AGE:36
POSITION: President and managing member, Kaslaw, LLC.
RESIDENCE: Providence
LIFELONG AMBITION: Clarity and the respect and adoration of my children
FAVORITE BOOK: “Flow, The Psychology of Optical Experience,” by Michaly Csinkszantmihalyi
GUILTY PLEASURE: Golden Age-era Batman comic books
A winner in the 2006 40 Under Forty competition, attorney Kas DeCarvalho’s work and dedication make him someone still worth watching in 2007.
After working for various prestigious firms in Providence for the past eight years – Hinckley, Allen & Snyder and Reavis + Haskell – DeCarvalho began his own law firm, Kaslaw LLC, in 2005. His law practice brought him to the forefronts of business development efforts in the city and state. DeCarvalho’s legal clientele spans the fields of business, commercial real estate, entertainment law, immigration law and intellectual property. His concentration has been in corporate law and business representation, fluctuating easily between for profit and nonprofit clients.
DeCarvalho’s expertise has earned him spots on several influential public boards – the City of Providence Zoning Board of Review, the Providence Economic Development Partnership and the board of directors for the Quonset Development Corporation.
His community outreach efforts are also impressive, focusing on education and learning initiatives. DeCarvalho is a founding member of International Charter School in Pawtucket, and served as a board member of The MET School from 2003 to 2006. It’s also not uncommon to see DeCarvalho giving motivational speeches at local public high schools.
Outside of the education arena, he has tried to make an impact on the region’s youth. He is a co-owner of a nonprofit organization called Providence Martial Arts, dedicated to providing discipline and self-respect to inner-city children.
And it’s that discipline that got DeCarvalho where he is today. Twenty years old in 1990, he found himself selling encyclopedias door-to-door in Milwaukee. With no sales experience and no personal connections in Wisconsin, he was still able to land a place to live within 24 hours of arriving. Within 10 weeks, he had earned enough money to pay for a year of college.
“I wouldn’t wish that job on my worst enemy, but it taught me to trust my instincts and that hard work is the most necessary thread in the tapestry of success,” DeCarvalho wrote in his 40 Under Forty application.
