The Dream Job That Hard Work Earned Juliana
The Dream Job that Hard Work Earned Juliana Garcia
Each morning, before dawn, Juliana García (LLM, ‘23) wakes up to face Bogotá’s gridlock—turning her commute to work into an hour-and-forty-five-minute slog to the office. But she’s not complaining.
“It’s horrible traffic,” she admits. “I just think, I need the money, I need the experience, I need to learn. People are relying on me for this work—I can’t let them down.”
Once at her desk, a complex day of drafting legal memoranda, analyzing money-flow processes, and reviewing regulatory filings begins. Twelve hours later, she prepares to make the same commute back home. Twelve hours later, she prepares to make the same commute back home.
“We start at 8:30 and finish at 8:00 at night. It’s nonstop work. But what you learn here—it’s worth it,” she says.
At just 23 years old, Juliana is one of the youngest associates at Brigard Urrutia, one of the top law firms in Latin America. She spends her days helping major financial institutions navigate Colombia’s capital markets, collective investment funds, and stock market listings.
“I’ve been able to work with banks like Bank of Colombia, JP Morgan, and BlackRock,” she says. “It’s a lot of responsibility.”
She admits there are days when the exhaustion hits. On those days, she thinks of her family. “My mom says, ‘You’re young—use this time to work hard while you have the energy,’” Juliana shares. “She’s right. I can rest later.”
Growing up an only child to two parents in the medical field, she saw both of them work late hours and come home tired. Although she admired her parents' dedication to the medical field, she knew she would not be able to follow in their footsteps. “I hate blood,” she laughs.
Drawn to human sciences, she became fascinated by the variety of real-world applications that the legal field offers. She earned her undergraduate law degree at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, one of Colombia’s top universities and the same institution where her father studied medicine.
“My parents both worked really hard growing up, so my two grandmothers took turns taking care of me,” she said. “I missed my parents, but I never resented them.”
Every dream you have can be achieved with hard work. Even when it feels complicated, in the end, it will be worth it.
Juliana García (LLM, ‘23)
In her final year of undergrad, Juliana learned about the academic agreement her college has with the University of Cincinnati College of Law. “When I applied, there were two options—Boston College or Cincinnati Law. Cincinnati Law offered a scholarship covering half the tuition, and two other girls from my university were going,” she said. “It felt like the planets were aligned.”
Moving to Cincinnati to pursue an LLM was her first time living abroad. She and her fellow Colombians leaned into the experience together. “I didn’t really know how to cook,” she laughs. “We learned to make pizza from scratch and Colombian food for international night. It was complete chaos—but it was really fun.”
Those 10 months in Cincinnati would shape her both professionally and personally.
“The LLM group became family,” she says. “We studied together, shared our struggles with the language, adapted to the culture. When someone didn’t understand something, the others helped. We built strong bonds, and we all still stay in contact.”
But the academic adjustment to law school in the States was not easy. “The first months were hard. We don’t use the Socratic method in Colombia. I was always a good notetaker, but for the first time I didn’t know what to write in my notebook—everything sounded both important and not important at all.”
The LLM group became family. We studied together, shared our struggles with the language, adapted to the culture.
This is when her determination kicked into gear. With the guidance and support from professors and mentors in the LLM program, she learned new ways to study and eventually found her footing academically.
“Professor Emily Houh is the best,” Juliana says. “She cared so much that we understood. And Dean Nora Wagner—she wrote the sweetest admission letter. When I met her, she made me feel everything in that letter was true.”
The classes she was taking, like Intellectual Property Law and Trademark, were helping clarify her passion for business law. Outside of class, the University of Cincinnati’s campus was becoming home to her.
“I went to football games and the rec center. The campus was beautiful,” she said. “The people made all the difference—the support I got helped me feel like I belonged.”
When she returned to Colombia, new doors began to open for Juliana. Her first break was working for a fintech company called Mono Colombia. A year later, she was offered the position she currently holds at Brigard Urrutia.
“It was really big news when I got the job at Brigard Urrutia,” she says. “Having an LLM degree helped me land the interview and prove I have the requirements. It’s a dream firm.”
True to character, a year into her role, Juliana has already stepped into leadership. She now assists her former professor, Dr. Fabian, with research and teaching in international environmental law. Together, they also volunteer to coach students for international moot court competitions.
“Last year, our team won nationals and went to Florida for the international competition,” she shared. “Watching my students speak before real judges—it made me so proud.”
Having already secured what many young lawyers in Colombia aspire to—a seat at the table inside one of Latin America’s most respected firms—Juliana isn’t finished setting the bar high. In the coming years, she plans to take a U.S. bar exam in order to support her aspirations in international law, pursue another master’s degree in finance, and one day become a partner. In her spare time, she’s learning French.
“Being an only child but the oldest grandchild, I want to be someone my cousins can look up to,” she says. “To be the person they rely on, the one who makes them proud.”
Juliana is not deterred by the long road ahead. The long days, long commutes, and high expectations are viewed as investment toward her own success and her family’s future.
“My parents always told me, everything you want in life is possible, but you have to work hard for it,” she says. “No one is going to give you anything for free.”
In a city of eight million, where opportunity is stacked with competition, Juliana is proof that quiet determination can carry you toward your highest aspirations.
“Every dream you have can be achieved with hard work. Even when it feels complicated, in the end, it will be worth it,” she says.
Want to learn more about our students and their journey to (and through) law school? Read more stories on the "Meet Our Students" page. See yourself at Cincinnati Law!
Author: Bachmeyer Press
Photographer: Asa Featherstone IV
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