A Lawyer from Two Worlds
"I had moved from Naples to Milan for a PhD in Business Law at Bocconi. A few months later, a professor suggested I think about attending a Master abroad, mentioning some of the top universities worldwide. The idea seemed totally out of my reach, on both a personal and a financial level. Yet to achieve something big, you often need to meet a person like that, who sees the way before you and shows it to you. And it immediately becomes less impossible than it seemed a moment before. You should never feel too small to dream big."
A graduate from the University of Naples Federico II with a degree in Law, a researcher in Corporate Law and then a corporate lawyer on both sides of the Atlantic, Stefania Monda is now the Founder and Managing Partner of the New York-based law firm Tech Legal Partners PLLC. Despite all this she shuns the part of role model. "I don't feel like one, if it means having the standard career expected for someone working as a lawyer: after graduating with honors at 23, I didn’t start a traineeship at a large firm right away, followed by promotion to partner and so on," reflects the alumna. "I followed my passions, making difficult decisions. But they led me to build a proficiency that I believe stands out on the legal landscape and represents an added value. What I would like to convey with my story is that differences on a resume can also be a strength."
The first crossroads in Stefania Monda's career came when, after her PhD at Bocconi, she mulled the prospect of staying in academia. "The business environment in Milan, especially with large law firms, conveyed to me the idea that all the knowledge I had learned so far should have a practical impact," sums up the lawyer. "So I joined a firm, dealing with mergers and acquisitions. However, I hadn’t forgotten that suggestion of going to a top university and so I decided to apply, but only to the best schools. When I received a letter of acceptance from Columbia University, it’s hard to describe how excited I was." After spending time in New York – at first struggling with the principles of US law that is so different from the Italian system – Stefania returned to Milan and resumed her legal career with new impetus. There was a new choice on the horizon, this time for sentimental reasons.
"My husband was working in the US and, after years in a long-distance relationship, it was time to reconnect," says Stefania. "It was the most difficult choice of my life, because I was abandoning an amazing professional position that was hard-earned and had a clear future, to go to New York where I didn't even know if I would find a job. It was a real leap of faith, but I can say that it was the right choice because I listened to my heart. In my opinion, when facing such big doubts, we should take the path that suits us best, even if it presents new challenges and even if our head is telling us otherwise. Once I got to New York I found a determination that I didn't know I had: I had to be able to build a career on this side of the ocean too. I care a lot about my work and my professional life, I couldn't imagine myself without it." Her first experience was with a small firm, a boutique specializing in the tech sector, but then Covid hit. "During the lockdown I decided I wanted to create my own legal consultancy, taking advantage of my double knowledge of Italian and American law to work with Italian companies wishing to expand in the United States." This is how Tech Legal Partners was born, a law firm that today assists startups, scaleups, SMEs and market leaders on a path of growth and development in the US. "It was a winning idea not only from a business point of view, but also on a personal level because I had twin girls. I was able to enjoy the flexibility necessary to raise them, while always taking care of relationships with clients, an aspect that is very important to me."
