‘Avoid Getting Stuck in a Moment,’ Says Federico Cuadra Del Carmen of Baker McKenzie

Practice area: Corporate and Securities

Law school and year of graduation: Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, 2013

The following has been edited for style.

How long have you been at the firm?

I first joined Baker McKenzie as a summer associate in the New York Office in 2011. Since then, I spent five years in the New York Office from 2013-2018, and then another five when I rejoined the firm in the Miami Office from 2019 to date.

What was your criteria in selecting your current firm?

There were several factors that played a role in choosing Baker McKenzie. Having grown up in several countries and speaking different languages, I knew I wanted to work at a law firm that reflected my personal story and values. Baker McKenzie offered me the opportunity to work with market-leading attorneys across the world on complex and challenging deals. Collaborating with my global colleagues to help clients navigate sophisticated multijurisdictional transactions is extremely fulfilling.

Baker McKenzie’s unique international fabric also creates a very welcoming environment for all lawyers, providing diverse attorneys such as myself the opportunity to use our own cultural fluencies and language competencies to create value for clients.

Were you an associate at another firm before joining your present firm? If so, which one and how long were you there?

When I moved to Miami I had the chance to work at Hughes, Hubbard & Reed with Ruben Diaz, Amy Dulin and Freddie Goudie for a year before being invited back to Baker McKenzie to work alongside Colin Murray, Scott Brandman and Alan Zoccolillo in expanding the Miami Office’s corporate practice. Although Ruben, Amy and Freddie have since retired or joined different firms, I still consider them close friends and mentors.

What do you think was the deciding point for the firm in making you partner? Was it your performance on a specific case? A personality trait? Making connections with the right people?

I believe all three factors described above played a role in my promotion. Baker McKenzie is based on a “client first” foundation. Demonstrating that I helped build client trust in the firm and provided consistent value to the matters I worked on was fundamental to my promotion. I also showed that I could develop a successful international practice by advising clients on high-stakes transactions and other complex matters spanning across the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

Additionally, I further established myself in the industry by speaking at, and organizing, public events, taking a lead in the planning and expansion of the firm’s annual Latin America Tax and Transactional Conference in Miami. Internally at the firm, I endeavored to take on leadership roles by teaching and mentoring junior lawyers, as well as serving as co-chair of the firm’s New York and Miami diversity committee, a member of the North America Talent Committee, and the co-hiring partner of the New York and Miami offices.

Who had or has the greatest influence in your career and why?

Judge Virginia Kendall from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois was one of my greatest mentors and had a lasting influence on my career. Like many, my first year of law school was very difficult. At the end of my Spring semester I was exhausted and a bit beat up, trying to remember why I went to law school in the first place. The summer I spent externing for Judge Kendall reminded me why. Judge Kendall was art-in-motion, showing us the importance of being a zealous advocate and a professional lawyer. Seeing the Judge in action and hearing about the path she took to the bench was the inspiration I needed to realize I was in the right place. She showed us that the legal profession is not about the lawyers that work in it; rather, it’s about the people who turn to the law for help.

Our job as lawyers is about serving people, first and foremost. I still think about the lessons I learned that summer on a weekly basis, even as a transactional lawyer who hasn’t seen the inside of a courtroom since.

What advice would you give an associate who wants to make partner?

Understand that thriving at a large firm not only entails helping our clients realize extraordinary results and becoming their trusted advisers; it also means building trust, capacity, and empathy among the team that supports you on a daily basis.

When it comes to career planning and navigating inside a law firm, in your opinion, what’s the most common mistake you see other attorneys making?

One common mistake I see is underestimating the importance of intentional relationship building and business development. Technical savvy and hard work just get you in the door at a large law firm. Building a strong internal network and forming meaningful connections with clients, peers, and other market actors leads to momentum building opportunities.

What challenges, if any, did you face or had to overcome in your career path and what was the lesson learned? How did it affect or influence your career?

One challenge I faced earlier on in my career was finding my business development style. I had the privilege of seeing some of the best lawyers in the business pitch for new business and undertake novel client initiatives. Great mentors of mine like Maria Eberle, Alan Zoccolillo, Scott Brandman, Steven Canner, Mike DeFranco and Darcy Down each have their own distinctive style and are very creative in their approach.

At first I felt like I needed to learn how to be them. Over time (and after a lot of missing the mark), I realized what made them great was not that they were the same, rather each one had their own organic style reflective of their personality. Young lawyers can see how their successful mentors conduct themselves, but then need to take those seeds and plant them in their own pots in order to develop a style that reflects who they are. There is no cookie cutter approach. Lawyers need to be authentic in their communications with clients and avoid coming off as scripted.

Baker McKenzie provided me with great training tailored to my needs and strengths, helping me hone my communication skills I use today.

Knowing what you know now about your career path, what advice would you give to your younger self?

There is a saying in Spanish, “no te ahogues en un vaso de agua.” This roughly translates to “don’t drown in a glass of water,” or in other words, “don’t sweat the small stuff.” The job is hard and the learning curb is steep. You won’t get things 100% right the first time you do them. But, as long as you take the time to understand why, you will get better. Avoid getting stuck in a moment. Run the post-mortem, take the lesson, and move on to the next one.

Do you utilize technology to benefit the firm/practice and/or business development?

Technology is a great tool to enhance efficiency and client service. We use it every day – whether it be the firm’s legal tech tools to streamline workflows, facilitate due diligence exercises with eBrevia, or use Microsoft Teams to communicate seamlessly across global teams. To do otherwise would be a disservice to clients.

How would you describe your work mindset?

A Baker McKenzie lawyer is a problem solver above all else. Clients trust us to help them steer their teams through transformative and many times “first-of-its-kind” matters. We provide practical, creative and experienced-based solutions for clients as they blaze new trails. Success for us is seeing clients reach their destinations at the end of such trails. These points help drive my daily practice.

If you participate in firm or industry initiatives, please mention the initiatives you are working on as well as the impact you hope to achieve.

Diversity initiatives, pro bono, and firm service are very important to me. I serve as Co-Chair of the firm’s New York and Miami Diversity Committee, as a member of the North America Talent Committee, and as the Co-Hiring Partner of the New York and Miami Offices. My pro bono efforts include representing a victim of sex trafficking in a successful T-Visa Application and drafting and editing parts of the Homeless Youth Handbook (New York and Florida editions).

Outside of the firm, I am very committed to providing quality education to underserved communities after experiencing first-hand the life-changing power education can have. Up until 2021, I was a volunteer adviser to Mentores Solidarios, a non-profit dedicated to providing students in Nicaragua with scholarships to attend a diverse set of secondary schools in the country. Mentores Solidarios also helped provide the same students with mentors and career orientation opportunities. It has since closed its operations in light of recent events in Nicaragua.