Page 28 - Miami Vol 7 No 2
P. 28

2018 WOMEN IN LAW
LAURA REICH
AND CLARISSA
RODRIGUEZ
Proven Experience. International Expertise.
WRITTEN BY LYNETTE CARRINGTON
Laura Reich and Clarissa Rodri- guez are not your typical law- yers. A er all, how many law partners can boast of a friend- ship that has been almost life- long?  e duo’s connectivity in
both friendship and law has resulted in the creation of Reich Rodriguez, serving national and international clients at the most elite level.
Reich and Rodriguez met in Fort Lau- derdale where Reich was a year behind Rodriguez at St.  omas Aquinas High School. Reich explains, “I came in as a freshman and gravitated toward activities like speech and debate, and there was Clar- issa. She was a year ahead of me and knew the ropes and was happy to help those of us in the class behind her.” By the time they graduated from St.  omas, they had each been president of their debate team and were always running in the same circles.
 e friends went on to attend the University of Florida and continued to be involved in activities like the Florida Blue Key Speech and Debate Tourna- ment, which initiated Reich into the Ga- tor Guard. A er graduation, they brie y parted ways. Reich went directly to law school and then on to work at the interna- tional law  rm of White & Case LLP while Rodriguez returned to their alma mater.
“I graduated from college and started working as a high school teacher for a few years at St.  omas Aquinas High School before I went to law school and started practicing law,” Rodriguez says.
RECONNECTING
 e two reconnected more than 10 years ago at an annual conference put on by the International Law Section of  e Florida Bar. Both Reich and Rodriguez easily fell back into their old friendship as both had long been interested in international law and related dispute resolution.
“We used to talk about those things even when we were still in high school,” Reich says.
 e idea of Reich and Rodriguez working together started out as “shop talk” among a group of female lawyer friends. “We were half-joking and half- meant it,” Rodriguez says. With the encouragement of their network, Reich and Rodriguez began work-
ing together and soon realized that the business arrangement worked so well that they should form their own  rm. Reich Rodriguez P.A. was established in August 2017.


































































































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