Valeria Carriles (LLM 2022) and Nicole Nuñez-Barba (LLM 2024) became colleagues. Paolo Beconcini (LLM 2018) fulfilled a dream. All three alumni of the USC Gould School of Law’s Master of Laws (LLM) program credited the relationships they forged through USC Gould’s Graduate and International Programs with creating new opportunities.
Bonding over the California Bar
Carriles and Nuñez-Barba are colleagues at Madero and Carriles Legal Group, an international firm in Mexico City and Los Angeles.
They met at a USC Latino Alumni Association brunch in 2023. Carriles had graduated from the online LLM program, and Nuñez-Barba was a student in the on-campus program. Because they were both lawyers practicing in Mexico, USC Gould Executive Director of Alumni Relations Nicole Stark introduced them.
“I had moved from Tijuana to Los Angeles for the LLM program,” Nuñez-Barba says. “While I was focused on studying, I also wanted to meet people.” She became an LLM representative for her class and joined the Latino Law Student Group, where she learned about the alumni event.
Carriles had just taken the bar exam, and Nuñez-Barba was eager to hear all about it. “For me, the bar was the worst and the best experience all mixed in one. It was such an accomplishment for me that I love talking about it. That’s how Nicole and I bonded,” says Carriles, who has also shared her experience with classes taught by her mentor, Adjunct Assistant Professor Anitha Cadambi, to online LLM students for the past three years.
“I had such admiration for Val because she had accomplished so much and came from a similar background,” Nuñez-Barba says. “This dream I’d had since law school in Mexico — to take the California Bar — Val showed me it was possible.”
The two became Instagram friends and stayed in touch. Nuñez-Barba inquired about a summer internship with Madero Carriles and spent four months there in 2024. “After that, Val told me the firm wanted me to come back as an attorney and would allow me six months to prepare for the bar,” she says.
“On March 6, we sent Nicole the employment offer, and she became an associate with us in May,” says Carriles, who specializes in civil litigation and immigration law. “As an LLM grad, Nicole brings the added value we cherish here.”
“If not for the USC network and the alumni association, I wouldn’t have met Val and had such a beautiful experience in my upbringing as a lawyer. I’m really grateful,” says Nuñez-Barba, who handles civil litigation in the United States and corporate matters in Mexico.
“I would encourage all the LLMs to commit to the school and take advantage of those networking events because you don’t know where you’re going to meet your next employer, friend, mentor,” Carriles says. “You never know when lightning could strike.”
A return to the classroom
Before Beconcini earned his LLM, he established an impressive career at one of the world’s largest law firms. He built Squire Patton Boggs’ China Intellectual Property team and has overseen offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Los Angeles since 2012. A sought-after authority on intellectual property protection and litigation in China, he represents half of the famous European fashion brands. Yet at the peak of his career, he still had one goal left — to teach.
Now, he’s living that dream as an adjunct lecturer at USC Gould, whose ties with the school continue to grow. All thanks to the online LLM program.
Educated in Italy, Beconcini had lived in China for 18 years and was anticipating a move to the United States in 2017. He didn’t need to study U.S. law for his work at Squire Patton Boggs (although the new knowledge did expand his business). But his wife had an idea: if he wanted to pursue his dream of teaching, he should first be a student in an American law school. He has been grateful to her for this inspiration ever since.
“Going to USC was like drinking a potion of eternal youth. It was an injection of energy,” he says. “I would encourage other people, at any age, to learn something new.”
The professors were as impressed with Beconcini as he was with them. “I suggested we find a way that I could help the school,” he says.
One of the first things Beconcini did was connect USC Gould and Squire Patton Boggs in L.A., where they have hired LLM students to serve as law clerks during their optional practical training (OPT) year.
“I wanted to establish this relationship because of the quality of teaching and the availability of the professors. Secondly, the module. Even online, the way it was structured made it feel like it was in-person. We had animated discussions and bonded among students. That was incredible.”
A year and a half ago, he was offered a class to teach. “It was that same adrenaline rush I had as a student,” he says. And he’s been teaching ever since.
Beconcini is enthusiastic about finding more ways to get involved. He recently offered his support to USC Gould’s Center for Sports, Entertainment, Media & Technology Law, which launched in August.
“For someone like me who loves business, networking and meeting people, USC is paradise. The famous USC network, now that I’m in it — yes, it’s power.”
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