• Law School,  Legal Practice

    Summer Series: You Can’t Be What You Can’t See

    Summer Series 2019 continues! Today we have Karla Mardueno, a recent law grad from Howard law. She is studying for the Bar while completing a summer fellowship at MALDEF, and will begin working in Big Law once the Bar is over. That is a lot to balance, but she discusses who empowering it has been to begin her career surrounding by other powerful Lawtinas.    “Don’t work while you’re studying for the bar.” This is the advice I got over and over again in the months leading up to my law school graduation.  But when I learned that I could complete a fellowship during my bar summer, I could not…

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  • Law School,  Legal Practice

    If Kim Kardashian Can Do It, So Can You? : Alternative Paths to Becoming a Lawyer

    By now most have heard about Kim Kardashian’s plan to become a lawyer without going to law school. There was some confusion because a lot of people don’t know of California’s apprenticeship exception that allows you to circumvent law school and instead learn the law in a non-traditional manner. People assumed she was “buying” her degree rather than doing it the “right” way. While I am not one to support or defend the Kardashian conglomerate, the path she’s pursuing is clearly an option that’s available to people. But the real question is, is this a realistic option that will result in a practical, useful, and successful career for those of…

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  • Issues,  Law School,  Legal Practice

    Am I Dumb? Combating the Microaggressions at Work that Question Your Intelligence

    First, I’m so glad we have a space here to talk about this because I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. And, recently, when I read this article about how “well-meaning” liberals often dumb themselves down for our supposed benefit it all kind of clicked… Let me start at the beginning—tell me have you ever experienced any of the following: You’re really good at your job, but it seems almost impossible to be assigned complex cases, important clients, or other glamour work and you’re not sure why? You give guidance, advice, input on cases, but colleagues, even subordinates, question or push back on your correct analysis? Or You’re…

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  • Law School

    Planting Seeds: Your 1L Summer Job

    Many people say your first summer out of law school doesn’t matter and that is somewhat true. It’s not like the thing you do that summer locks you into that practice area for the rest of your life. So you do have a lot of wiggle room. However, this is also where you plant a seed. If you plan it correctly, this summer can be the stepping stone to your career. It can lead to more opportunities, connections, and give you a peek of what you want your career to look like. But just how do you decide what your summer will be like?   Here is how I decided:…

  • Law School

    Summer Series: Your Experience is Your Strength

    Our Summer Series winds down, and what an amazing summer tho! This series highlights different Latina students and law grads as they embark in their summer jobs and/or bar prep all across the country. This series provides a variety of work experiences, options for a healthy work-life balance, and general motivation through different guest contributors to help you to take charge of your summer and professional goals!  Today we also hear from Noelia, a rising 3L who is leaving her career as a teacher behind to commit, full-steam ahead, to becoming an attorney. She shares her summer experience, the lessons learned, and the expertise she brings to our profession as an educator and advocate…

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  • Law School

    Find your Focus: Law School Finals

    I’ll be honest and tell you that I do not envy law school students this time of year. Ok, I rarely envy law school students lol BUT this time of year is especially harrowing. There are so many deadlines and pressures looming over you. It feels impossible, even though it’s not. For those about to start to pressure-cooker that is law school finals, know that it’ll be ok and you’ll get past it–all you have to do is focus on exams. “No duh,” you say. But here’s the thing, often we are so overwhelmed (or confused) that we fail to study in a productive way. I remember going into my…

  • Issues,  Legal Practice

    Make Yourself Heard: Increasing Your Skills as a Litgator

    This article about a 96 year old judge making a rule to help encourage women attorneys to speak up more often in court is making the rounds. It’s a great piece and great example of how people in power can use their position to make a difference. Lost in the discussion (maybe ironically) is that the catalyst for this was a mentor/friend of the Judge’s; retired judge, Shira Scheindlin. Judge Scheindlin wrote an Op-Ed earlier this month about just this issue: the dismal percentage of women litigators speaking before the court. Judge Scheindlin discusses a study she conducted in New York that asked judges to observe when and how often…

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  • Law School

    Summer Series: Conquering Stress While Studying for the Bar

    Our Summer Series continues! This series highlights different Latina students and law grads as they embark in their summer jobs and/or bar prep all across the country. We hope to provide a variety of work experiences, options for a healthy work-life balance, and general motivation through different guest contributors to help you to take charge of your summer and professional goals!  Today we hear from Khiabett, a recent law school grad who returned home to Texas to study for the Bar: One. Accepting your needs and limitations: During undergrad I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety and I felt ashamed because I thought taking medication somehow made me “weak.” Once I started feeling better…

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  • Issues,  Work Life Balance

    Know Your Worth: Combating the Wage Gap

    This piece was originally run on ShopLatinx, but they’re currently under construction, so I thought I’d share it here to raise awareness for Equal Pay Day.  ————————————————————————————————————————— 54 cents. That is how much Latinas earn to the White man’s dollar. Often it is recited that women earn 77 cents, but that is the figure attributed to white women. In reality, Latinas fare far worse when it comes to income disparity; in states like California and Texas, which compose of the largest amount of Latinas working full-time and year-round, they earn a dismal 43 cents to the dollar. The negative impact of wage disparity reaches beyond the individual worker and spans generations.…

  • Issues,  Law School,  Legal Practice

    First Impression: What if You’re Not Good Enough?

    A few weeks ago I read some reports from the Yellow Paper Series—reports on studies conducted on racism and bias in the legal field.  The report, Written in Black & White, discusses the way implicit bias impacts how supervising attorneys review written assignments by attorneys of color, specifically Black attorneys.  Previous studies have shown that supervising attorney are more likely than not to perceive Black lawyers as having subpar writing skills in comparison to their white counterparts. Written in Black & White delved further in the topic by seeking out whether confirmation bias causes supervising attorneys to then evaluate legal writing by Black attorneys in a more negative light. Implicit…

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