Manuela Motta Zini (Energy and Climate Change Law LLM, 2026)

6 May 2026

Can you tell me a bit about yourself and your background/family?

My name is Manuela, I'm from Brazil. I've been working as a lawyer for six years. In Brazil and generally in South America, we are used to starting to work early in our careers, even during our studies, so I started working in my second year of law school. So it is probably more accurate to say I have almost 10 years of practice if I considered intern time too working a lawyer.

During my practice I've been working with Corporate law, Environment law and Energy law, all these sectors are related. Besides my professional background,
I have always been trying to develop my academic background as well. When I finished my undergraduate degree, I did two post-graduation courses: one in Environmental law and Sustainability, and the second one in Economics and Finance. It sounds like something not quite related to the law field but the reason why I choose those areas is to basically expand my practical knowledge, besides pure law. I wasn't looking to change my career; I was just trying to accumulate some further skills that could add more value to my law practice.

While working in a law firm in Brazil, dealing with national and international clients and it being a big law firm in Brazil, I was starting to have more contact with partners, older lawyers and looking at them as model for my personal career. That’s when I realized that at some point it would be very good and very valuable for my CV and background if I had an external foreign qualification. Since the beginning of my career I always considered doing  a masters or a similar kind of qualification abroad. That's why after a couple of years of work my view is that it becomes more valuable to do LLM, especially once you already gained some working experience.

Why did you choose Queen Mary -CCLS and London?

As mentioned above, I planned to do the LLM for some time. I’ve prepared myself for this financially and emotionally and also did my research. Nothing can be compared to London, everybody knows it's one of the biggest cities in the world, that the markets, the big deals happen here. And also because the LLM-related climate change energy law was the best fitting with my ambitions and with my background. So that's why I choose CCLS at Queen Mary, that's why I chose London.

Also, I’ve got some experience of studying abroad already. When I was in law school, I did an Erasmus program. I went to Italy for six months, but it was just a part of the law degree. It wasn't like a further qualification as a postgraduate course.

Queen Mary is a well-known university, so it is very prestigious. When I looked at careers of other lawyers in Brazil, I could see that when they went to study to London, they always choose the big universities.

What do you study and how is your course going? 

My LLM is focused on Energy Climate Change law. All the modules are very different if you compare between them: some modules that I'm taking are related to litigation, others to arbitration for investors perspective or commercial ones. There are some modules with more regulatory aspect, like electricity principles where we study how the markets are developed, especially in the UK and other European countries. We also had some modules related to renovation in terms of the market, energy sector transformations in terms of renewables, green finance, green agenda and climate change. During our lessons we discuss how this sector is being subject of these transformations, considering the new global context that are more committed with a climate change agenda.

The course I am doing is really impressive and I am happy to be part of this LLM programme. All the tutors like Norah, James, Maria, Peter and Carlos are very committed. They endeavour to do the best for the students. They are always looking to bring guest speakers that have the knowledge in the sector that add external practice value for the classes. This was very interesting during the LLM that we could have the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and different positions in the markets. The only downside of the course is that there are so many modules that I would have like to do and I just didn’t have the opportunity to fit them in, since our LLM doesn’t have flexible subjects list.

How were things before you received the funding?

There are always some uncertainties in terms of finances, especially when we come from developing countries as Brazil, with the exchange rate being so very volatile. It's a big risk when you move to a country with more expensive living standards, like the UK. Although I had the support of my parents in some aspects, the deal that I had in my family was I had to pay for my LLM.

From that point of view the scholarship was a gift in these terms because that helped me to realize my dream of coming to the UK. But I think it's more than just financial. I think it's also an award from the university which is a type of recognition for the students to say, we want you to study with us. It's not just about the money, but it's a kind of, let's say, a preliminary award that the university recognizes you as a good student with potential.

How did you feel when you heard you got the funding and has it made an impact for you? If so, in what way?

I was very happy. I wasn’t expecting it, actually. I did the interview, I went through the whole process, of course, but I didn’t have high expectations because I know that the competition for these scholarships is high, very high. Hence, I was surprised, happy, and of course, for financial reasons it was amazing as well but mostly in terms of prestige too.Do you think financial worries weigh heavily on students?

I think for everyone the financial aspect is relevant, but I think it changed a little bit when you're considering the age of the students. For students of my age who had some experience in their local jurisdictions and have been preparing for studies the challenges are slightly different. I worked before and saved money. Sometimes even the law office in their own national states might provide some kind of support. These mature students have to work and save up and then leave their jobs to study or commit to returning to sponsoring law firm. If you compare this with the youngest ones, which sometimes they just finished the undergrad and then they start immediately at the LLM. I think they have different financial struggles because they never had work. So, they might have to take out loans from the banks to support their studies. For both aspects, the common point, it's basically a huge bill to pay to study in the UK and you have to find some ways to make that work.

What are your plans for the future?

I think this LLM gave me a lot of value. I think it was a good year just to focus on studies. I learned a lot, I studied a lot, I read a lot. I developed new skills of critical thinking and I also improved my English language, which is amazing for my CV and if I want to apply for international jobs in the future.

In terms of what I'm going to do after the master's, I will go back to work. I'm very anxious to come back as soon as possible. I’ve been applying for jobs related to energy sector and environmental, which is my main background. I am also considering broader law practices, this is because usually the legal market demands from the beginning of our careers to choose and specialise in one area of law. There is a huge debate about it, but what I can say is that a complete lawyer is one who has had general practice. It is the one who knows to identify any risk and problem, and that demands a general knowledge. From my personal experience, I realized the market values people who have general knowledge as well as specific focused elements, like I have. 

What would you like to say to those who donated to support scholarship awards?

Thank you for supporting this dream. The scholarship gave me more than just financial support. It served as a really amazing recognition award for all the hard work that I have done studying and working prior to my studies. 

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