Published in 07/04/2021 -
Author Mauricio Almeida
Last year, I published an article in which I sought to show, through an analysis of the information I had up to that point, that there's no point in changing professions due to a lack of options.
In the last article, I discussed my career path, taking the course to become a court-appointed expert. Since then, I've made some discoveries that I'm now sharing.
The same week I received my judicial expert registration number from the TJRJ and TFRJ, I was overjoyed. I received a call from a federal court to appraise a vessel. I thought, wow, I made the right decision. Obviously, I accepted the appointment and immediately went to a printing shop and had a hundred dossiers made to deliver to the courts.
I got in the car and went to the municipality of Campos, stopping at each court. In 90% of them, I didn't get past the intern who works at the clerk's office counter, who kindly received my resume.
And what happened at that moment was almost nothing. I was worried because I felt lost and without references, since I came from the engineering market, specifically the naval and oil & gas area, and not from the legal field. The people who work in expert witness work in this specialization already have a consolidated position, they have no interest in competition and, therefore, avoid giving many tips.
I was already feeling quite desolate, wondering what to do. However, those who know me know that giving up and abandoning are words that aren't in my vocabulary. By nature, I'm focused when I decide on something; my closest friends know me, I'm a pain, and, like any Brazilian, I never give up.
However, I'll be quite realistic: one day I sat down at a bar next to Menezes Cortes, at the end of a day of being turned away, to have a drink of water and think about how to turn this situation around, because I was sure there had to be a way.
Not even ten minutes had passed, and, as it was already the end of the day, I ran into a colleague from the naval and oil & gas market. I invited him for coffee to pass the time. One thing led to another, and he mentioned that I should take a mediation course, and that this was becoming a new activity in the legal field, and, immediately afterwards, he recommended an institution to me.
When he made that comment, I immediately decided that I could never be a court-appointed expert by only frequenting the counters of court offices; in other words, I had to start frequenting the legal field, networking, and a course like that could be the way to do it. He went home, and I quickly went to the institution he suggested and enrolled.
Enrolled, course starting, I arrive on the first day of the course and see that my decision was correct, because, in addition to practically only having lawyers as students, the professors were also lawyers and even judges. BINGO! I was right.
Something caught my attention there. In the class, there was a prominent businessman, and as soon as an opportunity arose, I approached him and asked what his objective was in taking that course. He gave me his personal reasons and commented that the best thing would be to take a course to become a judicial administrator and be registered with the TJRJ (Rio de Janeiro State Court).
At that moment, I had no idea what it meant to be a judicial administrator. I started reading, studying, and trying to understand. In that study, I realized my familiarity with engineering expertise and appraisal, and once again, I was going to delve into the legal field, which was my ultimate goal.
We went the next day, and an employee told us that there was still no date set for the start and that we should check the organization's website. I asked if I could call her periodically, and she agreed. With her name and phone number, I set an alert on my smartphone so that every Thursday I would call this employee to ask about the date. And so I did, for 11 months and 18 days.
On the last Thursday of April, I called, and the aforementioned employee informed me that registration for the TJRJ judicial administrator registration course would begin the following week. I called that businessman colleague from the mediation course to let him know about the opening of registrations, after all, he had given me the tip about the course.
Out of sheer precision, I returned to ESAJ the next day, especially since I had a friend who was going to travel and also wanted to register. So, together with him, I went to get information. The employee informed me of the conditions that would allow me to register my friend, and I took the opportunity to ask what time the registration process would begin. She informed me that it would be at 2:00 PM, on a first-come, first-served basis, as there were only 49 spots available.
As I was leaving the ESAJ building, I decided to ask what time the doors opened. The doorman asked me, without knowing why I was asking: "You're going to take the judicial administrator course, right?" I said yes and asked why he was asking me that. He told me that many people asked about the building's opening time because of this registration and informed me that it would open at 8:00 am.
When I got home, I told my wife – who would also be taking the course – that I would leave Barra da Tijuca at five in the morning for downtown. She criticized me and said I was exaggerating, but I didn't give up and stuck to my schedule.
And so I did. We left early and, when we arrived at 6:15 am at the ESAJ door, after listening to my wife complain the whole way, we found seven people in a line at the institution's door, one of them, the first in line, had been there since the previous night.
Quando se abriram as portas da ESAJ, subimos e começamos a nos organizar com senhas, que nós mesmos providenciamos. Liguei para o empresário amigo para ele vir imediatamente, pois às nove horas da manhã já havia cerca de 35 pessoas. Rapidamente, ele chegou e, as 11h30, já tinha o número de pessoas iguais ao das vagas disponíveis, 49.
With that, the course management decided to accommodate us, with an official ESAJ password, in a nearby room, to provide some comfort, since we had been standing for hours.
What was expected happened: at the beginning of the official registration, at 2:00 PM, many people started arriving, and there were no more vacancies. A commotion ensued, but it was resolved masterfully by the ESAJ course management, who said there was nothing to discuss, since the corridors and rooms had video cameras and everything had been recorded.
At that moment, I had the clear perception that I was on the right path to my ultimate goal, which was to consolidate myself in the judicial area.
The course began, and I noticed that the professors, if they weren't judges, were successful lawyers working as judicial administrators, that is, they were all potential clients.
And so, the course began with the engineer immersed among the lawyers, since Law 11.101 of 2005 allows engineers to also be judicial administrators.
The mere fact of being in that environment, by itself, wouldn't solve my goal of fully interacting with fellow lawyers.
So, I devised a strategy. All the professors who presented received my dossier and my expert card. Immediately, I created a WhatsApp group for my colleagues (almost all practicing lawyers) and started using my professional experience to organize the class with a cloud-based archive of the lectures, as the course was extremely demanding, especially for non-lawyers. It was an excellent decision, since it allowed me to interact a lot with my classmates (lawyers) and present my experience.
Course completed and approved, after several exams.
Now, the visits to the courts were for two reasons: expert witness work and judicial administration.
However, in the meantime, between the expert witness and judicial administration courses, due to my expert witness registration and my visits, I began to be appointed in dozens of cases.
I began to realize that my specialization was different for expert witness work. While I had fellow engineers with a large number of expert witness cases, I had about 30% of theirs, but in terms of financial value, it was the same, and in some cases, double or triple.
Furthermore, visits to the courts are very important, yes, but in my case, there was a very important component: specific knowledge in the area of ??contracts and techniques in the Naval and Oil & Gas industries.
As mentioned in the first article, a professional who truly wants to work in the field of expert witness work and judicial administration, out of conviction and not momentary opportunism, needs to possess all those attributes and convictions and substantially increase their RESILIENCE.
With that, now, my focus is on seeking technical assistance from large law firms, mainly maritime law firms, and being a judicial administrator with the judiciary, which is already beginning to happen in partnership with a lawyer and businessman friend.
A big hug and see you next time we chat.
Mauricio Almeida