At a certain point, I realized that my career at Demarest had peaked. I had become a partner of the criminal law area, was respected inside and outside the office, but I saw that my professional path had stagnated.
For all these reasons, I decided to leave Demarest. My initial idea was to purchase a small room and work as a solo practitioner. When I told Andrea that I was interested in leaving the f irm, she said:
– Luís, I am going with you!
Hearing that motivated me even more! I asked her if Rafael would also leave and she told me he would. I talked to Rafael and he confirmed it. If I chose to leave Demarest, he would leave too.
So I called Leandro and we arranged to eat a pizza at Camelo on Rua Pamplona. I told him I wanted to leave Demarest to set up a criminal law firm. Leandro also wanted to dedicate his time solely to criminal law and jumped at the thought. For me, this is what was missing. Leandro had a lot of experience with setting up a firm and had a much clearer view of how to run things.
