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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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Summer Series: The Journey to Law School
Our Summer Series for Summer 16 comes to an end! 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 Nataly, a rising 1L, committed to immigrant and farmworker justice as she gears up for her first semester of law school while balancing the guilt that comes with bucking our traditions: Earlier in the spring, I opened up an email from the school I…
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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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Black Lives Must Matter to Latinx Attorneys
It is so sad & frustrating that barely a month can go by without having to remark on some new violent tragedy. I was on vacation when I learned about Alton Sterling and then Philando Castile; being so far removed from what was happening gave me an outsider’s perspective. I could read things here and there, but really only had enough time online to gage the reactions of people I know. There have been many incidents like this, but for whatever reason, this seemed to tip the scale–people who normally never discussed race or police brutality came out in shock against what had happened. Gratefully, many people saw this crime…
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Summer Series: Advocating for Immigrants
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 Selene, a rising 2L, who has spent her summer with a nonprofit doing frontline work with immigrants: This summer I have been interning with Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, a non-profit law office located in downtown Los Angeles, which serves especially vulnerable immigrants, in particular children and those in…
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Summer Series: Pushing Yourself to Create A Career You Want
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 Mariana, a rising 3L from Nebraska (midwest represent!) who has taken a non-traditional route this summer and encourages us to seek new ways to use our law degrees: Hello, my name is Mariana and I am currently a rising 3L at the University of Nebraska College of Law.…
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Summer Series: Clerking for a Federal Judge
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 Xinia, a rising 2L from New York, who gives us a behind the scenes peek of what it’s like to be a judicial clerk: Hello everyone! My name is Xinia and I’m a rising 2L at Boston University School of Law. My first year of law school was most definitely one…
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Summer Series: Making the Most Out of Your Summer Internship
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 Mena, a rising 2L who gives us some tips she’s picked up as a new judicial clerk: Hello, my name is Philomena (Mena for short) and I am a rising 2L at Arizona Summit in the heart of Downtown Phoenix. I am blessed to say that I am the…
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Pick a Passion: Overcoming Guilt While Providing Support
Once you start working as an attorney, you’re typically bombarded with requests for fundraisers, events, etc. helping support one cause after another. The good news is that, student debt aside, many of us eventually find ourselves able to participate in traditional forms of philanthropy. The bad news is that being more aware of problems can lead to you feeling overwhelmed with your ability to help. As women of color, we may feel more empathy to seeing these injustices because we know first-hand how unfair, mean, and biased the system can be to others—many of these causes are not just something we hear of, third-hand, but rather real problems our family…
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In the Country We Love, a book review
Confession time–I have never watched Orange is the New Black, but Diane Guerrero’s character, Lina, on Jane the Virgin is one of my faves. I was excited to receive Diane Guerrero’s new book In the Country We Love: My Family Divided* to review because, at minimum I like supporting Latina authors and knew it would touch on immigration. But I was pleasantly sucker-punched-surprised when I read this book. I read it in one sitting–it is that good and necessary. First, my preconception of this book was that it would be bubble-gum lite in regards to immigration. I had heard of Diane’s story, but I’ve read some quickie memoirs before that just…