Legal Practice
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My Name’s Not Sweetie: Harassment in the Courtroom
The first time I felt like I was being truly patronized at work I got into a shouting match with the guy over the phone and threatened a lawsuit. It was not super professional, but in my defense I was still a baby attorney and this guy was just the worst! We were having a conversation and he kept interrupting and prefacing everything with, “listen to me.” I became furious and went off and then he got mad and eventually I hung up. After I was able to gather my thoughts I was so upset with myself for letting that guy get to me. After that, I decided to make a…
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#Top5: Second Anniversary!!
I cannot believe I have been working at this for 2 years! Insert screaming ghost emoji here. Two years of being inspired and motivated and moved to tears by so many incredible, intelligent, passionate, hard-working, dedicated women. When I first started this blog I didn’t know what would become of it—I had always blogged for fun, but this had/has a purpose; a large mission that many, many times I wasn’t sure if I was capable enough to carry. Because in the end, who am I to provide this advice? But every time (and this is no exaggeration) –every time—I had a doubt, I would get little bits of encouragement from readers. …
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Learning to Navigate Big Law as an Attorney of Color
Laywering is hard. Regardless of your practice area or type of office, the requirements and commitments are demanding and the lack of diversity in all areas lead to feelings of isolation for most attorneys of color. That’s just the nature of the career. But it often seems that Big Law is just harsher than average towards us. It’s harsher because, for better or worse, Big Law is still considered the most prestigious career-path within our industry so the gatekeepers make a point to make entry extra difficult. Those gatekeepers are usually also more conservative, privileged, and vested in the status quo remaining the same—i.e. they want to make sure they…
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Let’s Keep This Between Us: Emails Are Not Private
Emails are not private. I repeat, emails are not private! Most of our firms have policies that allow for management/HR review our emails if they deem it necessary so we don’t have to worry about a wikileaks-like hack, a simple HR squabble can lead to really embarrassing disclosures. Without discussing the politics and whether or not there was some acts of collusion within the DNC let’s just talk about what the DNC email scandal can teach us about professional growth. It is so easy to fall into a lull of comfort and believe everything you’re saying is just between you and the receivers. It’s so easy to forget that if…
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Just the Right Amount of Color: Blushes for Work
One of my favorite parts of my makeup routine is putting on blush. It just livens up my face so much. Though to be honest, when I first started working I didn’t really use blush very often. It was a “special occasion” product. But then I started doing some trainings and more public speaking and caught myself on camera one day and was like oh… Now I especially appreciate blush on days that I’m doing trainings because it just gives my look a little more dimension. So now, little by little, I’ve accumulated quite a stash and wanted to share some of my favorite blushes for work. When I’m picking…
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Learning From Feedback
If you’re using your summer wisely than you are using everything at your disposal during your summer internship to grow as much as you can–students sometimes forget that this is the main summer goal to work on in the midst of everything else. Or sometimes a student may think the internship is just a stepping stone/resume builder while forgetting that everything they’re doing can actually help them become a better lawyer. Trust me, that I didn’t always use my time wisely, but now that I’m on the other side I can see how even small things can really impact your future practice. A critical aspect to help you improve your skills is learning…
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Quality Supervision: Ensuring Your Intern Grows
I say this all the time but it’s worth repeating: I love working with interns! I often feel like I’m drowning with work, but interns help make things move at a much faster pace. As I mentioned before, many attorneys dislike working with interns because they feel like it’s a lot of work for just a minimum amount of help. I do admit that it’s a lot of work upfront. But once you find a steady rhythm of supervising the work quality and quantity is so worth it! I can be tricky to manage when you’re new or when you’re not used to good supervision yourself–even though we’re in the midst of summer you…
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Be Your Best Self During the Bar (it’s semi-possible)
Some worthwhile pieces of advice as you study for the bar so that you go into the exam well-rested, well-nourished, and well-versed in the format:
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Summertime and Your Executive Presence
We have spoken before about executive presence and one of the prongs to forming a good reputation as a leader involves your looks. Making sure you look appropriate goes beyond just looking nice, but rather it helps increase your gravitas by showing colleagues and partners that you have enough insight and judgment to do what’s expected of your position. More importantly, when you look put together and polished, people will assume it’s the same with your work product. I will always remember an outside training I did a few years ago with other local legal aids. One attorney made a side comment about how you could always tell who worked…
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Summer Series: Actions Steps to Take as you Prepare for the Bar
Our Summer Series begins again! 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 Maya, an solo practitioner who took the Bar this past winter, and has incredibly relevant and timely advice for those prepping for the Bar! Hello, my name is Maya and I was born and raised in Lima, Peru. I graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law in…