SARITA SAMAROO-TSAKTSIRIS LAWYER & OWNER SST LAW FIRM "THE ROAD
Sarita Samaroo-Tsaktsiris can trace the inspiration
for her career back to the time when she was
just four years old. Even at that early age,
she’d tag along with her mother, a real estate
agent, to open houses, eventually absorbing the
terminology from work-related conversations.
Decades later, she’d return to the real estate
world - in the legal sphere - alongside the counsel for a major
Richmond Hill developer, working on subdivision closings.
But her career’s story is truly the “road less traveled”, as
she refers it – an homage to her favourite poem by Robert Frost.
Part of the road which she travelled was a “huge risk”, one that
would be a highly unusual step for a lawyer fresh off articling at
a large Bay Street firm.
While most lawyers might wait five to ten years before
opening their own practice, she immediately opened her own
firm, called SST Law, in 2012. The firm offers a wide range of
legal services with a focus on real estate law, business law, family
law and wills and estates.
“No sense waiting at another law firm to be promoted
to partner when I had plans of opening my own practice one day.
I’ve had a successful practice ever since, steadily growing, and
feeling fulfilled in what I do,” she says.
“I’m really happy I made that move to go out on my
own, as I don’t believe I’d be able to experience the love for the
profession the way I do if I had stayed working for someone else.
It helped that her parents, both successful in their own right,
inspired the entrepreneurial spirit in her – her mother a former
independent real estate agent, and her father, supplying material
for carnival costumes in the Caribbean.
“Both parents greatly inspired me. They have both
insisted that I receive a good education so that I could reach
my full potential. Despite providing the resources for a good
education as a pillar, they always instilled in me the value of hard
work at a very young age. While most children were out playing,
I was tagging alongside my parents, watching them conduct
business,” she says.
She already knew a fair bit about risk taking, not unlike
her penchant for adventurous sports, as scuba diving and flying
small planes.
“It’s exhilarating. Having these types of interests gets
your mind off of work and allows you to leave the stress behind.”
Whether it’s fighting the ocean’s current, or navigating turbulent
skies, it’s just her, relying on her good instincts and skills, as she
does on terra firma with her clients.
Making them a priority, for her, means giving personal
attention – and attention to detail.
“I spend that little bit of extra time with clients,
as individuals. That’s what differentiates me. I talk to them
meaningfully about their situation, and their family,” she explains,
adding that she makes it a point to recall the names and faces of
anyone who walks through the door.
“If they call me, I know who they are. If they have any
questions, I respond promptly. I want to make sure my clients
are happy and remember their experience after they have left my
office. That’s how I’ve had clients come back on a continuous
basis.”
Moreover, she says it’s important to note that she is
up front about costs, and what to expect, “so there aren’t any
surprises or any lingering questions in the end.”
But it’s not just the clientele who are repeat customers.
On the corporate end, she has tapped into speaking at First Time Home Buyer Seminars with CIBC and RBC, as well as at a
Retirement and Financial Planning course at Ryerson University. She has also worked on deals for major franchisors and their franchisees such as Swiss Chalet, Harvey’s and Pizza Pizza. In line with her enthusiasm for homes and housing, she
has also been involved in Habitat for Humanity, assisting those
individuals in need, at preferred rates for their real estate closings.
“One thing I’m very passionate about is that people
should be afforded the opportunity to own a home. That’s where
my heart lies,” she explains.
Her empathy for society’s most vulnerable was
developed at an early age, from living with an uncle with Down
Syndrome.
“Any causes relating to Special Olympics, or children with Down
Syndrome, or disabilities, is very near and dear to me, because of
him. And he’s compelled a lot of compassion in me,” she says,
adding that quality has had a positive effect on those who work
with her.
“I’m often complimented by my clients who say I have
a lot of patience and compassion towards their unique scenarios.
I think that has helped me a lot in my life, and in developing who
I am.”
Being a mother of a toddler has also touched a special soft spot,
inspiring her to sponsor a child in Peru, and, facilitating requests
of clients to leave bequests to Sick Kids.
But what, ultimately, it all comes down to is this
important point: pleasing the client.
“I constantly make sure I regularly communicate with
clients directly, so that they understand, every step of the way,
what I’m doing to make sure they’re satisfied.”
And that, for her, is the road most traveled.
Dave Gordon has penned more than a thousand articles, and more than five hundred editorials, on every topic imaginable. He writes regularly on domestic and international politics, current events, culture, relationship issues, and much more.
He has spent time in the newsrooms of the Toronto Sun, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Baltimore Sun, National Post and eye Weekly.
SST LAW FIRM
10 Four Seasons Place, 10th Floor,
Toronto, Ontario, M9B 6H7
Email: info@sstlaw.ca
Direct Line: 416-649-5766 Office: 647-748-1377