From the Arts to International Law feat. Elektra Yao

Sep 9

3 min read

Elektra Yao is an international attorney, law firm founder, and lifelong creative who built a legal career serving artists and creators. In this episode, Elektra shares how studying and working internationally shaped her approach to law, why she considers law her creative medium, and why young attorneys should network, experiment, and fail faster.

About This Episode

Background

Elektra Yao grew up surrounded by both law and creativity. Her grandfather was a judge in Côte d’Ivoire, and her father's side of the family includes several lawyers, but Elektra initially had no intention of following that path. Growing up in New York City, she studied theatre for ten years, explored film and photography, created documentary films, and even worked for MTV before law school. She initially pursued her JD because she wanted the creative and business control to become a producer.

“I had no aspirations to go to law school at all. I went to law school with the idea that I would become a producer," shares Elektra Yao on You Are A Lawyer.

Her direction changed after taking public law courses, studying abroad, and beginning an international legal career. Elektra eventually studied law in both the United States and Spain and spent the first half of her career working in Europe. When she returned to New York, she found a way to bring her international background, legal training, business interests, and lifelong connection to the arts together by representing international and American artists.

Why Law School

Law school wasn't about abandoning Elektra's creative ambitions. Initially, it was another tool she could use to pursue them. Her interest in producing meant she wanted to understand both the creative and business sides of projects. But exposure to international and public law showed her possibilities she hadn't anticipated, eventually leading to an international legal career and a second legal education in Spain.

“I’m very creative, but my creativity is the law. My medium is the law," explains Elektra Yao on Episode 261 of You Are a Lawyer.

Today, that connection between law and creativity is central to Elektra's practice. Her firm works with artists and creatives on artist visas, business formation, corporate structuring, trademarks, and contracts. Rather than choosing between being a creative person and being an attorney, Elektra built a practice where those identities strengthen one another.

What Can You Do with a Law Degree

Elektra doesn't believe a law degree should box someone into a single version of a legal career. Her own path has included studying internationally, working in Europe, practicing immigration law, serving creatives, running a firm, mentoring women, teaching, and participating in professional organizations. For law students especially, her advice is to think much bigger than traditional practice.

“You can do anything you want in life, you just need to have the discipline," shares Elektra Yao on Episode 261 of You Are a Lawyer.

Elektra encourages aspiring and young lawyers to research different paths, speak with people whose careers look both traditional and unconventional, and understand that legal training gives them skills they can leverage in many directions. For young attorneys, she also stresses the importance of passing the bar and building a professional reputation beyond their current employer.

Lawyer Side Hustles

Elektra encourages young lawyers to think of career development almost like having two jobs. The first is becoming excellent at the substantive work of being an attorney. The second is intentionally developing relationships, joining committees, finding mentors, attending events, and creating a professional reputation that exists beyond a job title. That additional investment can create options when an unexpected career change eventually arrives.

“For my baby attorneys, my young attorneys, fail faster. Fail faster, fail faster,” Elektra Yao expresses in Episode 261 of You Are a Lawyer.

For Elektra, experimenting early is preparation rather than failure. She encourages lawyers to use the early years of their careers to meet people, test ideas, develop skills, and make themselves known within the legal community. As responsibilities increase later in a career, time becomes increasingly valuable, making those early relationships and experiences an important professional foundation.