Michele Cea, Principal Attorney, CEA LEGAL P.C.

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Where are you from and what was it like growing up there? I am from Italy (born and raised in Puglia – southeast of Italy). I had a very pleasant childhood and youth, surrounded by family members and friends.

What is your Hometown famous for and what do you think about it? My region, Puglia, is popular for its warm weather, beautiful beaches, and yummy and reasonably priced food.

Does your Hometown have a famous dish and do you like and why/why not? Orecchiette pasta with tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese or with sausage and broccoli rabe. I love these dishes and I cook them often.

What brought you to NYC? After completing my law school in Milan, Italy, I wanted to take a few months off to explore NYC.

What inspired you to pursue your chosen career path? While in NYC, I applied for a Master’s in Law at Fordham University School of Law. While pursuing my LLM at Fordham, I got to appreciate common law and how us trained attorneys had a great sense of business. This brought me to think that I would love to run my own firm specialized in transactional law.

What was a defining moment in your career? The moment when I passed the NY bar in 2012, which is a very significant step, and highly respected in the US business circles.

What about NYC has made you stay? New Yorkers. I love the diversity of the city, the stimulating new projects everyone has, and the optimism of most of the people I meet.

What’s the biggest cultural difference you’ve noticed between America and your home county?
A couple of things I prefer in the U.S.:

• Americans are business-oriented and don’t waste time on chit-chat;
• Americans are not as dramatic as Italians.

A couple of things i prefer in Italy:

• Italians are more authentic overall
• Italians take time for themselves (business is important, but it should not be everything).

What do strong European-American relationships mean to you, your life, and your organization? It’s very important. My firm has three U.S. lawyers born and raised in Europe. We do represent European companies doing business in the U.S. and the more that European-American relationships grow, the better it is for us.

Thank you, Michele, for sharing your story !