but hard work always pays off.
