Legal Practice
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Addressing Sex Harassment in the Workplace.
If you have Netflix and an hour and half to spare, you must watch Anita. The documentary is based on the Anita Hill testimony during Clarence Thomas’ confirmation. As attorneys, women, and women of color, it is such a necessary education. In 1991, I was too young to know or understand what was happening. Then growing up, post-Anita, the general belief was that sex harassment in the workplace was wrong and kind of just assumed everyone knew that from the get-go; I obviously had no real knowledge of how bad it really was for many women. What Anita shows is that because of her testimony more people were exposed to…
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How to not Annoy Coworkers in Meetings
I attend a ridiculous amount of meetings every month. Some that are really necessary, and some that are like…why am I here? They are not my favorite thing to do at work, but in many cases, these meetings may be the main way you interact with various members of your team so it’s always good to take advantage of this time (as painful or boring as it may be) and do your best to present your best self. It’s important because not only can you build a good reputation by following good meeting “etiquette” but the flip side can happen where you start annoying coworkers or they begin to question…
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The Road Map for Creating Legal Change
There’s a poem I stumbled upon a few years ago called, I am the Lawyer that describes the values attorneys uphold and the virtue we strive for; my favorite line is: I am the conservative of the past, the liberal of the present, and the radical of the future. That line is so striking to me because it is so true (and btw this was written at least 50 years ago, so the ideals the author attaches to those terms aren’t as politicized as they are now, imo). Rather, what I think the author meant was that attorneys push for progress, but also uphold the law, which creates a dichotomy…
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Fading Acne Scars and Spots
About two years ago, I suddenly started dealing with massive acne issues. Ok, I’m exaggerating, but I cruised past my teens and most of my twenties with hardly any issues with acne so imagine my surprise (and horror) when I started dealing with continuous breakouts. It just was a new problem with which I had little experience. Apparently, as we age we may continue (or start) to fight bouts of acne because of the different hormone fluctuations. It also doesn’t help that we have the added stress of an often hectic lawyer lifestyle that increases our chances of acne breakouts. It’s a really vicious cycle. For those working on their…
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Goal Digger–celebrating accomplishments (and fave links)
Recently, I was reading a book that advised how a good way to keep your goals in track throughout the year: break the year up in thirds so that you can really stop to assess, analyze, and celebrate what you’ve done in the past few months, and then make a plan of action for the next period of time. I think I’m going to try that to see if how that helps me accomplish some goals. How are you doing so far with your goalkeeping for the year? I’m sure for many one big goal is getting accomplished–finishing law school! For those finishing up this month–muchas, pero muchas felicidades! And…
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Seeking Guest Contributors for the Summer
Latinas Uprising is seeking guest contributors for a special summer series! We want to showcase: The varied and engaging work law students are doing this summer; Sneak peeks into the life of law grads preparing for the Bar exam; and Pre-law students who are enjoying their last summer as they prepare for the start law school. If you fit into any of these categories, please email LatinasUprising (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject line: Guest Contributor. Please provide your name; location; law school/year in school; and: If you are a current law student, please provide a brief (a couple of sentences) of what your plans are for this summer.…
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Addressing Sexual Assault within the Latino Community through a Legal Perspective
One of the things that’s so powerful about having a J.D. is that we can become true agents of change. Of course, any individual with the vision and drive can create change in their community, but as attorneys, we are given a little extra ammunition by way of our legal abilities. My hope is that we always remember this and try our best to continue to improve everyone’s standard of living. Because April is Sexual Awareness Month, I think it’s vital to talk about what we can do as attorneys to help fight this problem. In the article I wrote for Being Latino, I mention that one in six Latinas…
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Style Matters: Shoes for the Law Office
Caveats before we begin: My shoe opinion is colored by two experiences: shadowing an attorney in my best “business-y” clothes as a high school student and becoming embarrassed by the fact that because the heels were a little too chunky (early 2000’s y’all) that they made loud noises on the stairs, and that I couldn’t walk as fast as him, which was annoying. My slower walk wasn’t because I was a novice to heels (hello, I rocked Rocket Dog and Steve Madden platforms all the time–again, early 2000s), but rather the fact that generally most people cannot walk as fast in heels as a someone wearing non-heeled shoes. Second, an…
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Activism Anywhere.
I read an article on an amazing endeavor Latino students at a local university created to help undocumented students. The student group at Loyola University Chicago, through their student senate, passed an initiative where students pay $2.50 per semester that goes to help undocumented students pay for their tuition. Full disclosure–I attended LUC Law School, but not for undergrad. When I read how students, many who were not undocumented, did this for their fellow classmates (and for future students) it reminded me of how we can all make the effort to be activist in our own lives. I think as attorneys, once we start practicing, we often get so bogged down in the…
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Networking: Why & How
I think many people feel apprehensive about networking because it can be an awkward situation. Perhaps it’s with a group you barely know; you feel weird about wanting to find leads on jobs; fearing awkward silence if you can’t think of something to talk about; or the worst– when you get iced out of a conversation when a third party joins the conversation. I can go on and on about how much I used to dislike networking. For those that don’t have a natural tact for networking it can seem overwhelming and confusing, especially when you’re still a student. As a student everyone is yelling at you to “network!” But what does…
