Carla Vall: "Three men broke into my home to steal a pen drive."

Surrounded by a family with a strong social and political commitment, Carla Vall (Vilanova i la Geltrú, 1989) studied law with the aim of making a fairer world: "I'm free of repression, of people who have been in concentration camps, in prison, who have had to live with your struggle for mine, pointing the finger at us. I'm coming out. It's something very brutal," she explains in statements toCompaniesAt just 36 years old, the lawyer and criminologist has amassed numerous high-profile legal victories, some involving "difficult cases, fighting against someone holding a high-ranking position in the police," as in the cases of photojournalist Jordi Borràs and illustrator Paula Bonet. Vall began working in the family shop, and also did babysitting and sales assistant jobs, among other precarious work. She juggled work, studies, and political activism: "In my second year, I almost dropped out of university; I didn't know if the sacrifice was worth it." She felt like a fish out of water: "My plan B was to be a social worker and specialize in equine therapy." She finally pursued her dream, but her first jobs as a lawyer weren't easy either: "I was a bogus self-employed worker; I didn't have a salary or any working conditions." "The only ones without rights are us lawyers," she points out. "I have never had a contract as a lawyer, never in my life," despite having always practiced as one.

Author of feminist books, she opened her practice in 2022 and is one of the country's most renowned criminal lawyers defending victims of gender-based, sexual, and vicarious violence. She has brought to court the case of the Lleida Theater Workshop and the case of the sexual abuse victims of the Church, among other less well-known cases. Currently, Vall is working to expand an online school for professionals and individuals. She is also working on creating a shelter "for survivors of gender-based and vicarious violence who are in the final stages of recovery."

Regarding personal finances, Vall is thrifty: "I'm the daughter of two people who lived through the post-war period. I can travel, but if I don't travel, it doesn't matter to me; I can be just as happy. What I need is to rest when I take vacations." "I don't drink, I don't do drugs, and I don't go to big concerts," she says. She doesn't have big expenses: "The only one is clothing, which has to be appropriate for the work I do. In my personal life, I usually dress simply."

Winner of the Meninas Award in the feminist justice category, granted by the Ministry of Equality, she says she can't visit clients every day: "What I encounter affects me so deeply that I need time to recover." "I spend my days in the city's underbelly, witnessing the worst of humanity," she emphasizes. She also denounces the conditions in the legal sector: "I deeply regret the state of the legal profession; it's savage how they treat their employees." "If you're a mother, you know what to expect," she'd been told. That's why treating employees with dignity is a priority in her office: "If they're mothers, I'm going to give them a bonus when they return to work." Furthermore, they can "balance their lives with the things that make them happy."

A maternity leave of one and a half months

Because she was self-employed, unlike her employees, she had a month and a half of maternity leave, which allowed her to stop working for the first time and gain perspective: "I realized how I want to practice law." And she saw that she's lacked "legal mothers": "People who can show you what it's like to run a business." In fact, since Vall isn't "the daughter of rich people" or business owners, she's grown through her work.

Having a law firm as a woman is a challenge: "I've been called egotistical for putting my name on the firm, when it's normal for a man to do so." In contrast, there is little female representation, and many women hide behind the word "lawyer": "Female lawyers who strictly use their own names? Very few in the entire country. And, ultimately, it's a feminist practice to make it visible that there are women in leadership positions."

In this sense, "there's an unwritten rule that says you should be here, but you shouldn't cause a disturbance." Vall has received criticism demanding a more discreet lawyer: "Discretion doesn't mean keeping my professional secrets to myself; it means being a person without a public profile. But women who are discreet are the ones who don't appear in history books," she says. Furthermore, she also rejects leading by imitating men: "Without taking into account the needs of the workers, functioning like a machine."

"Throughout my professional career, I've been robbed at home by three men who tried to steal a USB drive," she explains. Some of her attackers have launched smear campaigns against her, including lawsuits, to try and damage her public image: "I've come to the conclusion that women don't have skeletons in their closets." She adds, "When they want to attack us, all they can do is call us whores and liars."