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How First-Generation Latino Students Can Build a Legal Career · The Lawtino™

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to the Latino Podcast where we discuss the intersection of law and our Latino communities with legal, political, and community leaders and visionaries.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: Let's get started.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_04: This episode is brought to you as always by Gomez Trial Attorneys.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_04: Gomez Trial Attorneys is a national consumer rights law firm dedicated to providing the very highest level of representation to consumers who have suffered personal injury, employment wrongs.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_04: We represent those involved in class action lawsuits, civil rights lawsuits, and mass torts lawsuits.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_04: And we provide the very highest level of legal representation of both the English and the Spanish language.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_04: Today we have a very special episode for you and a very special guest.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_04: I'm calling it the full podcast room episode, the multi-generational uh episode.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_04: Uh we have um I'm I'm here, I'm calling myself the senior statesman of our little Latino law community here in the room.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I've been a lawyer for you know coming up on 30 years.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_04: Uh we have with us um here, I'll introduce uh two of my co-hosts for today, and then uh my second co-host uh will introduce our guest.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_04: Our first co-host is just here by happenstance, and her name is Camila Milanes.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_04: She is a first-generation law student, emigrated with her family from Mexico to Northern California at an early age, um, you know, uh found her way, you know, through high school, you know, in a school system new to her, then uh junior college and then college, and now she is a second-year law student at Cal Western School of Law, where she has um endeavored uh to create a resource base and presence for first generation law students, Latino law students, and kind of helping them find the way.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_04: And she just happened to be coming by today.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_04: Um, I mentioned we were doing this podcast, she knows our guest, he's been an excellent mentor to her.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so I said, hey, why don't you jump on?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_04: You can ask a few questions.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_04: So she's gonna be with us today.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_04: Um, secondly, we have um uh so we have you know the old guy, that's me.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_04: We have the up-and-comer, that's Camila, and then we have like two lawyers that are right in the middle of things.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_04: And the first one is my co-host, Laura Deets, who uh actually works here at Gomez Trial Attorneys.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_04: Um she's a uh trial attorney with a catastrophic injury trial team.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_04: Um, she has tried three cases to verdict in the last 18 months and has really worked on some very impactful litigation, um recovery, millions and millions of dollars for those that have suffered catastrophic harm.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_04: She's also a leader in the legal community, among other things, on the board of directors of San Diego La Raza Lawyers.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_04: And that's one way that she knows our guest.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_04: She's a phenomenal lawyer, a phenomenal human, a great friend of mine, and I'm I'm really honored to work with her every day and blessed by the fact that we can do this podcast together.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_04: So, Laura, why don't you introduce our special guest for today?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you, John, so much for that wonderful introduction, and it really means a lot.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I have the great privilege of introducing your very special guest today, who is not only a dear friend of mine, but an incredible attorney that I admire and that I know so many other members of our community look up to and admire as he's been a great mentor to so many other attorneys within our field, as well as you know, soon-to-be attorneys that are currently in law school.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: So, not only is he an incredible employment law attorney, he has done wonders for our community and is actually our current president of the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: So it's a great honor to introduce to you.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um thank you so much for being here today, Michael.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you, Lara.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, John.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Camila, nice to see you again.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_04: And so um what we like to do, uh, Marco, is you know, talk with our guests about your path to today.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_04: You know, talk to us about where you grew up, how you grew up, you know, what led you to become a lawyer, um, and you know, how a lot of times our listeners will have, you know, be facing or will have faced similar stories and can derive some inspiration and guidance from our guests.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_04: So talk to us about your victory march to today.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't think I have a single incident where I can say, like, hey, this is the moment that I made it, or this is the step that paved my way to go here.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Similar to Camila, I'm a first-generation graduate.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, both my mom and my dad didn't even speak English pretty much throughout their entire life.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: My mom has very limited English now.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: So growing up, even going to school and the different aspirations that I had were really born out of a desire that I knew that I can do more.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, even when I take a step back and analyze my own path leading up to here, it really isn't simple because it was just more of a self-belief that I can do more, or a determination or a desire to be different from my friends and colleagues at the time that motivated me to do the different things that I did.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: I grew up down in the South Bay off of Palm Avenue, went to Montgomery High School.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think the rate of graduation when I graduated from high school was not even 50%.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: So out of the people who actually graduated, meaning the other 50 or just above 50%, it wasn't even certain that they would go to college, much less go to university, graduate, and continue their progression.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: What ended up kind of helping me or was a factor in in my growth was that after I turned 18, I went to community college.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: I did terrible, and a lot of people don't even know this.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: My first year in community college, I think I got straight F's.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Straight F's.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_04: And that was there's a fear that those listening might call for an impeachment proceeding against the president.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_04: Resume.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_04: All right, keep keep you coming, man.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they're like, let's be real.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and during that process, it was um not that I didn't care about my academics, it it might have had some doing that.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was still hanging out with the wrong groups of individuals, maybe still wanting to not let go of the life that I had at one point, and I couldn't separate that.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: What was kind of my saving grace to separate myself from my community at the time, which I still love and respect, and I have plenty of friends down there, um, was that when my first semester at Southwestern College, there was some type of transfer opportunity that typically doesn't happen.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: What ends up for you to transfer to a four-year university, you typically have to do two years, meet certain amount of credits, 60 credits or whatever that was at the time, or units, and then you can transfer out.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: There was some type of opportunity where some counselor approached me and said, Hey, you should fill this out.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Fill this application out to various different um Cal State University schools here, whether it's San Diego State, Cal State San Marcos, or any of the schools.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: And sure enough, at the time, as I mentioned, I wasn't really much focused in school.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I only submitted one application to Cal State San Marcos.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that at the time ended up being the thing that saved me.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I ended up applying to Cal State San Marcos even though I had a terrible semester.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of that semester, even though I received straight-ups, they extended me at Cal State San Marcos.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I had never been there, I had never applied, I didn't know anybody who went to Cal State San Marcos, but what that ended up helping me in the process is that I ended up going to school and meeting individuals that I would have never had met before.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: It isolated me from individuals that I would have probably hanged out with at Southwestern College and really just shifted my focus from, you know, not caring about school to caring about school.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I ended up turning around my grades.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: I ended up getting straight A's right afterwards, which is kind of weird.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: It was more of a mental focus shift.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: And what ended up happening my first semester at uh Cal State San Marcos, I actually got a job at the district attorney's office.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: So while doing that at the at the district attorney's office as a student worker at the time, um, I met a lot of mentors, a lot of uh attorneys who just, you know, either they're brand new attorneys or they've been doing this for a long time.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And through those different attorneys and mentorships that I received, it pushed me to elevate myself.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: At the time, I didn't even know I wanted to be an attorney.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: I knew I had friends who were attorneys and I knew various different individuals who were doing that, but I didn't know what it meant to be an attorney.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know what how I can actually impact.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and when I transferred to Cal State San Marcos, I knew I wanted to do something related to law enforcement, but even that desire to do something with regards to law enforcement, it was just kind of because I couldn't, I didn't know what to pick.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: So as I'm going through my time at the DA's office and doing my time in undergrad, I ended up meeting more individuals who did some type of law enforcement, different individuals from task forces.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I ended up going and pursuing my master's at San Diego State for criminal justice.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: I pursued that, I got my master's, and halfway through it, I realized that I don't want to say I made a mistake, but I knew that I can do more.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: By that point, in the middle of my master's, I was already a supervisor at the DA's office.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: I was doing HR, doing a lot of the hiring process for the new attorneys and seeing these new classes come in and out.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I knew that I was seeing individuals where I probably would have graduated several years ago from law school if I would have just pursued that right after undergrad, but I didn't do it.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: I ended up doing my master's, focusing on my career and developing other skills, right?
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like knowing how to work on a team and other things that are now valuable into things that I do, especially as an employment attorney where I advise uh business owners and um supervisors on how to do things or how to approach difficult situations.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, long story short, I ended up applying to law school, went through that, went to law school, left the DA's office, and in the process of going to law school, I didn't want to do anything related to civil.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: I thought I was going to be a prosecutor.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: My background was in law enforcement, my best friends were prosecutors.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think what changed my perspective was my first internship through the San Diego County Bar Diversity Fellowship Program.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And even though now diversity might be seen as taboo with everything that was going on, at that point in my life, it it really made a difference.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I was partnered to work over at Kleindance.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there I met various mentors like Heather Rosing and uh Nalia Bermudez.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: And through their mentorship and various others who worked there as well, too, they really instilled in me as uh how I can impact this community outside of being an attorney, but also in my involvement with associations like San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, which I knew about, but I just didn't know what impact that I can do.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And long story short, um, from my first semester at Sandy at um at law school in my time at Colindance, along with the various different internships that I had, I shifted my focus to focus on community endeavors.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: I became president of Cal Western's La Raza Association as well.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: I started attending every board meeting from San Diego La Rasa Lawyers Association, even though I wasn't a board member.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: At the time there was no students coming.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like now, if you go to our board meetings, there might be like six or seven students sitting in the board meetings.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: And even at the events, it was maybe a handful of students that would show up.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: It would be maybe two or three, and that's because I forced people to come with me.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you go to San Diego La Rasa Lawyers Association events, it's full of students.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: So to see that different change in our community and to see the new generation of individuals wanting to make an impact in the community for me is beautiful.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um and going back to how I had ended up in employment law, well, that was my first experience over at um Kleindance.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't think I was gonna do it.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, but working with Nadia and realizing that, hey, well, I do have this background and you know, I had developed all these soft skills and straw and other skills where I can maybe this this might be the area of law that I can focus on and excel.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um did that internship, went back to DA's office.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I loved it.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I love litigating cases.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: I love being in the courtroom, which is one of the aspects that I miss the most in employment law because the name of the game and employment law is settle cases.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the way that the law is favors employees in California, it's it's not good to try to try cases.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if we have to, we will do it, but it's it's not favorable, right?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like at the end of the day, is we wait, we may win a case, but what does that cost our client?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Two, three, four hundred thousand dollars in attorney's fees.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: What's what are we really winning at that point?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um but taking a step back, I love my time at the DA's office.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, did a variety of internships while in law school, worked at the district court with um district court judge Ma Linda Lopez as well, too.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: I love that experience as well.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, did a postbar at the city attorney's office, actually, something that I I I had didn't know anybody there, but it seemed interesting as well, too.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: I mean Hedi Hernandez, who's now one of the leaders with Latinas in the law, which I've been involved with for the past 10 years as well, too.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and she served as a phenomenal mentor.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: She was someone that I that I really needed at that time because I actually didn't pass the bar the first time around.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Two weeks into the first time that I took the bar, um, my dad passed away.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: My dad got a stroke, and actually about two weeks later he passed away.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, going through different situations at that time and and understanding that life happens to you, whether you're a practicing attorney or you're in law school, is you need to figure it out.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And unfortunately, because of my background and how I was raised, my family didn't have money.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: I was working internships where they weren't paying you.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: I was at the district court, I wasn't earning any money.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: I was at the uh DA's office, they weren't paying any paying me any money.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: The only job that I had that paid me any money was at Kleindance.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, long story short, I had a variety of different offers at the time that I graduated, but because I didn't pass the bar, I lost all those offers.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it was really one of those rock bottom moments of like, hey, you thought you had all this and now you don't have nothing.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: And the only person that offered me a uh a helping hand was Haley Hernandez.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: I had never met her.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um she she basically said, Look, you can take this job, but we're we don't have any money to pay you.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to figure out what you need to do in the time when you're working here, and and you know, you need to show and prove your worth here because whatever you did at the DA's office at the district court or any of your other internships, it's not that it's not important and you develop the skills to succeed, but nobody knows you here.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: And um, sure enough, uh within just a few months that I was there, I it it became amazing.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: I actually met one of your dear guys' colleagues, James Caraway.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he was working in in one of the units, a special prosecutions unit, which is one of the most the probably the biggest unit that the city attorney's office has.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: And within just a few months of being there, I want to say after my first month of working there at the city attorney's office, they put me in that unit.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so it's it's the trust that individuals like Haley Hernandez had that rather than putting me and starting, which they did in the general prosecution's or general trial unit, she believed in me.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: She trusted in my ability to litigate and the different things that I do, and she transferred me over to that unit, which there's only four prosecutors there.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: So slowly but surely, I started regaining my confidence and I was like, look, I hit rock bottom.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: I went through this dark period of time where I didn't have any money.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: All the postbar scholarships that I received through La Rasa, change lawyers awards in a variety of different ones, that money went to putting, you know, to laying my dad to rest.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: My family didn't have the money.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't have nothing saved up for him.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: So all this money went to towards my father, which I don't regret, because one of the alternatives was like, look, we can, you know, we can go through the cremation process and we can do this.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, no.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm gonna be a successful attorney, which I do have the vision and the belief in myself, I don't want to look back five, 10, 20, 30 years now and say, look, this is this is where I have my dad.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: I can do so much more.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't regret going through that because while I was at the city attorney's office, it's kind of an and I want to say it was uh an embarrassing moment because it it was hard for me to accept.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: But after I would work from let's say 7 to 6 or 7 p.m.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: at the city attorney's office developing my craft and everything, in the evenings I would do Grubhub just to survive because I didn't have money, nobody was paying me.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't a living off student loans.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: And even though we were way, you know, I I I would put on a hoodie and and hope nobody would see me because it was something that I kind of felt embarrassed about.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, how is this person that has, you know, his associates, bachelor's, master's, and JD like doing rub?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: And there's no shame in just doing your best.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I think there's a lot of people out there trying to live and go by and figure themselves out.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: So if there's any message of hope that if you're going through it, just continue to push forward.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that there will be difficult times, but I think this is that when you hit rock bottom and you're able to confront different adversities, that's what really develops your character.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: And when your character and your ability to succeed is tested, whether it's in the courtroom, in a conversation with a colleague, a supervisor, whatever it is, you know what you've overcome.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, and that's kind of what's been my foundation for me is that I've gone through these different trials and tribulations of life that have pushed me to be here in the moment that I'm in front of you both, that I'm president of Santiago La Raza Lawyers Association.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: I did just I didn't just trip and fall and landed in this position.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I truly believe that there's a reason that I ran unopposed, right?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, whether it's because of the hard work that I do or because of the community, or frankly, some people might attribute it because nobody else wanted to run, but I don't think that's the case.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um and anywho, going towards the end of the city attorney's office, um, all the job offers that I had once lost, they came back.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: And the beauty of it is that sure, I got one from the city attorney's office because I was working there.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not that it just automatically came back.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: I interviewed with Mara Elliott, went through the process, it was phenomenal, got the job offer along with the other different um agencies and different places that I applied, all these places came back.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember I had a few days to accept.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: They told me, Marco, you could accept this job offer, you have a couple days to accept.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember I was head over heels.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like I was walking by the city attorney's office, walking on Broadway, chest out, walking.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I can't believe I went through that.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, former colleague that no longer works at Jackson Lewis, I remember as I was walking on Broadway, he stopped me and he's like, Marco, how you doing?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Long time no see.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how's how's life?
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: So on and so on.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: I let him know that, like, look, I received all these job offers.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: I went through all this dark period of time.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing really well now.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm excelling.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the special prosecutions unit.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I'm doing great.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like I uh it everything's going great.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Oh, that's that's phenomenal.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know what?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: We should have lunch.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, let's have lunch the next day.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, sure, didn't make anything of it.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um went to lunch the next day, and then before he you know it, he shows up with three or two other partners along with several of the associates.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: We went to the local, and it was interesting because they didn't ask me a single question about my experience as as uh in law school, my life, or anything like that.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: They asked me a variety of questions of, you know, what do you do for fun?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do in the weekends?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, talk to us a little bit about your past, a little bit about yourself.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I never saw that conversation or or what would what now I see as an interview as an interview.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: It was more of like, look, this is where I grew up, this is my past, this is what I did.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember I had I needed to go to court the next day.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I, or that afternoon, so I left early, went to court, uh, sure enough, did my thing.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: The next day, I had court again, went in there for another case that I had, and I remember I walked out of court early.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think it was a little past 10 a.m.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And the managing partner of the firm called me.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: It said Jackson Lewis on my caller ID.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I was thinking it was the other individual who I mentioned that used that I used to work with.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the managing partner told me, Marco, we want to offer you a job.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it was double the pay of any of the positions that I had.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, not even that, but it's it's it was a big law job, right?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Something that I never even thought that I would have because when you're in law school, they tell you you got to be top 10% of your class, you have to do this, you need to do this, this, this, and then a variety of different things to even get these type of jobs.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: And not that I don't think that I was capable of handling, but it wasn't just it wasn't something that I actually saw myself doing.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I remember when he called me, I had one of those pursuit of happiness moments where I was just filled with overjoy.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, for someone, even in the death when my dad passed away, I couldn't shed a tear.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I don't know what it was.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's because I was trying to be strong for my family, but in in that pursuit of happiness moment that I had, I actually started crying.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't like a forceful cry.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: It was one of those moments that just you're so proud of yourself because of what you overcome.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: And and I never stopped believing myself in this process and the different things that I did to lead me up to this point.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that I I sure enough I accepted.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't even negotiate a single other penny, nor was I even.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Thinking to it, I accepted on the spot, and I remember the managing partner then told me the only thing is that you need to apply for the job now.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, long story short, I I had been to Jackson Lewis for now close to three years.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I loved, I I loved my process.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: We've had varying different individuals that I worked with, and I think everybody there has shown me um different things, you know, how to deal with different characters, different individuals, but more importantly, I think the way that they've treated me as a person there, that they've invested in my growth.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm extremely thankful for it.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I just and I don't say it because I worked there, I truly mean it.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like I I love the office.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_04: So, Marco, um have you told that story before?
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Not in the way that I mentioned it to you.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I probably spent like 20 minutes talking about it.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, it's yeah, it's a very inspiring story of resilience, you know, and um I think especially the end.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_04: I like I like how you get to the end and you've been holding back and working so hard and you know, trying to stay strong and you finally let it go because you finally arrived, you know, and the tears come out.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_04: But they're tears of joy and like satisfaction in yourself.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_04: I think um one thing, you know, like I think a lot of kids, you know, they might be in high school, they might be in junior college, they might be in college, you know, are saying, Look, you know, um I'm not doing well in school.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_04: Um, probably I don't have a future.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_04: And so I know um I was talking uh earlier to Camila, all three of us are junior college, you know, graduates, and like I I think I'm gonna give the mic to her after I'm done.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_04: Like I didn't do good in high school at all.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_04: Like I was terrible.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_04: And um my dad even said, like, um, and the re I didn't talk to him for like five years after this, but he said I was going to prison, I was gonna be like nobody.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_04: And I remember um, you know, like it's I think the the people listening, you know, they're thinking, hey, you know, I'd love to do that law thing or do great things, but it's not for me, you know, I'm not cut out that way.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe I'm not smart.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_04: Like to hear a story like that, you know, a kid that even in junior college is not doing well, um, and then turns it around and now is like working at this fancy wafer, making a ton of money, president of San Diego Larissa lawyers, you know, um, I think it's an inspiring, you know, um message.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_04: You know, me the same, not good student in high school, went to junior college first.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I know I was talking to Camila, you know, before about her high school experience, and like uh you were not a very good student, right?
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: No, I actually was kicked out of high school twice and I had to go to continuation school, but I ended up graduating from public high school, but I had the same experience.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: I thought school was not for me.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: I I thought that path was just not my route.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and and so look at you now.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_04: Um and so um Laura, uh you know, we we heard from uh our president about like when he first started going to these meetings, there were like no law students there.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_04: Um like what's it looking like today?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_04: And and you know, you're now on the board with this president who cares deeply about the next generation of leaders.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_04: You know, uh in terms of his leadership, you know, what do you look forward to seeing in terms of you know mentoring and growing this community of uh really rising superstar Latino lawyers?
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, I mean I had the privilege of serving on the ex on Marco's executive team.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: I'm the treasurer of the association, and I think you know, the how's the cast or great, particularly we're always happy to have more and more sponsors and you know, always we're always very thankful for the firm's uh sponsorship.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um but you know, I am always impressed with all the firms that want to be involved in sponsors, so thank you to everyone.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: But I think you know, hearing from back when you were the president of the association in uh Cal Western and um, you know, how you really encouraged other law students to come in and sit in our board meeting, it's a testament to I I think we owe a lot of that to you.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I thought a few weeks ago we had our monthly um board meeting, and we had students from UCSB, San Diego State, Cal Western, Thomas Jefferson, etc.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_03: And so, and they were so eager to learn and they're just looking at us um, you know, was such amazement.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_03: And I really do think we owe that to you.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so you know, I'm always so appreciative of everything that you've done for the association and you know how much you continue to give back.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_03: What I admire about you is, you know, you just shared with us all the incredible mentors that you've had.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_03: But I think that your success is a testament to who you are and your eagerness to continue to fight and not let things knock you down.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_03: But what I admire is you're always so willing to give back to other, you know, law students or members of the legal community.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_03: I've seen you firsthand at events when I go with you, law students are coming up to you left and right, asking for your business card for coffee, and you never say no.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_03: You make the time no matter how busy you are.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so I appreciate that.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_03: But I think for our listeners or viewers that are not familiar with the association, you know, do you mind sharing with us a little bit about what our the association stands for and you know what our goals are, you know, within the community?
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and the the thing is uh the association stands for so many things, right?
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: And uh in in varying different degrees because a lot of people see it as San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, right?
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_00: And and those individuals outside of our legal community don't understand that we also advocate for our community at large.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: If any individuals from our communities come out for us and and ask for advice or or seek counsel with regards to a specific situation, um, there might be an elected official that's causing some issue, issues, or somebody running for a specific board position that our community doesn't know about.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: They want to seek to our guidance from us for us to see if we can do something to help help them out.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll give you an example that's currently in the works and you know it's not a for sure thing, but we're working closely with different allies.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's that uh County Board of Supervisor race coming up soon.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: So we're thinking of coordinating with the various different community stakeholders to have some type of forum.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a good way for us to go out in the community and impact it in a way where we can give our overview, our endorsement to a specific individual, as opposed to having our community fight and split the dollars amongst various different Latino leaders.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying that, you know, that none of these individuals are competent or not qualified, but we can give an analysis or an overview based on what we see might be fit and then provide a recommendation.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, the community can take it or not, and that's of course that's up to them.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: But it's a way for us to stop splitting our dollars amongst individuals that we care about because we might have a relationship with all five, six, or whatever the number is of individuals are running.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_00: But here, this might be a good way to hone in on who we actually think will be the best candidate for this position and endorse that individual.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, there's various different levels and conversations that need to be had, starting with the board.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: If this is the recommendation that we're gonna do for the endorsements committee, you know, saying, like, hey, rather than endorsing uh two, three, four individuals, are we only gonna focus with one?
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: Or are we gonna endorse various different individuals?
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, of course, going back to it is that these are not just decisions that I make.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: I lean onto my uh I lean onto the board, I lean onto the endorsements committee and seek the guidance from those individuals as well who have a lot of experience and they can provide their feedback.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: But this is my view of what I think is important based on my conversations with the various community leaders.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's one aspect of San Diego La Rasa Lawyers Association going back to the law schools.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: In the past, our main focus was just law schools, right?
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: We look at Thomas Jefferson, Cal Western, the University of San Diego, but now we're expanding.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're having students from San Diego State come out to our events, um, uh UCSD.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: I recently had Cal State San Marcos reach out to me as well, too.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: So the fact that we're having our community at large now being exposed to various attorneys, coming to our board, sitting, knowing what a healthy dialogue is, even if we have different views and perspectives or even political ideologies, right?
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: And how to handle something, they know what a professional discourse is.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: They know the importance of not raising the voice towards each other.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: And they know that if we can disagree, but we don't take it personal.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that's one thing that I really do enjoy and I'm happy about the current board that we have is that everyone's respectful.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if there's an opinion or something needs to be said, it's never about the individual or casting aspersions as to the character of an individual, but rather focusing on the arguments.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: And in my role as president, that's something that I'm gonna continue to focus on to make sure that we always focus on what the pros and cons are.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: And if we disagree, we're not here to convince the other person.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: We'll present our arguments and the board will vote, and that's it.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I talked about the community, the law schools, and now the attorneys.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: How can we as an attorney get involved?
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: And this is kind of more of a call to action, right?
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: Going back to our eternities, yeah, we're not just a fraternity or hey, let's hang out on X day because we're throwing an event.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: We're not necessarily a social club.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: And don't get me wrong, we throw some of the best events out in the community, respectfully to all our affinity bar associations and the San Diego County Bar Associations, right?
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: But um, we're not just a social club.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: We do so much more.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: There's a reason we're able to gather so many attorneys, so many law students, so many stakeholders at these events, because they realize that this is not just an event.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is an opportunity to see individuals like John Gomez outside of the trolley, right, John?
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, people don't get the opportunity to see individuals like John Gomez, who they admire.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they can see magazines all day about what a super lawyer looks like or what this, this, and that individual is like, but until you actually see individuals like John Gomez or all these other managing partners, our events, and then you realize that they're humans just like us and that their stories are not much different from our stories, it really brings a human aspect to everything that we do.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: So again, this is this is not a social club.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, at the end of the day, people will always criticize associations every single year that they do things differently.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: But the fact that we get better, and even from our last event, have 231 people show up, it's a testament of what we're doing.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's a testament of our community leaders like you, John, to show up.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that's kind of more of a very macro overview without getting into the nitty-gritty of the effects that and ways that we can impact the community, but that's an overview.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_04: You know, we we recently um had an event or you uh put on an event along with the Hispanic National Bar Association.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_04: And I had previously had on this podcast the the president, the national president of that bar organization.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_04: And um I thought it was, you know, you talk about look, we're we're gonna not, you know, fight over politics or maybe the type of law you practice, you know, we're gonna try to be more inclusive and focused on this larger mission of empowering Latinos in law.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_04: Um talk to us about, you know, that uh new, what all of you, I don't know if it's new, it seemed new to me, this more inclusive coalition of the Latino uh bar associations here in San Diego.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_04: And what what gave rise to that event and and what are your plans for the future?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like uh I I think everything just takes a conversation and reaching out.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's something that you know, I I don't want to say it's a negative thing that our community hasn't done, but something just you just gotta pick up the phone.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's how this started.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: The simple phone call, like, hey, there's in San In San Diego, we know what we do as San Diego La Rasa Lawyers Association.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: And not that the Hispanic National Bar Association doesn't have a footprint in in San Diego, they definitely do, but it's a smaller footprint just based on what we do as an association.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing is for San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association and the way that I see it is that we're not competing against each other.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: If if our mission statements are relatively the same and we're advocating, promoting for our community and focusing in the various different ways that I just mentioned and spoke about and ways that we can affect the community, our law students, our practicing attorneys, well, why not come together?
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they they have a national reach, we have a local reach.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_00: And if we're able to combine both the resources that we have, our relationships, I think that we can make something meaningful.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's still in the early stages as to what we can accomplish together.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: We started with an event.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: And in the future, we might have panels.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: In the future, we might even have a whole HNBA event here in San Diego.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: They're typically in the East Coast.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's one in Atlanta coming up in a couple of weeks as well, too.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the idea is to continue to grow and for associations like the Hispanic National Bar Association to see is that we have a tremendous Latino and Hispanic community here in San Diego, and that we do make impact as well, too, outside of what it is in the East Coast, including LA, what they what they currently are doing there.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just a way of outreaching and just the way the same way that we reached out to the Hispanic National Bar Association, we will reach out to the Mexican American Bar Association, the Latina Lawyers Bar Association in Orange County into LA as well, too, along with various other ones.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: And now the question is can this be accomplished in one year?
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's extremely difficult.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's extremely difficult.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: I I do have a a day job at Jackson Lewis, like I mentioned.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that does take a lot of my time.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: But the idea and and my desire is there.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, it does require a lot more individuals to be active and and you know, take on some of these responsibilities of reaching out and doing a lot of this stuff, but it's easier said than done.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, it has to come from the board members as well, along with other leaders, to say, like, hey, we're interested in doing this.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do that.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_04: Let me ask you a question about your day job um at Jackson Lewis.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_04: And you you you've described it as a big law, you know, job.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_04: You go in, you're working for, I would imagine, kind of corporate clients, you know, business clients.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I'm I I I came out of Big Law, you know, back in the day, um at Late the Milwaukee's.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_04: And my perception is there was a there's a time in history where if you were a lawyer like Marco, uh you would go into a place like that and you would kind of have to forget where you came from.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_04: You know, like you would kind of have to forget, you know, your Hispanics, forget your heritage, forget um, you know, your your culture, because you had to, you know, kind of fit in and you know, develop relationships with these predominantly white clients.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_04: And my perception is like with the reality of the changing economies and demographics of this country and particularly in California, that that that probably is not the case anymore.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_04: Like, I would imagine, and maybe you know, you could speak to this, you know, because there's probably kids out there like, oh yeah, I'd love to be one of those big fancy law firms, but that's not for me, about the competitive advantage that you now enjoy by virtue of speaking Spanish, by virtue of having kind of cultural awareness, by virtue of understanding, you know, maybe some of these issues that may be um that that Hispanic, Latino-owned businesses or business leaders are facing, and you can speak to those issues and and maybe sometimes even use your Spanish.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_04: Talk about how today what you bring to the table might even be a competitive advantage.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think the competitive advantage, you know, it is understanding that at the end of the day uh if these leaders, the CEOs, CFOs are not Latinos, they might predominantly or primarily employ a huge Hispanic Latino population.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_00: And kind of taking a step back to the way you asked this question is that I don't think the workforce or the leaders at these companies are changing as rapidly as the numbers are.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that's the case, but I do think that there's a difference between knocking on the window of a corporate office as opposed to sitting at the table of these meetings.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: And is the attorney of these huge companies, being Latino, having the background, um, the way that I grew up and the different life experiences that I have, being the president of Santiago Larraza Loy's Association, if an issue related to the community diversity or something like that comes up, it's easier to make an impact when you're sitting at these tables along with all these leaders, as opposed to knocking on the window, waiting for someone to say or look over and pay attention to you and see that you're waving your hand because you're seeking attention.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: And this is something very similar as to why I wanted to be a prosecutor.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people say, Well, you know what?
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want to be a public defender or a federal defender.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think that there's there's a lot of value to it, and I respect the job that a lot of my colleagues do, but I think there's a difference with having the background that I have and determining whether I want to issue charges or not, right?
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of the day, that's what's called prosecutory discretion.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: You have the discretion whether to issue a charge or not based on your background.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I like to encourage individuals who might want to seek to become public defenders or who might want to be a plaintiff's side attorney, which there's nothing wrong.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you're seeking money, there's money everywhere.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: But there's another way that your career can be fulfilling in the different ways that I mentioned.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to be a prosecutor, you can make an impact by having that discretion with the background that you have.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: If you wanted to seek defense work, there's a way for you to make an impact because guess who's sitting in these rooms with these leaders?
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_00: As great of a leader as they are for CEOs and CFOs, that doesn't mean that they know everything related to employment law.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: They might have an idea on how to lead a company, they might be the best leaders possible, but there is a difference.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's kind of give to give you a broad overview.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um and remind me, your the last question.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_04: Just that that I I am assuming based upon the changing demographics uh of our country and this state, that having some personal awareness of the realities of that world is a competitive advantage today.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_00: And and I'll give you one small example when we're dealing with class actions and you know that they're trying to certify a class.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm going to these various different restaurant chains, hotel chains, and speaking to the employees as to the working conditions, mule rest breaks, and you name it a variety of different things, to see if these individuals can certify a class.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of my counterparts might walk out of these interviews with zero declarations.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: But me being able to speak Spanish, being able to sit with someone, look them in the eyes and don't look like another corporate individual.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying that my colleagues do, I'm not sitting with them, but I go I come out there looking like if I'm waving money with declarations because I just spoke to the entire workforce.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's a difference to speaking with someone like myself, who they might be Latinos uh sitting across from me, being able to talk in more of a sling kind of way to them.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_00: So when they see me speaking to them, sure, I'm getting across everything that I need to get across, but I'm also being up front with them, letting them know, and I'm more successful in that way.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just a small example to give you a small snippet of what it is, but it does make a difference.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, bet.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_04: Uh Camila, what what questions would you have for our president as a law student and aspiring Latina leader?
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, for one, I just want to say that your story is amazing, and I do want to mention that the key thing that you said was believing in yourself that you have made room in places where others believe in you.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that that is beautiful.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_01: But I think how do you how do you deal with you know what they say, like imposter syndrome and stuff?
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: How do you get in these spaces where it is majority, you know, white people?
• 42:49
  SPEAKER_01: How do you go in there and kind of step into you and and and show your background without feeling like, am I being professional, am I not?
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_01: Am I, you know?
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think it goes back to self-belief.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_00: I I can't say that I have never had imposter syndrome.
• 43:12
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say that there was a point where I did have it, but because I was putting in the work every single day, and and and this might be a cultural thing where I knew that I wasn't just working eight hours.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_00: I knew that I had to put a plus every single day in the work that I did, especially stepping into these rooms.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: When I first started meeting with these CEOs, CFOs, even though it was gonna be a quick 15-minute call, I knew cases inside out.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: I knew the issues, and even though, yes, we were there to discuss exactly that, I knew that I was gonna walk in there knowing everything about my cases to this day.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_00: So it's one of those things that preparation is extremely important.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: And and if you want to put yourself in a room that you may think you don't belong with, first it starts in the mind.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_00: You need to understand that you do belong there.
• 43:57
  SPEAKER_00: So it really starts with you, and the second thing is what.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: Are you doing to make sure you know you belong there?
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because at the end of the day, as I sit in the CE with the CEOs, CFOs, the first thing that they question is that they don't pay attention to me within the first five minutes.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_00: They'll size me up, they'll listen to me, and they're like, is this guy BSing me?
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: Should I even listen to him?
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is he worth my time?
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then before you know it, then they'll start listening to me.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: And that happens every single time.
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_00: If you have someone who's been practicing a CEO, owner of a company for several years, uh, they're more skeptical about any attorney, not just me, but especially a younger attorney within the first few minutes.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: But then after you start speaking knowledge to them, speaking their language, having interpersonal skills, because it's easier said than done to say, sure, I may know the law, but that doesn't mean I know how to talk.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so working on those soft skills, knowing how to communicate with people, it's a lot of these skills that I've built over the years because I had a career before going to law school, along with my trials and tribulations, that now when I step into these rooms, I am 100% confident in myself.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing when I step into a courtroom, I have zero doubt in my ability.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: And even if the judge questions me on an area of law that might be, you know, it can go one way or another, I will hold my position until the end, and that's all I can do.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um but to your point, believing in yourself and putting in the work to make sure that you're ready for when the opportunity does come for you to be in these rooms, you're ready to go and to give it your best.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: So if someone notices it a supervisor or someone else, they can be like, you know what?
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: We want Camila to be in this meeting the next time around.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_01: I have another question based off what you said.
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, would you say that creating because I know there's a lot of first generation students who go into law school kind of in survival mode, and you have the law schools telling you if you're not 10%, you're not gonna be successful XYZ.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_01: How would you give advice to those students who also have other skills of like let's see networking?
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: Do you would you say that that's equally as important as grades, or how how would you give advice in that sense?
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I do think networking is extremely important.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I wouldn't be at Jackson Lewis because if I didn't meet the individuals who I met, I don't think I'd be at Jackson Lewis.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_00: I I I you know I I I have a lot of love and the mutual love between us, but I don't think that if they would look at my application and be like, hey, we necessarily want to go with this guy.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_00: And this is not a knock on me, but that's the reality of a lot of these big law firms, right?
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because my criticism of a lot of these big law firms is that they don't have an evaluation to evaluate grit tenacity.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_00: What does this individual's background bring to the table?
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: If if push comes to shove at the end of the day, is this person gonna push beyond the limits?
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_00: If we have a motion due or something that needs to be written past five o'clock, not that this person doesn't have a life, but are they gonna do what it takes to win?
• 46:50
  SPEAKER_00: Or are they gonna give me a BS job and then go home and blame it because they didn't have an opportunity to do it?
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, it's important to understand that no matter what law firm tells you that they're a family, at the end of the day, it's a business.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to produce for the business.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the quicker you understand that you can have family-like relationships with anybody that you work with, and that's fine, right?
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're seeking family environment in a law firm, your family is at home.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean you can have great friends and develop long-lasting relationships.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, you're there to serve the business.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: And as someone who builds for every minute that I work, I understand literally the value of my job.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_00: So when I'm there, I'm there to produce work.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: I understand that if I'm there for an hour, I'm not to chit-chat with this and that person, and yes, I do build relationships, but I need to produce.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_04: So that sounds like you, Laura.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_04: Like Laura, Laura's a producer, a grinder, a winner, you know, um, who, at least from what I've seen, um, you know, says, look, put everything else aside.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_04: First, I have to be the very best lawyer that I can possibly be.
• 47:59
  SPEAKER_04: Like work to get results and to win.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_04: And so, given that you two are like the same humans, um, what other questions do you have for our president?
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_03: I guess, I mean, not to try to plug again uh the association, but obviously that's something I know that we're both equally passionate about.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I guess in terms of our listeners and viewers, getting them more involved, what upcoming events do we have?
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_00: There's a tentative event that we have.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be a screen mixer.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's either gonna be on March 20th or 27th.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: Location is TBD.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's likely gonna be in Seven Mile Casino, but we want to make sure that we're good to go with that.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then on April 24th, I believe it's on a Thursday, we're gonna have a joint event with the scholarship fund.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's still pending approval from the scholarship fund, but there shouldn't be any issues.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's gonna be a bar stipend event.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: So for those graduating students from law school who are about to take the bar exam, um we're gonna be hosting a joint event with the scholarship fund as well to having a nice celebration for them.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so those are the next two events that we have.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_03: I guess also tying back to your question because I know you've been, you know, involved at your firm in terms of the hiring both of you know prospective attorneys, law clerks, etc., um, you know, to those students that are interested in pursuing a career at a you know big corporate firm like Jackson Lewis, what are things that you're keeping an eye out on and and you know some of the changes that you're implementing in order to kind of bring in a more diverse uh group of people into the firm?
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I I do want to give credit to my firm for even just listening to me because it's easier said than done to go in there and say, like, hey, I want this, this, and then they'll be like, yeah, yeah, good luck, right?
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_00: That generally happens, but I I think before even me saying that I've had any impact, it really starts going back to the work that I produce, the relationships that I have, to them even allowing me to be part of these interviews, going back to the students and the people that we've interviewed.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_00: But it really is a diverse workforce.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I look at the three law students that we have.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_00: One of them is the president for USD, Klali Arce.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she I interviewed her, she got hired.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, another student is part of the Korean Asian Bar Association, his name's Paul, also interviewed, got hired as well.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have the current president of USD's um Black Student Association, I forget the actual acronym.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_00: She got hired and she's working with us now too, right?
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_00: So it's while, yes, I'm Latino and for me, impacting our community as Latinos is important.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's at the end of the day, we got to recognize that we're part of a bigger community, right?
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: So figuring out ways that we can impact not just our Latino community, but help others at the same time also elevates us at the same time because we're genuinely looking out for each other.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I I like to think that maybe I'm not the only person doing this.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm pretty sure that these other leaders from these different affinity bar associations, when they're interviewing individuals, and I see it from the affinity bar associations when they're giving out scholarships.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_00: If I go to Saba, I'll see someone from Latino descent or Latino Hispanic getting a scholarship from Posdi.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_00: I see a Latino getting a scholarship too.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say Vanessa, who used to work with you guys, she got a scholarship from Posdi.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that there's this kind of unspoken, I don't want to even call it a rule, but just this relationship that we have that we're all trying to look out for each other and it's ever present.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_00: And with regards to practicing attorneys, there's two individuals who are currently on the board that I've advocated for.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_00: One of them was Claudia Murga, as well too.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_00: She's at working at Jackson Lewis, part of the board working at Jackson Lewis.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing with Daniela Lagunas.
• 51:33
  SPEAKER_00: She advocated for her as well too.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, she had all these individuals have the merits to excel and meet the job.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_00: But just for the fact that someone listens to me and agrees with my perspective for me is enough.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I definitely think that's a testament, you know, you work so hard, like what John just mentioned.
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_03: You're a producer, you know, you give it your all firm, you know, blood, sweat, tears, etc.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think that that's, you know, probably another reason for why the firm trusts you.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_03: You know, they see how much you give and love the firm.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_03: And so you're obviously going to want to bring in other individuals that are just as hardworking, producing just as much, that are going to be contributing, you know, enormously to the firm and the community.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 52:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it really varies because at the end of the day, I have so many individuals that reach out to me.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it's easier said than done because it's not that I don't filter these individuals through the application process.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, you have to recognize that we have a high level and high standard at the firm that if I were to recommend everybody who knocks on on my door or sends me an email, I don't know if the firm will take me seriously for every recommendation that I have.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_00: So if I recommend someone, especially the way that I see it now, it's because I truly believe that this person is going to make an impact.
• 52:42
  SPEAKER_00: And whether they have little to no experience or a lot of experience, whether I believe that they have the grit and tenacity to succeed, that's what I throw in there.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_04: Talk to us about um it.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_04: I can see that you give a lot to the firm, a lot to La Raza, a lot to the community.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_04: Talk to us about, you know, um, how you give back to yourself in terms of health or, you know, happiness.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_04: Um how are you taking care of you and making sure you're in this for the long term?
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think self-care has been the hardest thing within the last couple months.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um just because I don't have an eight-hour job.
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_00: I I typically the work that I do at Jackson Lewis on average is easily 10-hour days, if not more.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I had really busy months, especially in the holidays where I was probably working just about every single day.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_00: But that's just the reality because when the going gets tough, you have to give it your best.
• 53:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's not one of those things where I was like, hey, well, I have a la raça, I need to take a step back.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_00: If the firm is supporting me and everything that I do, I give it more of a reason to give it my best in what I'm doing.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_00: So rather than seeing my hours decrease, I bump it up a notch and be like, look, I'm giving back more because you guys are giving more in my colleagues as well, too.
• 53:56
  SPEAKER_00: So with that said, a lot of work, a lot of association.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_00: But in the few times that I try to take care of myself, I try to work out at least four times a week.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_00: And if I can run twice, whether it's just 20 to 30 minutes hit workouts, just high intensity in and out, I do it.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_00: But there's times that I just can't get to it.
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's just what it is.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I was up in LA on Tuesday on a day that I work out typically in the morning.
• 54:21
  SPEAKER_00: I had to take the train and be in downtown by 5, 5:30 in the morning, and then take the train up to LA.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't come back till almost 10 p.m.
• 54:28
  SPEAKER_00: that same day.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just the reality of work.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_00: Either I move my workouts to the next day, but there's some days where everything hurts, my back hurts, what something else hurts.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but if anything, one of the things that I do focus on is spending time with my daughter.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_00: I have a one-year-old and she's what, one in four months.
• 54:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I do my best, even though she probably won't remember if I'm home right now or not.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_00: But it's something that genuinely makes me happy, right?
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because we can talk about something sad and we get sad in the moment, but when you think about kids, and I didn't know this until I became a parent, there's genuine happiness that comes when you see your kids.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's inexplicable.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think for me, every time around my daughter, I don't have to try to be happy.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_00: It automated, automatically makes me happy.
• 55:10
  SPEAKER_00: When, and believe it or not, I'm at La Raza events, and no matter how much work I did to put on, I don't naturally feel happy.
• 55:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm happy of the event and it brings me joy, but it's not something that automatically makes me smile until after the fact.
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe as an afterthought, like, oh, I can't believe we did this.
• 55:25
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's really going back to spending time with my daughter, um, spending time with her that makes me happy and just brings that genuine joy to me.
• 55:33
  SPEAKER_04: Love it.
• 55:34
  SPEAKER_04: Love to hear it.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_04: Well, guys, um, I feel like we're kind of coming up on time.
• 55:39
  SPEAKER_04: Um I have a I I have a concluding question.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_04: I stole this from I've been listening to this podcast.
• 55:47
  SPEAKER_04: It's called The Cracks Podcast.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_04: Um, it's by this guy, Osotrawa.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_04: He's kind of like the Mexican Tony Robbins, and he has all these entrepreneurs on, um, and it's like really good.
• 56:00
  SPEAKER_04: But here's what he asked, here's his final question.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, you can ponder this a little bit because it kind of puts you on the spot.
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_04: He says, if you had one opportunity, you know, to write some words up in the sky, a message for millions of people to look up and to see every day, what would your words be?
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_04: And so um, that's our final alt stall a little bit, so you can think about your words.
• 56:29
  SPEAKER_04: You know, if you had the power that that the whole world could look up and see your words, what words would you choose to put up there for the whole world to see?
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_04: Don't give up.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_04: That's it.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_04: You're the guy to put those words up there.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, that's so meaningful, and you didn't give up, and you know, you fought from from a low place, you got up there, you thought you made it, then you got knocked down again, and you didn't have any money, and you're driving around doing Grubhub, and you got no jobs, you thought you made it, then you got the rug pulled out, and then all of a sudden you're back in the game better than ever.
• 57:11
  SPEAKER_04: You know, God put his grace on you, and you're like, you know, so moved by it all, you know, they that they you know you cried tears of joy because you never gave up.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 57:23
  SPEAKER_04: So don't give up.
• 57:24
  SPEAKER_04: So I think that's a good place to end.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_04: What do you guys think?
• 57:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, thank you for sharing your story with us, dude.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, thank you for having me.
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_04: This was a great time.
• 57:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, super, super inspiring, super moving, super raw, and super honest.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_04: And so um, thank you again for being our guest today, uh, Mr.
• 57:41
  SPEAKER_04: President.
• 57:42
  SPEAKER_04: Uh if if our viewers, listeners want to learn more about you, where do they look you up?
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_04: Where do they find you?
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_00: They can simply Google Marco Garcia San Diego, and I'll I'm sure I'm bound to show up.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_03: So they can come to San San Diego Larrasso.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_00: Or they can come to any San Diego La Reserve association.
• 58:01
  SPEAKER_00: Tresher is always selling, never stop selling.
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_00: No, she's on it.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_00: So they can either look us up on any of our social media accounts and they'll be able to find us.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_04: I love it.
• 58:10
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so um thank you to our co-host.
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_04: Um, we're soon gonna have Laura on as a guest.
• 58:17
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, and I would like to invite you to come back and uh be our co-host to help interview her.
• 58:23
  SPEAKER_04: Um, that would be kind of fun, I think.
• 58:26
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but this concludes this episode of the Latino podcast where we talk about the intersection of law and our Latino communities.
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_04: If you enjoyed, please subscribe, share with your friends.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_04: Look forward to uh seeing you next time.
• 58:41
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and so this is today signing off on behalf of all of us in this room, from uh the oldest to the ones right in the mix to the youngest up and coming.
• 58:54
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, it's a great, you know, that doing this podcast really makes me feel great about the community we have and the places we're going.
• 59:01
  SPEAKER_04: So uh thank you for being here.
• 59:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, everybody.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for listening to the Latino podcast.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you again next time and be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.