Legal Practice
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Make Your Presence Known
Are you active alumnae of your school? College or law? I know many people, especially my fellow alumni of color, have no interest in contributing as alumni. Many had bad culture shock by attending universities with a low amount of minorities; others had to face blatant racism from ignorant students and faculty. Plus, you add up all the debt most of us are in (hello, I went to two private institutions), the horrible job market and it’s like–what have you done for me lately, right? I get it and can definitely understand that sentiment. But at the same time, I’ll argue that it is vital for alumni of color, especially…
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Quarterly Report: Setting a Budget
Today’s post is brought to you by my “in-house” accountant and Reg. CPA (aka my husband Evan). Evan has kindly agreed to write some posts about finances every now and then (lucky us!). I know I’m a little bias but it’s no exaggeration when I say he’s a whiz at this kind of thing, and I’m very happy to be able to share some of his knowledge with you. Today’s post is about setting a budget–something I never, ever could do. Budget setting is tedious to do and even harder to stick to, but Evan is here to provide some tips to create, start, and stick with budget that matches…
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Advancing Past the Good Old Boy Club
A few years ago, I was at a networking event for work. I’m usually not a fan of these things, but I was having a relatively good time, and having an easy conversation with a colleague (a guy named “Jacob”). Soon, another attorney (also a man, “Mark”) came up to us. We included Mark in our conversation, you know, because that’s what civil people do, right? After a few minutes, he turned to Jacob and started talking to him –and only him– about baseball. I was floored. I was floored that he would try to purposefully exclude me from the conversation; floored that he didn’t return the favor of inclusion; and floored…
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Strong Resume, Stronger Candidate
I love reviewing resumes! I know it’s weird. Whatevs, but I like seeing the interesting experiences people have and it’s neat to see how they present themselves in this format. I’ve mostly seen resumes from student interns and new attorneys applying for fellowships, but even in that limited capacity there have been some amazing resumes… and some real duds. Don’t be a dud! If you’re not doing these four things you’re not presenting yourself as the strongest candidate! Convert into a PDF. Sounds simple, but I have had too many word docs that open up with the track changes still visible. Ack! That’s so horrible! I always feel bad when this mistake…
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Bilingualism: Help or Hinder?
Do you speak Spanish? Are you fluent or able to speak just enough to talk to your older relatives? Statistically speaking, younger generations may have less Spanish speaking capability than earlier generations. It makes me sad to know that likely my (possible) grandchildren won’t know my native language. Though, I am hopeful because I know there is now more knowledge and awareness (and acceptance) about the benefits of being multilingual so I’ll keep my fingers crossed. But in the here and now, how are you using your Spanish skills? When I first started interning in college, an attorney realized I knew Spanish and asked me to translate for him. He made…
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Mistakes Happen: how to address problem interns
I’m very lucky that at my place of employment we have a steady crop of students every summer. It’s such a great help having two or three full time volunteers to take on some of the work. Seriously, I get so much work done during the summer that I get to relax a little. But to get that quality work product, I had to learn how to supervise closely and provide clear steps for them. More importantly, I had to learn to address problem behavior as soon as it shows up. When I first started supervising interns I had no idea how to really guide them.
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Cultural Conflict: Being Too Polite
One of the great dilemmas we encounter is aligning our upbringing and culture with the expectations of the mainstream–especially in a conservative field like the law. Cultural conflicts often demand that we change our behavior so that those in charge find it easier to accept us. But as the current VP says–that’s a bunch of malarkey! Before we opt to make changes, it’s important to analyze and decide why we have to change just so that systems of power feel comfortable around us. Easier said than done! Instead, many times we just opt to play by the rules to get just an inch ahead–even if the rules don’t seem logical, fair, or natural to us.…
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Are You the Interpreter?
I’m a huge fan of TV and am always excited about the new fall line-ups. I am doubly excited this year that a new show starring a very funny Latina comedian will be on ABC. Cristela Alonzo will play a law student, and that makes me excited to think that perhaps there will be a storyline on t.v. with which I can actually relate! One scene that immediately struck a chord with me was the promo where a white woman misidentifies Cristela repeatedly (around the 30 sec mark). First, as the cleaning crew; then as support staff. The punch line happens when the lady asks Cristela (who she assumes to be…
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The Mission Statement
Latinas Uprising was born from the frustration of visiting mainstream internet communities that discussed being a lawyer or a women professional or even a female lawyer, but never seemed to take into account the experiences we have as Latinas. We often hear that women make around 70 cents to the man’s dollar, but that’s actually the statistic for white women. Latinas make 55 cents to the man’s dollar. That type of disparity will create an entirely different experience that is just not being discussed in mainstream communities. Why aren’t we included? We consist of the largest growing minority group in the U.S. and are a huge consumer group. We are…