|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Sylvia-Rebecca “Becky” Gutiérrez has a career that exemplifies the power of a 360-degree legal approach.
Driven by intellectual inquisitiveness and a commitment to comprehensive understanding, she’s transitioned seamlessly from clerking in state and federal courts to counseling multinational clients at a Big Four firm, litigating at prestigious law firms, and now serving as assistant general counsel at Stevens Institute of Technology.
Her curiosity dates back to her childhood in Weehawken, New Jersey, which is just across the Hudson River from New York City.
“I grew up the youngest of four sisters,” she says. “My mother was born in Puerto Rico, and my father was born in Cuba; neither had higher education, but both had a strong belief in education for us, and I internalized that message at a very young age.”
As a result, Gutiérrez was an avid reader and explored the world through books and theater. She even played a lawyer in an eighth-grade play, foreshadowing a career to come.
“I loved the role because I’m passionate about upholding the principles of justice,” Gutiérrez says. “It set me on a course for law.”
Prior to her first summer back from Boston College, she wrote to the lawyers who helped her parents buy their house—as they were the only attorneys she and her family knew—and asked them if they needed any help over the break.
“It was a small shop set inside a beautifully preserved 1920s house, a father and his three sons working side-by-side serving the community, and I spent the summer interning with them, loving everything about it,” she recalls. “I loved the dignity with which they treated people and the respect they had for the legal system. That only strengthened my resolve to become a lawyer.”
Gutiérrez attended law school at the University of Miami between 2006 and 2009, a time of financial institutional collapses that disrupted the legal market and reshaped the career landscape for new graduates.
“I strengthened my credentials by earning an LLM in taxation concurrently with my JD,” she explains. “After graduation, I joined Deloitte as an international tax consultant, which was very cool because I worked on global teams tackling complex issues across different jurisdictions.”
Still, tax law wasn’t really her plan going into law school—litigation was—so after a few years, she went to work as a law clerk for an appellate division judge in New Jersey, an experience that gave her invaluable insight into legal analysis and appellate advocacy.
“I loved the role because I’m passionate about upholding the principles of justice. It set me on a course for law.”
Sylvia-Rebecca “Becky” Gutiérrez
After that, she spent several years at law firm Day Pitney LLP followed by Gibbons P.C., where she developed skills in several practice areas. Then, Gutiérrez served as a law clerk at the federal trial court level, seeking a new perspective on the judicial analytical process.
“The judges I worked with gave me a deep understanding of how decision-makers think and what’s persuasive,” she explains. “I carry that with me today in every contract, in every argument, and in every risk assessment that I engage with now.”
In 2022, she took her current job with Stevens Institute of Technology, again looking to try something new and learn more.
“This opportunity at a university allowed me to serve as a true generalist, handling a broad range of legal matters. Navigating diverse areas of law is not only part of the role—it’s integral to how I add value here,” Gutiérrez shares. “I practice in litigation, employment, transactions, regulatory and compliance… but [what] really excited me about this opportunity was the ability to develop my skills in the data privacy and cybersecurity areas.”
In her role, Gutiérrez has drafted data sharing agreements, advised on privacy laws, and championed the protection of individual privacy, while also guiding the institution through the complex international legal considerations that accompany these issues.
She credits a huge part of her success and who she is today to the support of her husband, Aziz, since meeting in 2002 during undergrad (he was at Brandeis and she was at Boston College), going on to study for the LSATs together. He has been her greatest champion, legal confidant, and best friend.
“After graduation, we took a few years to work as paralegals—he at the Associated Press, I at a Manhattan firm focused on securities class actions—before enrolling at the University of Miami School of Law in 2006, where we supported each other through classes and served on the Law Review,” Gutiérrez shares. “Throughout law school and beyond, Aziz has been my unwavering anchor, a true partner both personally and professionally. Our journey led us back to New Jersey to be close to family and build our careers, culminating in a wedding at Liberty State Park beside the Statue of Liberty—an unforgettable celebration blending our Cuban, Puerto Rican, Greek, and Persian heritages.”
Today, the couple is a pair of avid travelers and enthusiastic amateur birders, and that’s what brings them the most joy when not immersed in law.
Gutiérrez also finds deep fulfillment in being a resource for those early in their careers. She regularly offers encouragement and guidance to aspiring professionals and is always eager to listen, share her thoughts, make connections, and pass along opportunities.
“It’s great when you see somebody grow in their career and want to learn more,” she says with a smile.
