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Jorge Mancillas’s legal career first took shape in a first-grade field trip to a local courthouse. At the time, the six-year-old did not know any English—not having been put into an English as a Second Language (ESL) program at school—and spent the entire field trip not having any idea of what was being said. But he remembers a kind judge who changed his future forever.
“I stayed in the back of the room, and when the judge finished giving her speech to us, she went around the room introducing herself to individual kids,” Mancillas says. “She realized I didn’t speak English, and so she did the best she could to speak to me in Spanish and tell me what her job was like. She was trying so hard, and she was so nice. That day I went home and told my mom that I wanted to be a judge.”
One act of kindness transformed Mancillas’s world. While he may not be actively pursuing a career as a judge, his legal career has been transformative thus far. Now a senior attorney at IBM, Mancillas assists the corporate secretary team in public filings, corporate governance, and other company-wide matters for one of the most famous and longest-lasting tech innovators in existence.
Initially, Mancillas pursued law school with dreams of becoming a judge. He knew he’d need to start as a litigator and accepted an offer from the University of Michigan Law School, precisely because they had a track record of providing judicial clerkships—a vital stepping stone in law. After his first year of law school, he secured a summer internship with a federal judge in the Southern District of New York.
“I wanted to work with people that wanted to achieve the same goal in a collective manner.”
Jorge Mancillas
“I had a fantastic mentor, and I really enjoyed my experience,” Mancillas says. “But that was when I realized that I didn’t want to pursue a career as a litigator. I think of myself as more of a team player and collaborator. Litigation, at least from the outset, seemed a little more contentious. I wanted to work with people that wanted to achieve the same goal in a collective manner.”
And so, Mancillas’s trajectory changed. Upon graduation, the lawyer began working on capital market transactions, gaining insight into more tech-centered initial public offerings (IPOs) at firms Cooley and Sidley Austin. With that work came an offer from IBM, and Mancillas said the work at the tech giant was too interesting to pass up.
“When working with Jorge, I am always impressed by his ability to quickly get smart in new subject areas,” says Michael Mariani, a corporate partner at Cravath, Swaine, and Moore LLP. “He does not have any hesitation to jump into complex issues and work collaboratively to develop solutions.”
Most recently, the senior attorney claimed an interest in ongoing discussions around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters and how it relates to the relationship between shareholders and companies.
“There is such a delicate balance between information that is pertinent to investors and what companies are able to disclose,” Mancillas says. “Given how quickly regulations are changing and how fast the SEC has been working lately, there are so many new rules from the SEC and their counterpart organizations across the world that need to be considered. Investors everywhere want to know what action is happening on the ESG front, and it’s exciting to be a part of it.”
Even though Mancillas is early in his law career, he’s still acutely aware of the sacrifices and work that helped get him where he is today. He grew up in Mexico and, like so many others, his parents immigrated to the US to provide a better life for their children. They left careers and lives in their home country to give their children the gift of more opportunities.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay my parents for the sacrifices they’ve made,” the lawyer says. “I’ve worked incredibly hard to get where I am, but it takes a village to get anyone any measure of success. I think that’s why I’m so open to mentoring others.”
Mancillas says he had incredible mentors through law school and his professional career, and there has been a curious commonality among them—few have been Latino. He always felt support from those in his own Latino community (Mancillas was a National Association for Chicana/o Studies Fellow in graduate school), but he says he’s encouraged that people who may not have looked like him also seemed to have genuine skin in the game when it came to helping him succeed.
Now, the lawyer is still very much in touch with the culture that shaped him. He still returns to his alma mater for the University of Michigan Law School’s Latino Law Student Association events. In addition to that, he seeks out mentees at IBM and the various professional associations he’s a part of.
“I’ve worked incredibly hard to get where I am, but it takes a village to get anyone any measure of success. I think that’s why I’m so open to mentoring others.”
Jorge Mancillas
For the youngest Latinos who might encounter Mancillas’s story, the senior attorney passionately advocates for the college experience and the doors it can open to a rich and varied life.
“As a first-generation student, I can tell you without hesitation that pursuing a college degree opened up doors I would have never imagined,” Mancillas says. “College was tough; it took a lot of sacrifices and hard work along the way, but my college journey ultimately provided me with countless experiences that eventually led me to where I am now.”
And for those out there beginning their legal careers, Mancillas encourages folks to speak up and have their voice heard. He argues their point of view and experience—or even relative inexperience in the field—might provide valuable insight and perspective through a lens that others might miss because they’ve grown too close and too familiar. He also says asking people for fifteen minutes of their time can yield incredible results and opportunities, but you must make the first move.
As a senior attorney for one of the most well-known tech companies on the planet, Mancillas has a bright future ahead of him. While his journey has not been easy, he is thankful for the valuable lessons he’s learned along the way, including the value of education and the importance of perseverance.
His advice to young Latinos? Maintain a willingness to open yourself up to what’s possible. Once you do that, there future is limitless.
