From Daugavpils to New York: lawyer Viktorija Počtare on identity and an international career

International law and arbitration lawyer, lecturer and former career diplomat Viktorija Počtare has shared her life story spanning several countries, languages and cultures. She grew up in Daugavpils in a family of Ukrainian engineers, speaking Ukrainian at home while Russian dominated at school and in the city. She studied Latvian throughout secondary school but only became fully fluent after moving to Riga to study at the Latvian Academy of Culture.

Diplomatic years in Kyiv and New York

After graduating university, Počtare spent a year working at a translation agency before joining Latvia's foreign service, where her first posting was at the Latvian embassy in Kyiv. There she worked at the embassy for four years while also studying international law at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. She later moved to Latvia's mission to the United Nations in New York, a professionally significant but demanding period that required adjusting to the city's pace and a different communication culture. After completing the standard three-year diplomatic term, she returned to Latvia to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' legal department.

A second move to New York

Since her husband works at the UN, her family life is tied to New York, and Počtare decided to continue her legal education there. She earned a degree from NYU School of Law and passed the New York State bar exam, gaining the right to practice law in New York. She now works in private practice, specializing in international, investment and commercial law as well as arbitration. She also teaches at St. John's University and advises Latvian companies entering the US market, representing the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the US and serving as regional co-director of the Latvian-American Chamber of Commerce.