Latest / The Lawtino™ / The Lawtino Podcast: Dolores Contreras (Contreras Law Firm) & Mauricio Reznik (Reznik Law Group)

Transcript

The Lawtino Podcast: Dolores Contreras (Contreras Law Firm) & Mauricio Reznik (Reznik Law Group) · The Lawtino™

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Latino Podcast, where we amplify the voices of Latino professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders coming together to educate, inspire, and connect across one of the most dynamic binational regions in the world: bicultural, premium, powerful.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, San Gomez, welcome to the latest episode of the Latino podcast, where we discuss the intersection of law in our Latino communities.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: We have with us as guests esteemed attorneys, judges, government, political leaders, business leaders, thought leaders, all coming together to talk about this intersection of law in our Latino communities.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_02: This episode, as always, is brought to you by your sponsor, Gomez Trial Attorneys.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: Gomez Trial Attorneys is a national consumer rights law firm that serves consumers in both the English and Spanish language equally at the very highest levels of representation, providing services related to personal injury, employment harms, civil rights violations, dangerous products, sexual abuse and assaults, and class actions.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'm joined today, as always, by my co-host David Areguin, who is a lawyer here at Gomez Trial Attorneys, heads up our cross-border practice.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we're really committed to providing that representation to our neighbors and friends on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we have a strong belief that, you know, we are just one community.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: And so David originally was a guest on the podcast.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: You know, now he's with us.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_02: Now he's a co-host.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, given our, you know, attention to this cross-border dynamic.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I always hear about David's high school all the time.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's particularly appropriate that you introduce our guests here today.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, of course.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: And thank you, John.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_03: And for our guests, I was originally a guest here, uh, and I call that an interview.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like just John just wanted to see like how I performed in public and speaking and all this.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: Thankfully, I don't need a family law attorney.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: So do not treat this as uh interview today.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: So uh, so yeah, our guests, you know, the my national ties, uh, Mauricio Resnick, an attorney here, uh, who went to the same school that I went to down in Tijuana.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_03: And wait, wait, I never hear this school.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: What is this called in the school?
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: Or give like a little shout-out to Instituto Mexico.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yesterday we were in Tijuana, and um I heard that name probably 30 times because everybody we met, we came from there.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: I guess that's the place to be, right?
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_03: That's what I keep saying.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, and we also have Dolores Contreras, a family law attorney in town.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_03: I understand you have other practices, and basically we want to hear from both of you guys.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, your practices, your story, your relationship.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, so if you can give us, you know, a brief introduction of both of both, you know, each of you, we would really appreciate that.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm Dolores Contreras, um, and I'm an attorney practicing family law in San Diego for, oh goodness, I don't even remember anymore, maybe 18 years now at this point.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's been it's been a while.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I started my practice back in 2009.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it was quite a bit ago, and um born and raised in San Diego.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: So been here my whole life in Oceanside, but I do come from a Mexican background.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: My mom was born in Tijuana, and my grandmother was um originally from Michoacan.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I grew up at home speaking Spanish, uh, northern part of San Diego in Oceanside.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: I did not go to Instituto Mexico.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Where did you go to high school?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: I went to high school at um El Camino High.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, yeah, in Oceanside.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: So um grew up with uh farm workers.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: So my grandmother, my mother came from Tijuana at a young age.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: My mom came to the United States at 13, and um they went to Oceanside to essentially, you know, work in the farms.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's where I grew up.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: Perfect.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: How are you doing?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_04: So my name is Mauricio Resnick.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_04: I was born in San Diego, but I grew up in Tijuana.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_04: So I actually grew up in Tijuana.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_04: I did all the way through junior high at the famous Instituto Mexico.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_04: And um, I always knew I wanted to work in the US.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_04: Uh U.S.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_04: citizen, I always saw that opportunity.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_04: And in my head, it was I always want to go, I want to go.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_04: And so we decided that high school was the was the best point to go.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_04: So I went to high school to uni, which is now cathedral.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and after that, honestly, my decision is where am I going to go to college?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_04: And for some reason, I felt that I needed to get out of the community to explore, get a little bit out there.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_04: So I went to Tufts University in Boston.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_04: So I was over there and um I double major in economics and international relations.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_04: From the beginning, I was always interested in businesses.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_04: I liked law, but businesses to me was very much of a calling.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_04: And from that point, um, I knew that San Diego was always going to be the end point, but I wasn't ready yet.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_04: So I pivoted, I went to San Francisco and I went to school to USF law, became an attorney there.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_04: I practiced for, I want to say three, four years up in in the Bay Area.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_04: It was in a small law firm.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_04: They primarily did ment mal, but my brother was a doctor in another life.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_04: My brother's a doctor, I'm sorry.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_04: In another life, I also thought about uh potentially medicine.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_04: So it was perfect.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_04: I dealt with that, did with that for a couple of years, and then I decided, hey, it's time to go back home.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_04: So that's when I um returned to to San Diego.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_04: And um interestingly, I started working for Dolores in that.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_04: She was your boss, she was my boss originally.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, all right, yeah.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: And so uh when when you did the interview, uh did you do it uh in a podcast format?
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I should have.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's apparently the way to go, right?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: I should have.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: No, um, we actually, you know, it we practiced for many years together, um, and you know, just as colleagues.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: So there was, I don't know, maybe like four years, something like that.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so when we actually eventually started dating, it was like wow, like I we never saw this coming, you know, it was it wasn't one of those things that initially just kind of happened.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it just kind of grew into that.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no, and and and very fitting uh to this podcast and what we're discussing.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_04: The well, hopefully I came in for other reasons, but the real big reason is Dolores was in charge of that point of a very big, I say, cross-border case.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_04: It was a development in the Rosarit Poncena corridor.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_04: You've probably heard of it, but there was a couple of lawsuits of projects that were not completed, and a lot of the buyers were were U.S.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_04: buyers.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_04: And one of those things that you deal with cross-border, the contracts were in Mexico.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_04: Why isn't the lawsuit in Mexico, right?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_04: But actually, they were claiming, hey, the representations were in the US, so we should get access to the U.S.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_04: courts.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_04: So we actually defended the developers in the project in the U.S.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_04: And it was a pretty big case.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_04: So I want to say about$60 million or so.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_04: We're defending the the developers over here for that project, uh, a couple other big players in the arena.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_04: But that's how we really got um how we got to know each other, working long hours, as John knows, you know, David, trials, uh, multiple trials, long processes, and and that's that's how it started, you know, and getting involved a lot with with cross-border and and international issues.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's how we worked around the clock because I think we ended up having about four trials on that case.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: And each of them were about, you know, it's four jury trials, about three to four weeks each one.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we were just back to back, just you know, in it working.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's where our relationship uh formed.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: It can either like that kind of pressure can either create a close relationship or destroy any relationship that pre-existed.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: So it sounds like you guys did a good job of working together, you know, seeing each other's strengths, and just I don't think it's been mentioned yet, but these two are now married.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so it's a it's a funny story about or a nice story about how we got here.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I guess it worked out well.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: And then Mauricio, I feel like I have something in common with you as well because you you said that you were interested in medicine.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_03: So at one point during college, I was in between, like, okay, should I go to law school?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: Should I go to medical school?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_03: Thankfully, I went to, you know, uh law school, but now I focus on the medical side of uh the legal system, right?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_03: Basically uh protecting and you know representing our our injured clients.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_03: So uh very interesting.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_03: So no now we have more stuff in coming, other than Instituto Mexico.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think uh I never did you ever contemplate becoming a doctor?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely not.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: No, I mean.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think um I knew right off the bat anything having to do with blood, I'm out.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: So absolutely blood and needles, like I am not involved.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: So that was, you know, when I wanted to, when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do career-wise, that was the first thing off my list.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, no medical school.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I was like, what's left at this point, right?
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because I it wasn't something that I grew up saying, I'm going to be an attorney, like this is what I want to do.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: I was in college and um I thought, now what?
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I went to UCSD.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, where do I go from here?
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: What do I do?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I saw law as something that you're it's very useful, you know.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody is gonna need a lawyer most of the time at some point, whether it's a contract, whether it's in medical, whether it's in science, whatever it may be.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I saw that there was such a broad range of practice areas you can do.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I figured, I'm gonna go to law school and then I'll figure out where I kind of fit in from there.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: So that was my start as to going into law school.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, UCSD now, um, I don't know if you're aware of this, they have a very active pre-law group for um Latino kids thinking about going to law school.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like they do a really, really good job.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: There's they have a big conference, they have all these events.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_02: So probably uh we're gonna plug you into that because I think you would be a great probably they didn't have that for you.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: They did not have that for me.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: No, absolutely not.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but that's I mean, that's absolutely wonderful because I think that so many kids nowadays and and always, it's just so hard to decide.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, how do you decide what you want to do when you've never done anything?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's tough.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I love the fact that there's just so much out there now to expose the younger generations to different careers and different opportunities and open their eyes to, you know, things that may interest them versus just being a, you know, YouTube or an influencer.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I feel like even in law, like we have the uh we recently had in the uh podcast at DNF Emissions at California Western, and he said that uh what was the uh applications now?
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_03: Like just grow up.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they're up through the roof.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: Through the roof, and I guess it has to do with, you know, the political times, just the times, the economic times, and people are just applying like crazy to law school, which you know, I applaud them because it's a great profession, something that I really admire.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I'm for sure glad that I made the choice I did, but I'm also glad that um, you know, I applied and got in and got three when I did.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_03: Like back back.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because these kids today, man, they're animals.
• 11:51
  unknown: Yeah.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: So uh this group, just I'll give them a shout because some of these kids like listen to the podcast, is the Society of Hispanic Students and Law at UCSD.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so um probably I'll connect you guys on on social media, and um, I think you know, they're always looking for speakers and leaders and that kind of thing.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that'd be great.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: That would be absolutely wonderful.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I feel like especially like in this area, right?
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like when I went to law school, there were not feel like there were not a lot of efforts, even like in high school, like no one tells you about law school in the US, right?
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_03: That's actually something that I'm working on.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_03: So I'll probably pull you, Mauricio, because uh I want to get like a panel of how to study in the US or become a lawyer in the US, become a doctor in the US, just make it easier for kids in Tijuana to actually do that transition because it's it's different, right?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_04: I agree 100%, and I would love to help you out with that because uh from from my point of view or or my background, I'm actually the first one in my family or my generation of family to do the full college experience in the US.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_04: So when when I was gonna go to college, I was like, Well, where do I go?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_04: And ignorantly, I was like, Well, I just want to go far from here.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_04: Well, Boston sounds great.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_04: So I applied to all the schools in Boston just to get out of here, but I really had no idea.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_04: And I get there and it's like, what are you?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_04: What's your major?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_04: Well, what is a major?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_04: And and you're getting into that entire system.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_04: And I had you know good grades and everything.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_04: So I luckily I got in, but then after that, it's well, we got to do this all over again in LSATs and in in law school.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_04: What do you mean?
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_04: And and so it's an interesting process, and you definitely gotta learn.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_04: And having someone in in your corner can help you give you background experience.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's it's a wonderful tool.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, definitely let me know and gladly help.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I just I just want people like once once they get here to actually study and stay here because I've seen people actually like come here, be here for a year, and then go back to like a school in Mexico, which is great, but it's like a year of energy that you already put into a system that you didn't really understand.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, I feel like we just gotta do that.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_03: So thank you for that.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm I I like uh Tufts Gray school, you know, and Boston's a great town.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: Like I feel like, you know, that must have been a nice experience for you.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like my kids are all about basically being as far away from me as possible, you know.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_02: So I imagine, you know, most of them are gonna end up, you know, somewhere like that.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: But how was that for you, you know, coming from Tijuana to Uni and then going out to Boston?
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_04: You know, funny story.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_04: I I loved Tufts, I loved my experience in in Boston.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_04: I actually go back uh for a couple different reasons, but I I love the town and I'm still in touch with with a lot of friends from college.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_04: But the funny story I was getting at is it's such a change of worlds.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_04: One thing is living in Tijuana and going to school in San Diego and driving back at the end of the day.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_04: Your activities yeah, would cross every single day, similar to Joaquin.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_04: I think he was telling a story.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_04: So we had that life that we would a border brat, Joaquin was calling it.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_04: We would cross the border every single day.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_04: And we got through live, I actually lived through the 9-11 crossing the border.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_04: So I had to stay in the US last night.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_04: So what happened is I had to stay at my uncle's house for a couple of weeks because you just couldn't cross at that time.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_04: It would take half a day to get to school.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_04: Um but uh the point I was getting at is once I got to Boston, um I had a great roommate, he was from St.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_04: Louis, and I'm here Mexican, and I'm I'm at bed, wake up in the morning and I would tell my roommate in Spanish, hey, turn on the TV.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_04: And he's like, Mauricio, English, remember?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_04: It's just my my brain wasn't wasn't ready or used to being English 24-7.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_04: And it's you gotta adapt to the process.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_04: But overall, uh Boston is a is a great town.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Tufts University, I love it.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_04: It also has a great amount of international students.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_04: So I think that that helped a lot for me as well, as part of the process.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_04: And and honestly, I had my international group of friends, and then I had my rowing crew group of friends, and then I also had a fraternity group of friends.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_04: So you just gotta take the best of all those opportunities, right?
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_04: And and I think for for Boston for me, it was that, you know, getting used to all those opportunities and and learning different experiences.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_03: Perfect.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: So are you guys uh you now separate firms, no?
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, so what's the name of your firm?
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: My firm is Contratus Law Firm.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_04: And what's your and my law firm is Restig Law Group.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_02: And are you guys uh are you guys located near each other physically or like in the same oh yeah.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that part hasn't changed.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: That part hasn't changed.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're actually in the same suite.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we have a floor um here in downtown San Diego, and um he essentially has one wing with you know his his staff, his people, and then I have another wing, you know, with your people.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: So there are.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_02: So it's we're with a better team.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: Because I know they can be clicky, even like even with you guys, probably.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: It I mean, very a little clicky, but not much.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we like to say that we are two firms, but we're in one family.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: So even even at you know, at the firm where you know, he's got his wing, got mine, but it's everybody just blends and it's almost like we're all just everybody asks each other for help, assist each other.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we do operate to a certain extent as though, you know, one family, but firm-wise, it's you know, he's got his own entire system, staff, own payroll, everything's completely separate.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it I don't know, I I like it.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: It works.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there are times, even though we're in the same space, there are days where we don't see each other at all.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a lot of days.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_02: That's good for America.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: So people ask, how do you how do you guys work together?
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you go home and then you're working all day together.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like we're in under the same roof, but we're think of it as like a whole different office.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he's over there, I'm over here.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we drive to work separately most of the time just because of schedules with kids, or you know, you've got your own stuff going on.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: So um, under the same roof, but just very very separate.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: Your your side of the house is doing family law.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like it looks like you you have a particular focus and expertise in what I would call um higher value, maybe.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like high asset divorces, a lot of cross-border stuff too.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: So we do a lot, a lot of divorces.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, divorce, custody, um, domestic violence cases.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: They inter, you know, they interlap a lot.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that's our main focus.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um we do have somewhat of a civil department, but it also over it's there are cases that overlap with the family.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: So um they are what we call Marvin action cases, which are people who have been in long-term relationships, but maybe never got married.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, certain promises were made.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: So it's essentially like a breach of contract case.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's done in civil, but it's almost like getting like a civil divorce.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: So it gets it gets messy.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_02: Like, so so me and David are married.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_02: No, we're not married.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: We're not married, we're just living in sin.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, you know, maybe we have a couple kids, and I'm like, oh, don't worry, David.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_02: I'll take care of you.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have to work.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like that's actionable.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, absolutely.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's a breach of of contract.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't know that.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't know that.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, everybody sign up.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_03: It's like common, common law marriage type of thing.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: Kind, kind of.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's not automatic where it's like if I've been together for seven years, you're, you know, you're legally married.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: There's got to be some sort of, you know, there's like a uh, like I said, don't you don't have to work, I'll take so inducement, right?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: Like, correct.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: So there's gotta be some sort of, you know, whether it's an express promise that we're made, um, some sort of agreement, or even implied.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: So like an implied contract due to, you know, several actions and stuff like that.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: So our civil practice is that sort of thing, you know, families that were were working on their divorce, but they actually, you know, they're dividing property business, but they they put, you know, the uncle's name in all of these houses and all of this.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: And now, you know, the family's like, oh no, this is mine.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, wife or husband on the other side is saying, no, that was ours.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's just he just used his name because of credit.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: So it's 50-50, not you know, the way the third.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: And so then that's potentially a civil action or a joinder and family.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: So those are the type of civil cases that we do, not so much business like Mauricio does.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so there are our civil uh team, because they're separate attorneys who focus just on you know civil cases, they handle those aspects, but they still intertwine very much.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like, say, what about I have two questions because now I'm interested.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_02: Now it became no, because all our listeners can listen and say, Oh, you know, I didn't know that.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: But um, so you say you have a lot of cross-border stuff.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: Like what if they get married in in Mexico but they live here?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we get that question all the time.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: They say, Can I get divorced in California because we got married in Mexico?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: And the answer is, you know, if you've been here for six months, yes.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: No way, really.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not and then do California laws apply?
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: So they get married in Mexico, come up here 10 years, and you're locked in with a Yeah, yes.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it gets a little bit more complicated than that sometimes.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because in Mexico, you get married under, you know, you get to choose whether you want to be married under separate property laws or community property laws.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, what that means is community property, we're gonna share everything 50-50, and separate property is, you know, what's mine's mine, what's yours is yours.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's bien as is that bienes mancomunados.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_03: You'll learn this in law school.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: I know, right?
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm attending law school right now at UNAM.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, you yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_02: So uh we so far have done like, you know, jurisprudence, like the very theoretical stuff.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_02: We're now on constitutional uh.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Man.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: And so we have um we have nine months, like four hours lecture a week, and then there's an exam and some stuff.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm looking forward to I'll learn a little bit about, you know, family law.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but my question would be like, so once let's say a couple gets divorced in the US, will like Mexican courts actually take um action over the whatever the court decided here?
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like would they actually accept it?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um yes.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's a whole nother process, obviously.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we do work with attorneys in Mexico.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: So oftentimes um we get a lot of a lot of clients that have, you know, assets here, they they live here, their life is here, but their businesses, their source of income is in Mexico, right?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: So that I mean that happens so much, or they have properties in Mexico.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: So it does become a lot of um most people tend to cooperate at some point, you know, but if they don't, then it becomes an enforcement issue in Mexico, and then it's hiring attorneys in Mexico to enforce a judgment here and so forth, and vice versa too.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know, sometimes we get judgments to enforce here with property.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot, a lot of cross-border.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, it doesn't matter where you got married, what matters is where you live.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: What matters is if they call you.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's right.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's what's gonna make the difference.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: And what about what about what about on the other side of the house?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_04: What is uh your law firm doing more it's so my law, my law firm is primarily what I like to call business law.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_04: So we're primarily business litigators.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_04: So any disputes that could potentially surround a business or it's in a contract, that's essentially what we heal, uh what we deal with.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_04: Because of that, we also deal with the transactional or the setup of a business.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_04: And we honestly have from mom and pops to to multi-million dollar uh corporations.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_04: Um funny, for a while, they used to call me the uh the taco shop king because we had a lot of different taco shops too that that we were helping them with with their setup.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_04: So that's primarily what we do.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_04: Anything that involves the business, uh, you know, we would be the point of contact.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_04: Um, in that sense, I do have also a lot of international clients, a lot of clients from Mexico.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_04: Um, as you guys are probably familiar with the maquiladoras en Tijuana, we have a lot of um, we'll call it companies that they have either La Madriz or the main company is in Mexico, and they have a sister company in the US for purposes of sales.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_04: And so we assist with that setups and and all the loss and the structure and agreements that need to happen in the US.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_04: So that's that's primarily what we deal with.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's a big, that's a lot of stuff.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_04: It it is, it is.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, you know, it's it's it's what I do.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_04: Um similar to to David, you know, I I was born in San Diego, but I grew up in Tijuana.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_04: So I know the cultural, I know the people.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I'm not an attorney there, but I'm very much familiar with the law as well.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_04: Um, so that helps with the entire process in understanding when they tell me what type of entity they have over there, what's the relationship, how they want to do it, and the situation in the U.S.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_04: So that that helps very much.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_04: I also have a lot of clients that have distribution in the US.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_04: So they have their product in the U.S.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_04: and it could be a food product, and they have distribution through the through the entire United States.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_04: So they need someone with experience with those laws in the United States, the United States without process.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_04: So that is that is what we do.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: What about what about if I just want to set up an LLC or like a nonprofit or an a corporation?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: You guys do that too?
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, of course.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_04: So that's the transactional side of it, things that we call it.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_04: And and the way that I explain to clients is we do the litigation, that's our expertise.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_04: I seen how these things go bad.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_04: I know where the mistakes happen.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_04: So let's set up right from the beginning.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_04: So that's a very, very important aspect.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_04: And I think in something you were talking about it for the Latino community, uh, I think that's a very important driving point that I always share with them.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_04: It's let's set it up right from the beginning.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, we have a saying as well, okay, lo barato sale caro, right?
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_04: The cheap gets really expensive down the line.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_04: Why?
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_04: Because oh, I went to the notario or a friend told me X, Y, and Z.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_04: It's like, no, no, no.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_04: Let's get it right, let's get your foundation correct so that you can have a successful business down the line.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like spend the money now, now late, not later, right?
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_04: No, well, not only that, it honestly will cost you a dollar today if you do it right.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_04: And if you do it wrong, it's probably gonna cost you if you're, I want to say tens of thousands of dollars, you know, something happens.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_04: So that's that's a very important aspect of of education, I like to say, right?
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_04: It's like, hey, let's get it down correctly from the beginning.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_03: And then Mauricio, I understand, like, you know, for your cross-border practice that you have like a Mexican attorney at your office.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, well, he's also an American attorney, right?
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_03: But uh Mexican attorney.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_03: So we'll give a little shout out to shout out to Mario Bailon.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, does he get involved with any of the Mexican law like procedures, or does that help the understanding of some of the cases that you handle?
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_04: So, so very important.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, we are dedicated to to US law.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_04: We practice law in the U.S., we're attorneys in California.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_04: That's what we do.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, I do have an attorney that went to school in in Mexico.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_04: He's a licensed attorney in Mexico.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_04: He actually practiced in Mexico for quite some time.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_04: So that helps with the understanding, but we do not get involved with the legal process per se.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_04: I do have cases where we need to serve in Mexico or there's some sort of enforcement similar to the lawyers.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_04: And at that point, we do have a bunch of different law firms in Mexico that we work with and we we hand out that entire process or work in conjunction with them.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_04: And I think it's the best thing.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_04: Let everybody do what they're best at.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_04: And so that's that's how we typically handle it.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_04: But knowing someone in-house that knows the law and knows the process, it's I think it's a key asset.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_03: Definitely helpful.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_03: And how do you uh how do you like making these connections with Mexican attorneys?
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_03: For example, like yesterday we were down at Tijuana meeting with uh uh a firm from down there, a couple of partners, we had dinner, and it was a great exchange of one, you know, on the legal side, casual side, but we're talking about like tort law in Mexico, right?
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_03: And uh to us, it's like our understanding is that tort law it exists in uh paper, but it's not actually practiced.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_03: So it was a great conversation.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_03: Like I'm assuming you enjoy these conversations with some of these colleagues from Mexico, right?
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I do, and I think uh we all know what's happened in the last year, two years in Mexico with the judicial system.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_04: So I think all those conversations are also eye-popping for us.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I was involved for for a while.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_04: There was a group of um of attorneys from from all of uh South America, Central America that were coming here for oral advocacy skills because they were changing the system in South America, going more towards oral advocacy.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_04: So I was part of the instructors that was assisting with that, and I've also been involved in in panels in terms of you know loss in the US and Mexico and how that helps.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_04: So for me, it's it's it's always, again, shocking to a certain degree how the system works, learning.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and a big reason of why I'm no, I'm an attorney in California.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_04: You guys deal with with what you do over over there.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_04: But it's always welcome those conversations, love to learn about how they they handle it.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, but yeah, it's really two different worlds.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_04: That's the reality.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_02: All right, you guys.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_02: So um I have a question because a lot of our listeners are you know, uh entrepreneurs, business people, maybe they have their firm.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so um, I'll ask each of you like, how do you get business?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_02: How do you make the phone ring?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so, like, what are your strategies?
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and what do you do?
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think so.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_01: My strategy dates dates back to when I started.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: And that was laying a foundation.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that was back then it was getting out there, right?
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, I was out meeting people, events, legal events, uh, business events, anything I could attend, I would be there.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I did that for at least what, six, I don't know, a long time, six, seven years of just you're out like nonsense.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: Three nice a week, three, four, five, six, whatever's out there, I'm out there just making connections, meeting other professionals, getting, you know.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I think that was very important for me, um, is you know, knowing people.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then now I kind of have that, you know, somewhat established.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and even back then, overlapping is online presence, um, social media, doing a good job for your client so that you get referrals.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: We get a lot of referrals from other professionals, we get referrals from our own clients.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's huge.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: And um just staying really, you know, involved still with the with the community.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's there's just a lot to it, right?
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: But when you're first starting, you know, maybe you don't have the budget to be doing every single thing out there and you have to build on it.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, starting from zero, it was the cheapest thing was just me getting out there and meeting people, right?
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then from there you just start layering, you know, it's like okay, reinvesting into your firm and you know, investing in marketing, investing in people, investing, you know, growing it from there.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: So um right now we pretty much do, you know, everything out there for her for marketing.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you're complimenting like every single effort.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, I've I follow your social media platform for a little, a little while now, like on Instagram.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but I see that a lot of your you know, stars you get from the wrestling claw group, at least a few videos that I've seen there, uh, which you know it makes sense.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_03: Just could you guys still collaborate?
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_03: I think I saw one with like Mauricio trying to like exchange papers with Mario.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_03: So, the husband-wife pressure you guys in a scenario.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so that's really hard because I cannot get Mauricio to to do social media with us.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, absolutely not.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna do this.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so Mario, I think we got Mario a couple, a couple times.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, like I said, we're one family.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, Mario, you know, would you want to do this real?
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: And he says, Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'll do it.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: And um, and funny thing is, one of the reasons I approached Mario is because at the firm, it's all of the people in my firm are pretty much all females.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't really have any men, and it's not, you know, by design, it just happened.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so I need we sometimes I have ideas on specific reels, and I'm like, I need a guy to do this.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: So we go knock on the door, he's like, he's like, You're not coming to me for this.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, okay.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, Mario, please give me your help.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'll help you.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so that's that's how that comes about with their cameos.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_03: Interesting.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_03: Didn't one like uh when like viral?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_03: I saw I saw that.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: We have one right now, it's I think it's almost like four million views.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I mean I still get about a hundred comments a day, um, every single day, at least.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's a lot of engagement.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's a lot, that's a lot of, I mean, every day right wake up and it's like a hundred new comments and a hundred, I mean, and it's been for well over.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_02: Do you try to respond to that?
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I responded to maybe um a thousand comments, or maybe about maybe five hundred comments or something like that.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then now I'm like, okay.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's a lot, it takes a long time.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's a lot, yeah.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's a it takes me a long time, and I have my like a thousand followers.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_03: Now I feel like an influencer.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like a thousand.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_02: Man, I go, you know, I uh uh what about you?
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_02: I uh you know, like your, I would imagine, target client is a very different target client than her target client.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe they're not looking for funny reels, they're looking for, you know, something a little different.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how do you feel like you get out there and grow your business?
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_04: And and it is.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_04: And I mean, talking about social media, it's a completely different realm.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_04: Um, obviously, I don't do the fashion as as as much as they do.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_04: It's kind of hard.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_04: I even tell her sometimes, like, geez, what am I gonna wear now?
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_04: How much could I switch it around?
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_04: But um, I do feel it's a different target.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_04: And I think um, from the Contreras Law side of things, and and Dolores can talk about it, I think she's taking a different approach that you typically see law firms do.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_04: And and I love it, and it's had a great response.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_04: I've gone a little bit more uh traditional per se, but it is more um has to do with business, a little bit educational.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and it's more of a presence.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_04: Keep a presence, have people know that we are real people, you know, you can see us if you call.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_04: That's that's who we are.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_04: In terms of how I started and and getting out there, uh a little bit different from Dolores in the sense that I was I started working from her and then I branched out.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_04: So when I branched out, I already had clients.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_04: So for me, it's been more of course getting the online presence, getting with all those uh referral sources that that we know, but it's very much been the repeat clients or word of mouth.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_04: And being that I grew up in the area and with people that I know, a lot of people in common, it's very much of like, oh yeah, call Mauricio.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_04: You know, we know I'm from from high school or junior high and all these different things.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_04: We live in Tijuana, but we have a business in San Diego.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_04: So it's been word of mouth, it's been from from connections from growing up.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and and luckily it's been it's been great to date.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: So I heard uh, do you guys have kids now?
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_02: Do you say something about that?
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_02: We do.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: We do.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_02: Like how many, like how old?
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: We have um twin boys.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, seven years old.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, seven-year-old twin boys.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: Or little guys.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_02: So uh I have twins, I have boy-girl twins.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: Oh nice.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_02: Do the how are the are how are they are they different, the same?
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_01: So different in every aspect, um, from the way that they look to the way that they are.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've got one of our little seven-year-olds, um, Mateo, he's uh, you know, he's a redhead, so complete ginger.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: I mean just bright red curly hair.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then um our other little one, Isaac, he he's uh brunette, you know, in straight hair.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: So so very, very different personalities too.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, our little our little red one, he's you know out there, he's the firecracker.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then our other one's a lot more calm and you know, thinks about things.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_01: And but it's it's fun.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's it's awesome.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so David has a you know, pretty new son, you know, and um I have old kids and young kids, like, and so I I've seen it, but what advice, you know, would you guys give David or someone in the law kind of trying to, you know, balance being, you know, a good parent and a good a good lawyer and a good business person all at once?
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it takes work, I think.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely um, you know, take all the help you can get.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when people offer to help.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's like it's like take it, you know, from from your sub from your support around you.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: But it it, you know, for me as as a mom, it it's you know, it's it's hard sometimes, you know.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's a you do balance.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: I love being an attorney.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_01: I love having my business, I love having my children.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: And there are times where, you know, if I'm in trial, I don't get a whole lot of my children because I'm you know, I'm in trial.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, but it's just balancing it where as soon as I'm done with my trial, I'm gonna take a little bit more time to be with my children.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just knowing that there's there's different stages and there's different times and being okay with it.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_01: And there are times where you're gonna be able to be a lot more present in certain things and other times where you're not.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's just giving yourself grace with that.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and knowing that, you know, you still have, you know, being a parent is amazing, but it's like you still have your business and you still have these things.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, I think I always remind myself that this is something that my kids are also taking with with them.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the fact that they see their parents, you know, working hard, you know, working hard at being with them, working hard at their job and being dedicated.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's a great example for them growing up, seeing that.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_02: Agree.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_02: How about you?
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_04: I agree 100% on what she said.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_04: I think uh an important factor, and it's for us, it's it's very clear-cut.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_04: We're both attorneys and we're both litigation attorneys.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_04: And you guys know when it's litigation, it's litigation.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_04: You're at the office and you got to deal with it, and you have to be there on the weekends and you got to take those phone calls.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_04: But luckily, we understand that because we both live that world.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_04: So the fact that we both know that we are able to compliment and help each other out.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_04: So she says, hey, I'm trial, I have a trial this week, I get it.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_04: I figure it out.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_04: So I would say this, uh, not only to other attorneys, but maybe to their spouses, is to be comprehensive, understand the situation, and help out as much as we can.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_04: And I think that's a very, very important factor to make it work.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think, yeah, like that's that's the probably one of the biggest factors is the understanding because we're both attorneys.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's very I I've seen it, you know, where it's hard sometimes.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, well, why are you working so late or what's going on with this?
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, I don't, we don't have to explain that to each other at all.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, hey, I've got a trial this week.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's the answer just okay.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like you're on full mode, and vice versa.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's you know, I know you might not get here.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even know what time you're gonna get home.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that's fine.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and there's no questions and there's no like, well, what's going on?
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: Or how are you gonna make it to this?
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: I know you're probably not gonna make it to that, but I've got it.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: So um that's actually been very helpful and useful in our relationship.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: Is that you know, we're always call each other, we're always a team.
• 39:54
  unknown: Yeah.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_04: And that's why we drive separately to work.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I figured.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_02: That's why I figured I was like, somebody's bringing the kids to school in the morning, someone's picking them up, depending on the day.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I was kind of I was kind of envisioning that happening.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, like having been through it myself, um, you know, I have an 18-year-old now at UCLA and I have 17-year-old twins, and then I have a three-year-old.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_02: But like to your point, I think that a couple of things that validate like your thoughts about it.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_02: I think I think kids appreciate like full presence, like full, like deep focus on them more than full-time partial presence.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_02: So, like if you guys are in trial and but you haven't seen Matteo for, you know, two days and you're but then it's Friday, you're dark, and you're like, ah, you're just on him.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_02: Like they like that.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like that's better.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_01: Agree.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think quality over quantity.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so we're very, very big on that.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_01: When we're with our kids, we are with our kids.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, um, we understand that we work, you know, so we're often out of out of the house and we don't spend as much time as we would like with them.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_01: But the time that we do spend, it it is, it is quality and it's it's amazing.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I think you're right, they absolutely appreciate that.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so we're very conscious of that.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, think about like, you know, you could have a parent that's a firefighter and they're over at the station like for three or four days, like that's just their schedule or the military, but then they come back and they're like, you know, like I feel and and the second thing I was gonna say to your point, like my kids um pretty much my older kids now like forever, you know, there was no mention of being a lawyer.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_02: I couldn't really tell like if they understood what I was doing, but now like they've all had very, very good success and they all want to do what I do.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_02: And you can you can see it at the end.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_02: They're very appreciative and admiring of you know their parents that work hard and have success, you know.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_02: So we do set a good model.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_02: So so here's the thing.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_02: That's uh there's really there's there's there's there's no excuses for not working hard, David.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to hear about it.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_01: There is absolutely no excuse.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's like you you can do it.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: You can you can do it, you can't really do it all.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I've been adjusting, it's actually been work uh working out well.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I think I'm doing that, like where, for example, we've had what a couple of like long nights, events, etc.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_03: When they were down in Mexico, yeah, like yesterday, and then we had the dinner on Tuesday, but then for example, Friday comes, and I know like that whole evening I'm just gonna spend the time with my seven-year-old, uh, seven-year-old, seven-month-old uh baby.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the same thing happened last weekend.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_03: We have this, you know, bio trip.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_03: I was out Saturday, came back on Sunday, but Sunday afternoon was just the baby.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_03: My baby and me, and then my I left my wife.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_03: She could like go around and drive and take her mind out of it.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_03: That's the key.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_03: She also needs over.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_03: She also needs the help.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_03: But for me, I think I had I was lucky.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_03: I've been married for a little while, and um she she lived law school with me.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_03: So she knows exactly like the struggle that I had then, and you know, that's paying out now.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_03: So she knows I still gotta put in the time.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but it's great, you know, she's she's at home, she's with the baby, so that's you know, a lot of a lot of support.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm very grateful for that.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_03: So I'll share this with her when it's out.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_02: No, no, I love it.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, a lot of our listeners also are, you know, younger kids contemplating, you know, going into law, um, contemplating their future.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, we've been in it, you know, me the most, you guys a little bit too.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like you've been in in the law for a while.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, one, would you say, yeah, it's still a good idea and time to be a lawyer?
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_02: And if so, what advice would you give them?
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: I do.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think at the end of the day, you need to do what you know, what you feel is gonna make.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: You happy in what you want to do, whatever that may be.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_01: And if law is a calling, it's a go for it, do it.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it is an absolute it's a wonderful career.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_01: It is not something that I would say, like, oh, why did I do this?
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like I love, I love being a lawyer and I'm very, very happy that I did.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think if I had to give somebody advice, you know, once they do become an attorney, um, be selective where you where you start working.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I see how, you know, if you wanna, it it's hard because you know, you're you just went to law school, you don't even know about law firms, you don't know about attorneys, but it's like do your due diligence, ask about the law firms, ask about the attorneys, ask about the reputation, because you want to get started with good habits.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_01: You want to get started with somebody who's gonna lead you in the right direction, and that you don't become, you know, an attorney who's just maybe not, you know, doesn't present well in court, for example, but that you have um good leadership so that you're able to build the proper skills.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think that sometimes people, you know, they finish law school and it's like, oh, I got offered this job.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe it's not the best firm to be at, and you might not get, you know, the best skills um and grow your career.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that being selective and doing your due diligence, not just taking any job.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_04: That's good advice.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_04: I would tell them do it too.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_04: Um in my point of view, or my experience, um, I didn't love law school, to be honest.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know many attorneys that that do.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so what I when I was in law school, most of the time I was looking for opportunities to get out of law school.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_04: So I did a lot of internships.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_04: I did internships with the federal defenders here in San Diego, actually.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_04: I did uh with the DA's office in San Francisco, and then I got involved with a law firm that's where I actually ended up working, the Men Mau.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_04: And I literally walked into this law firm.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_04: It wasn't the best idea, but I was out for a bike ride like I typically do, and I'm wearing on my biking outfit, and I see a law firm and the door is open.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_04: I was like, why not?
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_04: Knocked on the door and I was like, hey, do you guys need any free hands?
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_04: I'm willing to help out.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_04: And it all developed to like come back, dress up like a normal person, bring your resume.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_04: And that's how I got my foot in the door.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_04: So, what I would say is go out there and if you can, the opportunities are there, knock on doors, try to get to see what you like.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_04: We go to law school and we just become attorneys.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_04: We're not IP attorneys, we're not men mail attorneys, we're not PI attorneys, we're just attorneys.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_04: But in that same, as I get out there, see what you can do.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_04: And at the end of the day, something that for me was was very important when I was doing law school.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_04: If for whatever reason you do not end up being an attorney, you have a great resume.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_04: Doing law school is serious business, and employers appreciate that.
• 46:47
  SPEAKER_04: They see that you're a caliber person, you went through this experience, you can help with business, you can help a lot of different management things.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_04: So do it.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_04: Definitely go and do it.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_03: And it also gives you that platform, that basis for whatever job you want to do.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_03: So I was very appreciative of that.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I felt like, you know, my after my first year of law school, it just changed like the way I thought about things and how you analyze.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_03: So imagine put those skills in another, like uh uh another type of area, it's just still gonna help.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that's great advice.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that's cool.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_03: So you did, you know, DA's office, federal defenders.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_03: That's like you get a lot of experience during law school, right?
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_03: Because it gets you in the court.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_04: And then a lot of funny stories, but a really, really quick one.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_04: I was with the federal defenders.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and back in the day, I was part of the investigation team.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_04: And so I go to the holding tank and they are doing interviews and they need an interpreter.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_04: And well, I'm the only one there, right?
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_04: And it's like, well, who do you who do you uh they asked the the the my the attorney there, can we use him?
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, pretty quickly.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_04: So I go through it, I'm doing the entire report.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_04: I'll tell you there was a crazy scene involving a lot of drugs.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, the guy turns to me and says, I want you to represent me.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_04: This is me, a 17-year-old, and it's just because of the communication, because I was able to understand him and speak the language.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_04: I wasn't giving any advice whatsoever.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_04: I was just interpreting here, but it just tells you about the connection.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_04: And for people who are Latino or who speak Spanish or have the opportunity to do it, embrace it is a very, very important tool and use it.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_04: It's gonna help you a lot.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_04: That's the reality.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_04: That's great advice.
• 48:23
  SPEAKER_04: That's a great tool.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_03: I was gonna say so many doors.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because you both are bilingual and your Spanish is perfect, no accent.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_03: Do you find that being an advantage to some of these people that maybe cultural?
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely, 100%.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_04: Um, there's so many cases that I get where they were first being represented by a a fully angular speaker and they felt they could not understand each other.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_04: And they come to me and the case is a total mess because they were not seeing eye to eye.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, it's it's it's actually really straightforward.
• 48:57
  SPEAKER_04: You guys were not understanding each other.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_04: And the fact that I can explain it in their own native language in simpler terms, it's it's very, very important.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_04: And that's why I think it's a it's a very big advantage and it helps in a wide variety of ways.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, same here.
• 49:12
  SPEAKER_01: And even taking it a step further, aside from the language, it's the culture, right?
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and family law, how you raise children, things that you say, you know, in in Spanish, especially in Mexico, sometimes the nicknames aren't when they're translated, they're not very kind, right?
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that can be used against you by another parent saying, you know, well, he keeps calling my kid fat.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, well, you know, if you're like, oh, do you call your kid fat?
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, well, yeah, I do.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, that looks really, that looks really bad.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, why are you calling your kid fat?
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_01: And but in Spanish, it's very common.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's like gordito, like, hey, gordito, gordo, come over here.
• 49:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just, it's a term of endearment.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_01: But if you don't understand the culture, it's like, geez, like my client, he's like, this is not gonna look good in front of the judge, unless your judge speaks Spanish.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_01: But if they don't, just like exactly in a custody ballot, he's he's fat shaming my child, he's doing this.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, people say all kinds of stuff, right, to gain advantage.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_01: So it's important to understand the culture and you know, be able to explain this and say, look, it's like this is what this means, or this is what it is, and you know, to that extent.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not just the comfort of being able to really express yourself and for your attorney to understand you, but the cultural part too.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_03: What's our saying, John?
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_02: Binacional, ah, binacional, be cultural and and best in class.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you gotta have all three, right?
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_02: All right, so um, kind of wrapping up here, uh Dolores said people want to find you, learn about your law firm, you know, where would be the best place to look?
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um social media or at Contreras Law Firm um and our website, Contreras Law Firm.com.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_01: So just everything Contreras Law Firm.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_04: All right, how about you, Mauricio?
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's Resnik Law Group, and that's our website, Restniklawgroup.com.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_04: We also have social media, uh Resnik Law Group.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_04: You can find us there.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_04: Feel free to give us a call.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_04: We'll gladly chat in English or Spanish.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I love it.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_02: Very good.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_02: So uh any particular questions.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_03: No, basically, I think you know what we end up usually with, you know, you're writing in the sky.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like that's perfectly black uh final thing.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm just pointing up sorry.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_02: So so you here you can deliver it.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_02: Let me let me let me see if you can deliver it.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so John, John's a big fan of uh Osotrava.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if you're familiar with him.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_03: He's a podcaster in Mexico, invites all these celebrities.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_03: And let me see if I get this right.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_03: If not, you you gotta correct me.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_03: So if if you had uh the chance of writing something in the sky with like clouds uh for everyone to see in the world, like what would it be?
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I you know, I'll start with you, Dolores.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_03: Oh for like all eternity, for attorney for everyone, for everyone, for everyone to see.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_02: See, he gets more time to think that.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, we have like you go first.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_04: I'll go first.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_04: And this is not necessarily attorney, but I think David, you mentioned it very briefly about uh my affiliation with Team Hoyt.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_04: And if people are not familiar with that, just go look it up at Team Hoit San Diego, amazing, amazing organization that hey that helps kids with uh different disabilities for purposes of inclusion.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_04: And their logo is yes, you can.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_04: That's very important.
• 52:23
  SPEAKER_04: You can do it, you can figure out, let's go do it.
• 52:26
  SPEAKER_04: All right, yes, you can.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_03: Patful.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_03: How about you, Dolores?
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_01: I think something short, just like every day is a gift, maximize it.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_02: Those are two good ones.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_02: If you take both those together, then you're gonna have great success and satisfaction in your life.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you guys for being here.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_02: It was a real pleasure to get to know you, learn a little bit about you know, your your path to today, um, and you know, the work that you do, uh your passions.
• 52:54
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you guys are excited about life and law and each other and the world, and every day is a gift.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_02: And yes, we can.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_02: So thank you guys for being on the podcast.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_02: Really appreciate it.
• 53:07
  SPEAKER_02: Um, this concludes this episode of the La Tino podcast.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_02: If you like what you heard, give us a thumbs up, uh, share us, um, tell a friend.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, we are interested in growing together as a La Tino community and really um supporting each other, lifting each other up.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think we're all here for each other.
• 53:32
  SPEAKER_02: So um hope you enjoyed this episode.
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_02: We sure did.
• 53:36
  SPEAKER_02: So uh signing off, this episode is in the books.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_03: Perfect.
• 53:40
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you, God.