So off I went to Madrid for a year to study International Law and intern at Ernst and Young. If I was going to get another year before the real world, I may as well take advantage, right? Fast forward to a year later and all my friends were still jobless and the prospects of getting ANY job, let alone a job where I could actually put my skills to work, were depressing. I did some document review. I may have even shed a tear being rejected for a job after the third interview. I did some more document review. I filled my refrigerator with “thanks, but no thanks” letters from jobs I had applied to as far as 6 months back and had forgotten about. I did some mooooore document review.

Then a friend suggested something crazy. Why don’t we open our own law office?? We sat down, did some math (as much math as a lawyer can do), and the idea started getting less crazy and more exciting and feasible. Document review (and living with my parents, shhh!) had certainly allowed me to save up a good chunk of funds. Why not take the plunge? Ok, there are a few reasons why not… But, my family had immigrated to the US from Russia in 1989 and made their own path so why was I so scared to make my own when no opportunities were coming my way.

After much thinking and much more dreaming, the idea slowly became a reality. My friend, whose “crazy” idea initiated the brainstorming, ended up not being able to follow through because of a 90 thousand dollar public service grant she would have to repay if she went into private practice. Nonetheless, I took off running (maybe zig-zag style at first) and have never looked back. I even moved out of my parents’ house! Now, I am grateful for the lagging economy and the opportunity to create my own opportunity and build and grow something I am proud of.

I treat my clients the way I think people should be treated. I have been confused (to say the least!) and reached out for help and am so thankful for the generosity of seasoned practitioners. I go to court as the lead attorney on my cases. I have argued a case before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (and won!). I can take an afternoon off to go for a walk with my mother. And, if I am at work all day on a Saturday I know it is for my own business, not so that someone else can take credit for my work. I still have days where I think it’s a crazy idea, but crazy doesn’t always have to be bad, right?

*Kira Gagarin, Esq. is an immigration attorney practicing in Framingham.  She is fluent in Russian and Spanish and is conversational in Portuguese.*