Lara Schmertmann Costa, LL.M.
A Tallahassee native who became a Brazilian lawyer. Lara works from Salvador, Bahia, and is the firm's link to Brazilian clients and to foreign trade and maritime practice in Brazil.
A Tallahassee native, Lara earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Portuguese, cum laude, from the University of Florida before moving to Brazil. What was meant to be a short break before law school in the United States became a permanent stay, and she chose to pursue her law degree in Brazil.
She completed her law degree at the Universidade Católica do Salvador in 2020 and is a member of the Brazilian Bar Association, the Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil. From 2022 to 2024 she served on the Special Commission on International Law, Foreign Trade and Maritime Law of the Bahia branch of the OAB.
Lara began working with Liang + Mooney while completing her Master of Laws in Business Law at Florida State University, which she finished summa cum laude in 2021. She has remained with the firm since, based in Salvador. Portuguese-speaking clients, and U.S. clients with Brazilian counterparties, work with her in Portuguese.
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