I have no family connection to the law. Still, I did harbor the occasional teenage fantasy in which I strode confidently around a courtroom, amazing a jury with my persuasive oratory and pulling off an almost impossible courtroom coup resulting in a standing ovation from an appreciative audience.  I have always been someone who is ready to share my opinion about things and eager to be a leader and organizer. I enjoyed debate and excelled in it during my school years. I was also elected president of the student council and known as “Mr. President” by some, perhaps slightly mockingly! I suppose some might have described me as a little loud and maybe too ready to speak up, but, at least, no one has ever expressed surprise by my career choice. I feel very fortunate to have identified my métier so quickly and accurately and have enjoyed my career to date.

 My degree specialization was in Corporation Law, and I graduated with an excellent final mark of 9.0/10, reflecting a passion for my chosen specialty, intelligence, and diligence as a student. Since graduating, I have worked in progressively more challenging and exciting roles in corporate law and now regard myself as having an excellent general grounding in that area of work. I have also been teaching Foreign Investments at Anahuac University since January 2010, and I am the youngest faculty member teaching there.

My goals now are to join the program to extend my skills and knowledge in my specialty, to excel within the program, and then to return to Mexico and work for a local company or a US company based there. I love my country and want very much to contribute to its economic well-being and progress; I see participation in the program as an opportunity to help me fulfill this goal. Like many of my fellow citizens, I am concerned about the economic distortions that result from corruption, and I hope that my participation in the program might, ultimately, help me to reduce this blight on the local business environment. I should be interested in assisting in research into the effects of corruption, specifically in the application of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  I also intend to continue my teaching; I know that I am an effective teacher, and I greatly enjoy passing on my knowledge and enthusiasm to young lawyers.

Amongst the reasons that the NYU program is beautiful to me are:  that it is designed explicitly for foreign-educated lawyers such as myself; the breadth of the curriculum, encompasses relevant subjects other than the law; the opportunity to create an individualized program; the fact that the faculty members have international prestige in their respective fields; and the knowledge that this prestigious program will attract the ‘cream’ of young international corporate lawyers and so provide opportunities to profit significantly from the insights of my fellow class members as well as the chance to share my own.

I have always considered that those fortunate enough to work in the comparatively well-rewarded field of the law, have a responsibility to ‘give something back. During my first job, I joined the Appleseed Foundation, an organization providing pro-bono advice, and was appointed to negotiate with firms to achieve an increase in hours donated. I designed a voluntary agreement to this end, providing for each participating firm to contribute 120 hours and, in this way, tripled the amount of pro-bono work being done. I intend to continue giving and encouraging others to give time and skills to those unable to afford legal guidance.

 I am used to working as a team member and enjoy doing so. I expect my input to team efforts to be acknowledged and am always happy to recognize that provided by other team members readily. I am currently a team member that includes lawyers working for firms in Singapore and Toronto.  I have happily studied, worked, and socialized with people of various cultural and social backgrounds and, although not widely traveled, I did spend a year in Toronto. I am curious about other cultures and look forward to learning more about them during the program and by living in New York.

 I know that the program attracts many well-qualified applicants; however, I do genuinely consider myself to be an exceptional candidate. My bachelor's degree is in a directly relevant specialty; my academic results demonstrate that I possess the intellectual ability and work ethic to profit from the program; my career background will enable me to provide valuable insights and to ‘add value to my class, and I have helpful teaching and research experience that I can bring to the program. My main recommendation is my passion for the study of corporate law and for contributing to its effectiveness and its future development locally and internationally.  I undertake to participate very enthusiastically in the program and to do all I can to excel within it.