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When Familia Needs Free Legal Advice
One of the first rules we learn is to not give legal advice out to family/friends because it can come back to haunt us. I remember reading an article about this while I was still in law school where the author, a white man, wrote that even his mother knew to not ask him for advice because he would never give it to her. It though, wow–that’s intense. I thought of my own family that often needs legal help (for immigration, real estate, etc) and how crappy it would be to have knowledge and tools to navigate the justice system but instead just tell them, “sorry I can’t.”…
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Still Searching: Late Start to Legal Summer Jobs
If you have not been able to secure a summer job yet (especially as a 1L), I don’t want to alarm you, but it’s really time to get to it. Perhaps you missed my tip to get your hustle on in the late fall, but what’s done is done and you’re still looking somewhat late in the game. Before I move on, I just want to sympathize because I didn’t get my first summer job until April (!) my 1L year. So I get that life happens, and when you’re not in the know about how this process works you don’t realize what needs to be prioritized. But regardless, you…
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Be Fearless: Try Out for Moot Court
I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but I think it’s super beneficial to remind all students the importance of trying out for moot court and other trial advocacy teams. I’ve spoken to so many rising 1Ls that don’t even attempt to try out and that is such a disservice to yourself. I know not all of us will be trial lawyers (myself included), but these opportunities provided by your school aren’t made to create trial lawyers–they are so much more than that! Here’s what you lose out on when you don’t participate in these activities: one. Connections. You meet countless practicing attorneys and judges through these programs. You can gain mentors…
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Negotiating while Latina
I went to a fantastic Latina blogger summit last weekend and there was a ton of great lessons and activities, but what I really appreciated was the mission to empower and encourage other Latinas pursuing careers in a still somewhat novel and alternative industry. During one of the breakout sessions on negotiation,the instructor–a dynamic Latina with a background in business–mentioned how the fear of the female penalty often holds us back when we try to advocate for ourselves. The penalty being that women are often labeled as too aggressive when we participate in salary negotiations; or give ourselves strong self-evaluations; or hell, just while leading, in general. So instead we may demure because we don’t want to be dinged with that…
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Fair Pay: International Women’s Day 2016
We discussed this last year, but the theme of International Women’s Day 2016 is parity: What can we do as individuals and a community to close the pay gap so that women are paid their worth? One of Latinas Uprising’s focal points, when it comes to discussing women, equality, and progress is almost always on women and the workplace; most importantly, women and the income we earn. The sad reality is that we earn a pittance compared to other groups and that impacts our quality of life (and that of our families), our earning potential, and our economic capital. So any raised awareness on the income disparity and how to close gap…
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Black History Month
First, big ups to Leap Year for letting me still post this during Black History Month! Second, there is so much to say on this topic and how it relates to Latinos, but I think the most important point I want to focus on today is how often we overlook the Afro-Latino experience in the U.S. Let’s keep it real and admit that within many Latino communities we struggle with deep internalized racism that makes it difficult to embrace and support Black Americans. Additionally,many Afro-Latinos are dismissed as not being Latino enough or Black enough, which is so bogus. I am obviously not an expert in this, but I…
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Celebrating the Bar Exam
Way back when I was researching and planning my law school applications (so a while ago), I remember reading about post-Bar exam trips. This was pre-recession, and what seemed like truly gilded times. The idea was that you had a job lined up pre-graduation and so after you took the Bar, you wouldn’t start until September, giving yourself a month’s time to do something awesome, like travel to Europe. As I write this, it seems so laughable to me. These ridiculous standards that were set (and sometimes are still set) by the status quo just seem so out of reach for most of us. But regardless, that was how it…
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Too Late to Say Sorry
Early in the year a new app was released to help women gain some power at work by eliminating qualifiers in their speech. Words like, “just,” “sorry,” “I think,” etc. The idea is that if your emails sound less like apologies and more assertive then that will lead to a better executive presence. Of course, there was also backlash because why is it always women’s behavior that is judged? Men do a lot of odd things too but they are not judged as harshly as women. I totally get the stance behind this, to say F-U I’m going to speak how I speak and your judgement won’t stop me.…
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Spotlight On! Solo Practitioner Christina Alvarez
This is another installment of the series, Spotlight On! A series where we showcases Latina lawyers and learn about the early successes in their careers. Today we hear from Christina Alvarez, a solo practitioner in Florida! She paints a great picture of career progression through all the legal ranks–from paralegal to attorney/business owner (a path many Latinas opt to take before starting law school)! When did you start practicing? I started practicing law in September of 2014. I have also served as support staff in the roles of file clerk, receptionist, legal assistant, paralegal, and law clerk at various law firms in the Orlando area since 2007. What made you…
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Bar Exam Must Haves
So many are just weeks away from taking the February Bar! I remember hating the last two weeks because 1) all I did was study; 2) I was so ready for it to be over, but at the same time I was terrified to actually take the exam so it was a weird constant state of despair. For those that are taking the exam at the end of the month (or Super Planners, ready for July), I thought it would be useful to talk about some must-haves/must-dos/do nots for the day of the Bar: Must Have: Make sure you bring double the writing utensils that you need–even if you’re typing…