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Dream Big, Have a Plan: Leadership and Perseverance · 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.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: Bicultural, premium, powerful.
0:20
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to another episode of the Latino Podcast, where we discuss the intersection of law, culture, and our Latino communities.
0:29
SPEAKER_01: Each episode, we sit down with attorneys, judges, local leaders, politicians, and other influential voices shaping our community and the California-Mexico corridor.
0:41
SPEAKER_01: As always, this episode is brought to you by Gomez Strahl Attorneys, a binacional, bicultural, and best in class law firm, provided providing the highest level of legal representation to victims of personal injury, employment violations, sexual abuse, and civil rights abuses.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: Binacional, because we have offices on both sides of the US-Mexico border, bicultural, because we provide the highest level of legal services in both English and the Spanish languages, and best in class, because we truly believe we're the best lawyers for what we do.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: Right now, I want to give a quick shout out to my co-host, John Gomez, founder and CEO of Gomez Draw Attorneys.
1:22
SPEAKER_01: And as most people know now, he couldn't be with us today because he's up in Beverly Hills with our trial team starting trial on a serious injury case.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: So we're wishing John and the entire team the best of luck in a successful trial.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: But without forger ado, right now we're really excited to have Agustin Peña, a deputy, assistant deputy district attorney, if that's the correct title, and president of the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Scholarship Fund.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: And basically my boss, because I'm on the board of the fund, but you know, Agustin runs things.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: So we really appreciate his effort, his effort with the community and the fact that he wants to give back to that community that once helped him.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: Agustin, welcome.
2:12
SPEAKER_01: First of all, you know, we want to hear from you a little bit of your background, your city heights upbringing.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: Uh, welcome.
2:18
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, the floor is yours.
2:20
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
2:20
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, David.
2:21
SPEAKER_02: No, it's a pleasure to be here.
2:22
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for the invitation.
2:23
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, John, for uh allowing me to appear on the podcast.
2:27
SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, I've listened to the episodes and I've seen the interviews, distinguished uh individuals, leaders, attorneys from all walks of life that are on this podcast.
2:38
SPEAKER_02: So it's uh truly humbling and a privilege to be here.
2:40
SPEAKER_02: Uh the Scholarship Fund, it's a team.
2:42
SPEAKER_02: You know, I don't see myself as being the boss of anybody, Davi, just uh to add that in there.
2:47
SPEAKER_02: We're all a team, in individuals like you who are there in the trenches, volunteering, organizing, getting the word out.
2:54
SPEAKER_02: Um, we could not do it without the the board and without individuals like you.
2:58
SPEAKER_02: So thank you for helping out and for really making the gala happen.
3:02
SPEAKER_02: We'll talk about the gala in a little bit, but you know, it's we want to hear about Augustine.
3:06
SPEAKER_02: We want to hear about Augustine.
3:07
SPEAKER_02: It's a huge, huge event.
3:09
SPEAKER_02: But uh, you're right.
3:10
SPEAKER_02: I did grow up in City Heights.
3:11
SPEAKER_02: I grew up um uh in, I went to Mission Bay High School, and you know, community like City Heights comes with its challenges, uh, as one might imagine.
3:22
SPEAKER_02: And it's one of those communities that's you you grow up uh not having the most positive role models, uh positive examples uh as professionals.
3:30
SPEAKER_02: I didn't know any attorneys, I didn't know any any judges, I didn't know any um, you know, any professionals that that I could look up to and aspire to be.
3:40
SPEAKER_02: And the individuals that I had um within my immediate surroundings were not, you know, someone that um probably a young man should be aspiring to look up to or to be.
3:50
SPEAKER_02: Um so grew up in City Heights, I um went to high school here, college here, uh San Diego State University for undergrad, and as well as Go Aztecs.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: Go Aztecs.
4:01
SPEAKER_01: That's my school.
4:02
SPEAKER_02: There you go.
4:03
SPEAKER_02: And uh law school at California Western School of Law.
4:06
SPEAKER_02: You know, that'd be that one that uh to practice here in San Diego in my backyard, you know, much like you.
4:11
SPEAKER_02: And that's why I went to school here.
4:13
SPEAKER_02: So uh I didn't want to leave my community.
4:16
SPEAKER_01: I think that's really important because generally, you know, when we talk to people and they're in law school right now, one of my advices is always, you know, sort of like go to law school where you want to practice because you're making all the connections.
4:28
SPEAKER_01: Like for you, for me, I think it worked out pretty well because we were making connections since law school.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we'll get into the gala and the fund in a little bit, but I think it's it's it's true.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: You're saying that you're from here.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: We we say that all the time.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but growing up here, I feel like you got to know your community.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: And I think the most interesting thing that you did is, you know, then you went into the district attorney's office.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but before we get into that, how did you get into going to law school?
4:54
SPEAKER_01: Like who instilled that little passion of pursuing the law?
4:59
SPEAKER_02: You know, since I was little, I remember having this, uh, this uh this draw to the legal profession in general.
5:06
SPEAKER_02: And I remember thinking, well, it'd be kind of cool to work in a law office one day, not really knowing what uh that entailed or what that looked like.
5:13
SPEAKER_02: So I was talking to a mentor of mine, this was 20 plus years ago, that I had this conversation, and we're talking about, you know, this, this very subject.
5:22
SPEAKER_02: And at that, and during that conversation, I'll never forget the most probably life-changing conversation that I've ever experienced.
5:29
SPEAKER_02: I expressed that sentiment.
5:30
SPEAKER_02: You know, it'd be kind of cool to go and become a paralegal one day.
5:34
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, that was my aspiration.
5:36
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, paralegals are pivotal, they're they're critical, they're they're the backbone of what we do as attorneys.
5:43
SPEAKER_02: And we could not what we cannot do what uh what we do today without their involvement in the practice of law and them in the office.
5:50
SPEAKER_02: So they they play a truly critical, significant component to our success in our practice of law.
5:58
SPEAKER_02: And in that conversation, my friend goes, Well, why not go to law school?
6:03
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, that was the first time that somebody looked at me dead in the eye and believed that I could have gone to law school and become an attorney.
6:12
SPEAKER_02: Believe it or not, again, growing up in a community where you lack certain examples and role models, you didn't think that was feasible.
6:19
SPEAKER_02: You know, that was California Western uh or any law school here in San Diego and City Heights are but a few miles apart, but they're a world away.
6:28
SPEAKER_02: So that notion truly had never crossed my mind until that conversation.
6:34
SPEAKER_02: So we had that conversation, and that's really what did it for me.
6:37
SPEAKER_02: And said, you know what, that's that's a good point.
6:39
SPEAKER_02: Why not go to law school?
6:40
SPEAKER_02: Why, why limit myself to um to my own kind of limitations that that were going to be self-imposed.
6:50
SPEAKER_02: So that was really it.
6:51
SPEAKER_02: You know, my my yearning for the law and and the practice and the profession really started off and kicked off from that point.
6:59
SPEAKER_02: Um I mentioned before I went to community college here in San Diego, and then I transferred to San Diego State University, where I started to study for the LSAN.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: Right.
7:08
SPEAKER_02: Started to take uh take on some classes that might be beneficial or some somewhat helpful to law school, you know, different philosophy courses, and started picking up a second major at that point as well.
7:19
SPEAKER_02: And that was really what started to propel me into the practice of law.
7:24
SPEAKER_02: I didn't realize what kind of law.
7:26
SPEAKER_02: I just knew I wanted to be an attorney.
7:27
SPEAKER_02: I wanted to be an advocate.
7:29
SPEAKER_02: I always wanted to be something that involved the community and advocating for the people.
7:34
SPEAKER_02: Again, I didn't know what that looked like, but there was something inside of me that really drew me to that type of work.
7:42
SPEAKER_02: So when I was in San Diego State University, my family and I encountered some, you know, personal family tragedy.
7:48
SPEAKER_02: That really solidified, I think, my path to prosecution.
7:52
SPEAKER_02: That really solidified the, you know, a lot of things in my mind in terms of what the circumstances that communities um like City Heights confront and the need for prosecutors from all walks of life.
8:09
SPEAKER_02: So after um experiencing that that family incidents, that really propelled me towards not only law school, but it solidified my path towards prosecution.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: So I feel like three things that I that I really liked about you know your your path.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: One is the fact that you had one person who told you, why don't you go to law school?
8:29
SPEAKER_01: It's basically saying, I believe in you.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: So I was telling you, we just came back from the Hispanic National Bar Association convention in Washington, D.C., and every single guest had that one person that told them you should go to law school.
8:42
SPEAKER_01: You belong in law school.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: It was a lot of talks about be belonging, right?
8:47
SPEAKER_01: So that's one of the things.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: The second thing that is very unique to this community is the fact that you went to community college.
8:52
SPEAKER_01: So a lot of the people from our communities, from like, for example, I was raised in Tijuana, right?
8:57
SPEAKER_01: So coming from Tijuana, then you go to a community college.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: That's like the path into college.
9:01
SPEAKER_01: So I did exactly the same thing.
9:03
SPEAKER_01: I think it's very impressive when we tell people, maybe uh high school students that are not able to get into like these super elite universities, community college is a path.
9:14
SPEAKER_01: John Gomez, he went to community college and then he ended up in Yale Law School.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: So it's basically it just has to be on you and then just get to work.
9:22
SPEAKER_01: And the third one, the fact that you know you're a prosecutor and what led you to prosecution.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: So I spent a little time at the DA's office, and for me, that was an experience.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: And it was an experience during law school because the DA's office offers you the opportunity to try cases when you're in law school.
9:40
SPEAKER_01: No other job does that.
9:42
SPEAKER_01: That's what actually got me into the DA's office.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: And of course, saying that I wanted to be a DA, but you know, that's another story.
9:48
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but tell us a little bit about what a prosecutor in San Diego does.
9:52
SPEAKER_01: What type of cases have you seen?
9:54
SPEAKER_01: I know you have a long career there.
9:56
SPEAKER_01: Uh just expand a little bit more on the DA's office.
9:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I've been with the office since about 2010.
10:01
SPEAKER_02: When I was in law school, I was an intern in the office.
10:03
SPEAKER_02: And then I returned as a lawyer in late 2012, early 2013.
10:08
SPEAKER_02: And I've pretty much been there ever since.
10:10
SPEAKER_02: Uh, I was picked up as a deputy DA and never left.
10:14
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, it's you see a wide variety of cases.
10:17
SPEAKER_02: You know, in the beginning to kind of cut your teeth a little bit to earn your bones, as they say, you prosecute kind of the lower level misdemeanor cases.
10:24
SPEAKER_02: You prosecute, you know, petty thefts and, you know, uh vandalism cases, things like that that are uh kind of more uh on the lower end of things.
10:33
SPEAKER_02: And then as you grow more senior in the office, then you're hand you're handling more complex, more serious cases, more violent cases, you know, robberies, assaults, um, things involving weapons or serious injuries, uh, things that uh could could and do pose a serious community risk to the public.
10:52
SPEAKER_02: And be and then after that, you may go to a what's called a vertical assignment.
10:57
SPEAKER_02: A vertical assignment is where you um prosecute cases from beginning to end.
11:02
SPEAKER_02: In other words, from the investigation stage all the way to the sentencing stage.
11:06
SPEAKER_02: Uh generally speaking, you don't handle cases vertically.
11:09
SPEAKER_02: You're you're kind of a horizontal prosecutor.
11:12
SPEAKER_02: You only handle the case at one specific stage or another.
11:16
SPEAKER_02: With vertical prosecution, you're helping investigate the case with law enforcement, you're making charging decisions in that case, you're negotiating that case, you're doing the preliminary hearing in that case, the jury trial sentencing and so forth.
11:30
SPEAKER_02: So I did that for a few years in the family protection division, where they handle domestic violence, elder abuse, those types of offenses and major narcotics.
11:39
SPEAKER_02: I was there for a few years as well.
11:41
SPEAKER_02: So um in sum, that's kind of been my uh my trajectory in the office.
11:47
SPEAKER_02: You know, a lot of people ask, how does how do you get your cases?
11:51
SPEAKER_02: And this is, I think, one big difference between the DA's office and another field is we um law enforcement submit the cases to our office, and they submit charging recommendations.
12:04
SPEAKER_02: You know, we believe that this crime has been committed, we believe that this crime has been um uh can can be proved by the evidence, and then we pick up the reports, we read them, we read the investigation, review all the evidence, surveillance, body cam, pictures, you name it, forensics, whatever, whatever's available at that time, and we make a charging decision.
12:24
SPEAKER_02: You know, can we prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt?
12:27
SPEAKER_02: If the answer is yes, then we can we can charge it, we can file charges.
12:31
SPEAKER_02: But if the answer is no, David, we have a, as you know, a legal, uh, ethical, and constitutional duty not to file that case.
12:39
SPEAKER_02: So we may conduct follow-up investigations, talk to more witnesses, you know, get go into more evidence gathering to see if that case can later be filed.
12:47
SPEAKER_02: And if the answer is still no, then that's it.
12:49
SPEAKER_02: But we continue to work those cases up and hopefully make a different decision in the future.
12:54
SPEAKER_02: But it's important to know that we we strictly adhere to that ethical and constitutional um prohibition that doesn't allow us and permit us to file cases if we cannot prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: And I like that because I remember, again, I was there for eight months.
13:10
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I appreciate the ethical and the legal obligation because I remember seeing roundtables of 30 attorneys from the DA's office coming into a room to hear the facts of this case.
13:21
SPEAKER_01: And in some of them, like I remember, like everyone said, you know, this is not a case that we should take on.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: Which means that, you know, maybe there's something lacking.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: So we appreciate that.
13:30
SPEAKER_01: It's not that just the DA's office is gonna be a cynical uh organization, but actually it's looking at the case in debt.
13:37
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I want to ask you this because back then, I remember they called the DA's office the largest law firm in town.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: Is that still the case?
13:46
SPEAKER_02: Uh it's over 300 and something attorneys.
13:48
SPEAKER_02: So I I think some would say.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's pretty interesting.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: And you know, all litigators and you know, a lot of respect because you guys spend a lot of time in the actual courtroom.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: Uh, that's a lot of time.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: And I see people being very efficient because you're sitting there in the benches and actually still working on your other cases while your case is called.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: But it's still one of those professions where it actually requires you to be in court all the time.
14:14
SPEAKER_01: Is that something that you like?
14:15
SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
14:15
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I was in court before our meeting this morning and uh I was almost a little bit delayed in in arriving here, but you're there every single day.
14:23
SPEAKER_02: I mean, as a even as a kind of a slower assignment, uh, you're there constantly in the courtroom litigating something, arguing for bail, or presenting evidence.
14:32
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's always something that you're presenting or doing something in the courtroom.
14:36
SPEAKER_02: And you're right, that was a great observation that even though you're not litigating or presenting evidence in that moment, let's say a colleague is handling their case or somebody else is handling a different matter, you're there in the back, you're reviewing another case, you're making decisions in another matter, you're reviewing evidence.
14:53
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, you're basically kind of buttoning up other cases that you have on your docket.
14:58
SPEAKER_02: So you're constantly working, even though you're in the courtroom, but it's it's it's a lot of fun.
15:03
SPEAKER_02: It's a lot of fun.
15:04
SPEAKER_02: It's it's the part that you get to advocate for your client, which is the community, right?
15:10
SPEAKER_02: The people of the state of California.
15:12
SPEAKER_02: And that's why we're here.
15:13
SPEAKER_02: That's why we do what we do, because we're there to advocate and fight for the people in the community.
15:17
SPEAKER_02: And that's my favorite part.
15:18
SPEAKER_02: You know, to answer your question directly, yes, I do enjoy that.
15:22
SPEAKER_02: And that is my favorite part because that's when I actually get to voice uh or be the voice for a victim that might have been harmed or the community in general and be the advocate that I that I chose to be in this field.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: I love that because you know, you're hearing other colleagues and you're learning about oral advocacy yourself, how they are crafting arguments.
15:41
SPEAKER_01: It helps craft your arguments.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: And again, we'll get into the gala in a little bit, but you know, what would be your advice to we have a law student, a lot of law students who listen to this.
15:51
SPEAKER_01: Like, what would be your advice for people looking for an internship at the DAS office?
15:55
SPEAKER_01: Like, uh I remember when I was in law school, I still remember now telling people if you want to try cases, if you want to litigate, go into that DAS office internship.
16:05
SPEAKER_01: It's amazing, amazing.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: It was a great experience for me.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh, would you recommend it to current law students, maybe in their first year?
16:12
SPEAKER_02: 1000%.
16:13
SPEAKER_02: We have a fellowship program, I think for some uh one else in here in San Diego, they can take advantage of that.
16:20
SPEAKER_02: Uh, they cannot be certified uh to appear in court, but they can still have a lot of writing experience and drafting motions, drafting responses, oppositions, and going and observing those uh petitions or motions be argued in the courtroom.
16:35
SPEAKER_02: For second and third year law students, they can be certified by the state bar to appear under the supervision of another prosecutor.
16:43
SPEAKER_02: Uh, they need to have taken, uh, I think it's criminal procedure and evidence, or concurrently taking those during the internship.
16:52
SPEAKER_02: And yes, I recommend it 100%.
16:54
SPEAKER_02: It is so much invaluable experience.
16:57
SPEAKER_02: You know, speaking in front of a judge is or a jury can be a very daunting and intimidating task.
17:04
SPEAKER_02: So the sooner you can learn to do that and navigate those dynamics, the better you're gonna be as a practicing attorney.
17:10
SPEAKER_02: And and David, even if you don't go into the DA's office, you walk you walk away with some significant experience in the litig, in litigation in the courtroom moving forward.
17:20
SPEAKER_02: For instance, if you're in trial and you know, some of the you you might not really know all the ins and outs of the courtroom and kind of what the do's and don'ts are, you're not gonna learn that in law school.
17:32
SPEAKER_02: For instance, introducing yourself to the to the court clerk, introducing yourself to the stenographer, right?
17:37
SPEAKER_02: The court reporter, to the bailiff, uh presenting a uh well-packaged um binder of evidence, uh of exhibits to your court clerk, being organized, understanding what the court clerks or the judges' preferences are.
17:51
SPEAKER_02: All these things are gonna help you stand out and become much more efficient as a litigator.
17:56
SPEAKER_02: You would not, you might not have known that if not for these internships in the DA's office.
18:00
SPEAKER_02: That's where you learn these things.
18:02
SPEAKER_02: And I think they they help people stand out.
18:04
SPEAKER_02: Uh, secondly, is reputation.
18:07
SPEAKER_02: Uh, I feel like that's something that we talk about a lot in law school and the legal field.
18:11
SPEAKER_02: Reputation is everything.
18:13
SPEAKER_02: Protect it, covet your reputation, guard it because that's gonna follow you around.
18:19
SPEAKER_02: And not only with the DA's office, but any uh employer or any opportunity you seek, you only get one opportun one uh reputation and it's really easy to damage it.
18:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, San Diego is a small legal community.
18:32
SPEAKER_01: And it's funny because with the with the DAs, I did try two cases when I was there.
18:36
SPEAKER_01: Okay, only direct examination, they wouldn't let me do anything else, but that was good.
18:40
SPEAKER_01: But I came back to my third year in law school feeling extremely confident, right?
18:45
SPEAKER_01: It gives you confidence because I I did have the opportunity to introduce evidence, 10 witnesses.
18:50
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to uh Shanish Alur, he was my supervisor.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: I I second share that, uh, those two trials with them.
18:56
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but for me, it was a great opportunity.
18:59
SPEAKER_01: You know, talking about, you know, sort of like a little bit about mentorship, you are known for that, for being an advocate, but also being a mentor, being a professor of law schools.
19:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh, shout out to Agustin, too, because you know, he's invited me to a couple of opportunities, teaching opportunities, which I've really enjoyed.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: One, which is called Spanish for lawyers.
19:18
SPEAKER_01: To me, that was incredible.
19:19
SPEAKER_01: I still talk about it.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that I that I I remember saying at that class is that Spanish in this region is not really a skill, it's almost an obligation.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: So it's up to you because of you know, handling that class.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: I've heard good things about it.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: Uh, tell us a little bit about your your teaching credentials.
19:38
SPEAKER_02: So, really, that kind of ties into to mentorship as well.
19:41
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, when I realized the power, the the impact that a mentor can have, teaching was a natural kind of connection to that.
19:51
SPEAKER_02: So I started teaching 20 years ago, believe it or not, in juvenile hall.
19:55
SPEAKER_02: I taught in Juvenile Hall uh right after undergrad, actually during undergrad.
19:59
SPEAKER_02: During undergrad, I got my teaching credential.
20:01
SPEAKER_02: I taught there for a few years, and I taught there right before law school.
20:05
SPEAKER_02: Um unfortunately, I had to leave because of law school.
20:08
SPEAKER_02: But that really was what exposed me um initially to teaching, and I enjoyed it from there.
20:15
SPEAKER_02: So I've had the opportunity and really the privilege to teach at uh California Western School of Law, um, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, and I'm currently at the University of San Diego School of Law.
20:27
SPEAKER_02: And I've traveled in Latin America teaching as well on oral advocacy and trial skills.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: And it's it's really opened up so many opportunities to connect with people, to mentor law students, to mentor future attorneys and help them navigate some issues that I'm sure both of us might have wanted a little bit of uh advice on how to handle these issues.
20:47
SPEAKER_02: So I've enjoyed it so much.
20:49
SPEAKER_02: It's been another part of me that that I that I've been doing for a number of years that uh because somebody took me under their wing, somebody believed in me as well.
20:58
SPEAKER_02: I'm happy to do it with somebody else and hopefully be that little grain of sand in their life to kind of you know send them a different to a different trajectory.
21:05
SPEAKER_02: You know, I might find the next David Arraguin, the next, you know, uh John Gomez, you know, maybe.
21:11
SPEAKER_02: And it's uh it but it's those conversations.
21:14
SPEAKER_02: Like you noted earlier from HNBA, everybody had a similar story.
21:18
SPEAKER_02: And I believe if you take the time out and and you express that to people, they're gonna, they're gonna, you know, they're gonna accomplish great things.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: I agree.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: I agree.
21:27
SPEAKER_01: I I think that's that's really, really on point, being that mentor.
21:31
SPEAKER_01: Uh tell us a little bit about this, you know, the classes that you teach, for example, at USD.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh, because they're primarily in Spanish, at least for that summer session that you know you invited me to and they pulled me into.
21:43
SPEAKER_01: I really enjoyed it, the fact that you're teaching US law in Spanish.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: That's extremely unique.
21:50
SPEAKER_01: Tell us a little bit about that program and who you you who you taught over the summer, for example.
21:55
SPEAKER_02: So over the summer we had a couple of sessions.
21:57
SPEAKER_02: I think we had a group from Guadalajara.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: There was a group from the Dominican Republic, prosecutors from the DR.
22:04
SPEAKER_02: I think you might have been part of that group.
22:06
SPEAKER_02: And it did we get different attorneys from all over Latin America, from Mexico, from Peru.
22:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, either they come here to San Diego or we go visit them in their in their home country.
22:18
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, we we both speak Spanish.
22:20
SPEAKER_02: We grew up speaking Spanish.
22:22
SPEAKER_02: Legal Spanish is a whole different ballgame.
22:25
SPEAKER_02: It's a whole different experience.
22:26
SPEAKER_02: I feel like it taps into a different part of your brain that, you know, has been on tap for some time.
22:31
SPEAKER_02: It takes you a little while to like come up with a term sometimes, right?
22:33
SPEAKER_02: It does.
22:34
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes you're like, wait, well, how did you say this?
22:36
SPEAKER_02: How do you pronounce this?
22:37
SPEAKER_02: Well, we we know the law in English.
22:38
SPEAKER_02: That's why.
22:38
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
22:39
SPEAKER_02: We're educated in English, we know the law in English, so it's a little bit harder to do that mental gymnastic of thinking in English, but translating it to Spanish.
22:48
SPEAKER_02: Um but it's been it's been great.
22:50
SPEAKER_02: I've enjoyed it.
22:51
SPEAKER_02: It's uh, you know, different groups come throughout the years, and it, you know, every group they they love it.
22:57
SPEAKER_02: A lot of these countries, or most of these countries, are undergoing what's called a judicial reform.
23:02
SPEAKER_02: And a lot of these countries derive from or their system derives from the civil um affidavit type of system.
23:10
SPEAKER_02: In other words, they don't enjoy things like cross-examination, like we do here, presenting evidence, foundation.
23:18
SPEAKER_02: Um, in Mexico, for instance, which had the affidavit system for years, you would submit uh a stack full of affidavits, and the court would take everything under submission, read it everything in chambers, and make a decision based on what he or she read in affidavits.
23:34
SPEAKER_02: So that system was not as transparent as what they wanted.
23:38
SPEAKER_02: So they started a reform in 2008, if I recall correctly, to 2000 and or 2006 to 2018.
23:45
SPEAKER_02: And now they have a much more transparent oral system to what we have here.
23:51
SPEAKER_02: They don't have jury trials, but they do have bench trials.
23:54
SPEAKER_02: Witnesses testify, they're cross-examined, the credibility is assessed by the fact finder being the judge.
24:00
SPEAKER_02: So a lot of these countries are doing the same thing where they're requiring um and mandating more oral and transparent systems.
24:09
SPEAKER_02: That's why a lot of these folks from different countries, they they come to the US to be trained by attorneys like yourself on how we litigate matters here so they can take those skills, take those concepts and ideas and implement them in their own home systems.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: So, you, the University of San Diego School of Law and you know, their team, they're playing a crucial role in implementing these.
24:30
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I was pretty impressed by that program.
24:33
SPEAKER_01: I was happy to be a part of it.
24:35
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, coming into that class, I remember, like, for example, for our listeners, Agustin would run the actual class and I ran the workshop.
24:43
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, well, let me step it up because I know he's been teaching for a little while.
24:46
SPEAKER_01: That was such a such a unique experience for me.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: So I hope I can go back and you know connect with these uh attorneys again.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: And you know, one of the reasons why we're here too, it's like, let's get into the gala.
24:58
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
24:59
SPEAKER_02: Let's do it.
24:59
SPEAKER_01: Uh, like I said, you know, Agustin, he's a president of the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association Scholarship Fund.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm proud to be a board member for the first year.
25:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh, then very passionate to be uh a part of the La Raza.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I was so lucky to get this scholarship when I was in law school.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: I believe you did as well.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: Uh, tell us a little bit about the scholarship fund.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: Most people know the association, but they don't know what the scholarship fund is.
25:26
SPEAKER_01: Tell us a little bit about that.
25:27
SPEAKER_02: So La Raza Laurence is kind of broken up into three different chapters, as I like to refer to them to.
25:33
SPEAKER_02: There's the main association that has been around since 1975, incorporated in 1979, if I recall correctly.
25:41
SPEAKER_02: And the sister associations or the sister um uh organizations, the scholarship fund was established in 07 formally, and the public benefit fund um not too long ago, just a few years ago.
25:55
SPEAKER_02: So currently with the scholarship fund, our main and only objective is giving out as many scholarships to law students as we can.
26:04
SPEAKER_02: And we have opened up the application pools to students uh across the country.
26:10
SPEAKER_02: Um, again, we've been doing this for 20 years, or the scholarship fund has been around doing this formally for 20 years, and next year being the 20th anniversary, in fact.
26:19
SPEAKER_02: Um That's our big year, huh?
26:21
SPEAKER_02: That's gonna be the big year.
26:22
SPEAKER_02: That's gonna be a big one.
26:23
SPEAKER_02: So the gala coming up this year is the 19th uh anniversary for the fund, 20th next year.
26:29
SPEAKER_02: And up to it's it's a little bit higher now, but up to a few years ago, we've given out approximately$650,000 in scholarships.
26:38
SPEAKER_02: Oh wow.
26:38
SPEAKER_02: I ventured it gets closer to a million since that number was updated, uh, but it's been a lot of money to deserving, deserving law students like you and I.
26:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I definitely agree.
26:47
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I I feel like one of the things that sometimes law school got to do is get they got to let people know about these scholarships.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes people don't know.
26:55
SPEAKER_01: They they probably have the merit for it, but they just don't apply for it.
26:59
SPEAKER_01: Uh, so I think you know, La Rosa's playing a big role in getting out in the community, reaching out to students, going to the law schools.
27:07
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we, you know, we recently did a little article and shout out to La Revista Binacional for having us in their spread talking about the fund, the board, which is consistently made up of lawyers, right?
27:19
SPEAKER_01: Lawyers from civil, uh, criminal defense, DAs.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: Like who makes out the uh the La Raza and who belongs to La Raza?
27:28
SPEAKER_02: Oh, everybody.
27:28
SPEAKER_02: Everybody.
27:29
SPEAKER_02: We have attorneys from all walks of life, all different backgrounds, attorneys who grew up in San Diego, uh, outside of San Diego.
27:36
SPEAKER_02: They practice criminal, they do appellate work, they do civil.
27:39
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you have uh law professors on there, you have um judges that that attend our events, elected officials, dignitaries.
27:47
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you have so many people from uh all walks of life that we've we've been around since 1975.
27:52
SPEAKER_02: I mean, imagine the word that has gotten out in the past few decades uh to get the the people, uh, the community to support us.
28:01
SPEAKER_02: You mentioned La Revista Binacional.
28:03
SPEAKER_02: You know, this is truly a community effort.
28:05
SPEAKER_02: And without our partners like La Revista Binacional, partners in the DA's office and the public defender's office, partners like John Gomez and GTA, we would not be able to do what we do.
28:17
SPEAKER_02: So shout out to all our partners, everything that that the firms do to contribute, either either time, financially, through sponsoring, um, or like yourself volunteering on the board.
28:28
SPEAKER_02: You know, this is this is not paid.
28:29
SPEAKER_02: We're not compensated for being on the board.
28:32
SPEAKER_02: And it's truly a Herculean effort to put on this gala, this dinner, it would not be possible without the board members, all the volunteers, the law students.
28:42
SPEAKER_02: The law students are also helping out the day of and organizing and helping, you know, guide guests and making everybody have a positive experience.
28:50
SPEAKER_02: So when when we say it's a community effort to put something like this on, David, it truly is a community effort with all hands on neck, all hands on deck to put on this event.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: And I agree.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: And it's nice seeing it from the from the inside, right?
29:04
SPEAKER_01: Because generally, like you show up to the gala or you show up to the events, great event, but you don't really see the effort that it takes to put it together.
29:10
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, definitely shout out to our sponsors.
29:12
SPEAKER_01: I'll give a shout out to my own firm, Gorman's attorneys were title sponsors this year.
29:16
SPEAKER_01: Uh, shout out to Lara Dietz, who's also a board member uh with La Rasa.
29:20
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, you mentioned the law students and you know, law students volunteering.
29:25
SPEAKER_01: Like I became a La Rasa member from even before being in law school, right?
29:29
SPEAKER_01: That was my path into La Rasa.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: But I want to hear how Agustin, the current president of the fund, got involved with La Rasa.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: Was it before college?
29:37
SPEAKER_01: Before was it in college?
29:38
SPEAKER_01: Was it in law school?
29:39
SPEAKER_02: You know, in college, I was too busy working.
29:43
SPEAKER_02: I had to make money.
29:45
SPEAKER_02: So I wasn't involved in many social groups, organizations while in college.
29:50
SPEAKER_02: It was um work, uh, home, school, work, home, school.
29:55
SPEAKER_02: It was like my schedule back then.
29:57
SPEAKER_02: That that's what it was.
29:58
SPEAKER_02: So I didn't have a lot of flexible time to be a part of associations or groups.
30:02
SPEAKER_02: You know, I wish I would have uh popped into a couple of meetings here or there just to stay informed and and work, work on networking because one thing that I've noticed is maybe it's a generational thing.
30:12
SPEAKER_02: I'm not sure.
30:13
SPEAKER_02: But the undergrad students nowadays, they're much more in tune with what we're doing.
30:17
SPEAKER_02: We're seeing a lot more involvement from community college students at our events, from college students here in San Diego at some of the events, um, which is opening up some invaluable opportunities and doors at a very, very early stage in their careers.
30:32
SPEAKER_02: But me personally, once I got into law school at Cal Western, you know, I knew, okay, I had to, I had to build my support.
30:41
SPEAKER_02: You know, I need support for this new chapter.
30:43
SPEAKER_02: Um, it's it's new, something different, and as much uh that I can learn and gather from other folks, I think that's going to be to my benefit.
30:51
SPEAKER_02: So I joined La Rosa Law Student at that time and made a lot of good friends, a lot of friends that to this day I serve with on the board currently or are still currently my friends.
31:02
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, without that mentorship, without that guidance from the older law students, um, the two L's and three L's, when I was a one L, you know, again, I was able to avoid certain mistakes and add certain resources that they provided me, certain guidance.
31:17
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, even beyond that, Davi, just to have somebody that who has a similar background is enough for the accomplishment of law school and graduating and passing the bar to feel like it's within reach.
31:31
SPEAKER_01: And isn't it incredible that the advice coming from one person who's a year apart in law school is invaluable because they've been through that year, which is the hardest year of your law school career, the first year.
31:44
SPEAKER_01: To me, it's incredible that one year makes that difference.
31:47
SPEAKER_01: But what you said, like just coming out to some of these events, you know, it gets you the connections, gets you the network, it gets you the support.
31:53
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, that this is what La Rossa is for a lot of people, for a lot of its members.
31:58
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
31:58
SPEAKER_01: And going into that support, let's talk about the gala.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: That's like our big event, right?
32:03
SPEAKER_01: When is it coming up?
32:04
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know the date, but it's got to come for the president.
32:06
SPEAKER_02: Well, the gala, as you know, is October 16th.
32:09
SPEAKER_02: It's next Friday, so a little bit over a week, a week away.
32:12
SPEAKER_02: And it's gonna be, you know, after after work hours, 5:30, 6 o'clock.
32:17
SPEAKER_02: Um, reception is is 5 30, the cocktail hour, and then the dinners are later in the evening.
32:22
SPEAKER_02: And this is where we award student scholarships, where we we help the next generation of lawyers, the next generation of advocates, of attorneys, uh, maybe future judges in this batch.
32:33
SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's gonna be here at the Gaylord uh in Chula Vista.
32:36
SPEAKER_02: So if you're in the area, if you're not in the area, register, attend the event.
32:40
SPEAKER_02: We have uh tickets, by the way, are are a little bit more limited now.
32:45
SPEAKER_02: So um they are flying fast.
32:47
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we're talking by the tables.
32:49
SPEAKER_02: Um, this is the event of the year for the for for La Raza lawyers.
32:53
SPEAKER_02: Uh, we're expecting over 400 guests.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: So it's gonna be a great event, it's gonna be a big event.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but I think most importantly, it's gonna be a very impactful event and hopefully motivational for for the law students.
33:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and this is one of the, I mean, I consider it to be one of the largest legal events in town.
33:07
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and it's very unique.
33:08
SPEAKER_01: If people haven't been to the Gay Lord, it's an amazing venue.
33:12
SPEAKER_01: Uh, it was there last year and it was an amazing event.
33:16
SPEAKER_01: We have a different room now, so I'm excited because now we're gonna be on the lawn.
33:19
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
33:20
SPEAKER_01: So if you know you're there to support the students, you're there to connect, you're there to network, and you'll definitely get something out of it.
33:27
SPEAKER_01: It's incredible, and I mean it's incredible.
33:29
SPEAKER_01: It's it's such a great experience.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, so basically, like where should they go to register for the for the event or to sponsor?
33:38
SPEAKER_01: There's still time for sponsors.
33:39
SPEAKER_02: There's still time for sponsors, and if somebody wants to sponsor either uh an individual scholarship for a law student, or if somebody would like to sponsor the event itself, they can contact any of the board members, or we have a um La Raza Lawyers uh scholarship gala on Zefi page where all the tickets are being purchased.
33:58
SPEAKER_02: The easiest way is to go on there and uh uh process the transaction on that website, or again, just reach out to any of the members or board members of La Rasa Lawyers.
34:08
SPEAKER_02: Emails are made, connections are made, and and at some point we'll connect you with the right person.
34:13
SPEAKER_02: Email me individually as well.
34:14
SPEAKER_02: Happy to help out, answer any questions.
34:17
SPEAKER_02: Um, but the best way is to get the hold of one of the board members and we can help figure it out.
34:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're happy to do so.
34:21
SPEAKER_01: And then Agustina is always around.
34:23
SPEAKER_01: Like a little personal story.
34:25
SPEAKER_01: I remember, like before I actually met you, I kept seeing you at all these events.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: Like, who's this handsome gentleman coming into these events?
34:31
SPEAKER_01: Like, really, really like who was that by posture?
34:34
SPEAKER_01: That was Mr.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: Agustin Peña.
34:36
SPEAKER_01: And then at one point, you know, we connected and we started chatting.
34:39
SPEAKER_01: And if it seems like even, you know, through La Rosa and some of the other events that we've been to, uh like a friendship starts developing, right?
34:47
SPEAKER_01: And that that's why that's why I enjoy a lot of like La Rosa or some of the other like San Diego legal communities, because they're very close knit.
34:54
SPEAKER_01: So you you really develop relationships, friendships, and support, which is incredible.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: And for me to keep seeing you at all these non-legal events, it's also incredible.
35:03
SPEAKER_01: That means that you're my national leader, a leader.
35:06
SPEAKER_02: Well, hopefully by this point, David, you're not sick of me, but I'm around.
35:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm so happy to see you all the time, man.
35:12
SPEAKER_01: Uh, so you know, just just before we go, you know, since we're we're about to wrap up here, uh, again, we talked about you being a professor, which by the way, let me read this here.
35:22
SPEAKER_01: I believe you received a Leaders in the Law Award in 2021.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: I did.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: I gotta, I gotta, I gotta give you that shout out.
35:28
SPEAKER_01: And then uh California Western Action Professor of the Year in 2022.
35:32
SPEAKER_01: I did.
35:33
SPEAKER_01: That makes that that that's that says that you're making your remark.
35:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but again, going back to the mentorship, going back to teaching, going back to connecting.
35:43
SPEAKER_01: So, what would be your advice to young Latino students right now?
35:50
SPEAKER_01: Let's say let's focus in San Diego.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: What would be like one advice that we would give them?
35:56
SPEAKER_02: The one thing I would say is, and I feel like this is easier to say on this side for both of us than being on the other side, is when you're encountering a a daunting, intimidating task like law school, for instance, or or or anything, but specifically in this context, law school or a specific class, or maybe one day the bar exam.
36:20
SPEAKER_02: Lean into it.
36:22
SPEAKER_02: Lean into those, uh, lean into those fears, lean into the possible weakness and don't shy away from it.
36:29
SPEAKER_02: I feel like sometimes fears or insecurities or you know, that self-doubt detracts us and sends us the other way.
36:37
SPEAKER_02: I I would encourage people to lean into that and not be afraid of that.
36:41
SPEAKER_02: And what ends up happening inevitably is you become a better person.
36:44
SPEAKER_02: You become a better law student, better individual, better friend, and you become a better uh person at the end of that after leaning into those, you know, possible insecurities or that kind of area you don't feel too comfortable in.
36:57
SPEAKER_02: You know, they call that uh imposter syndrome a lot of times.
37:00
SPEAKER_02: Imposter syndrome uh lessens and lessens as time goes on and as we accomplish more things.
37:07
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, admittedly, even to this day, I still encounter a little bit of that with certain things, but I'm more able to lean into my weaknesses or lean into a project because of, you know, the different because of so much time has gone on and different things that we've accomplished.
37:24
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, early on in in law school, you you may not see that, but take my word for it.
37:31
SPEAKER_02: It does get easier, it does get better, but keep leaning into it, keep trying, uh reach out to people, get that support.
37:38
SPEAKER_02: But no matter what you do, don't don't shy away from it and rather lean into whatever it might be, and it's gonna work out in the end.
37:44
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: Keep leaning into it.
37:46
SPEAKER_01: Uh again, just going back to the HMBA convention, a lot of the people have that imposter syndrome earlier in their career.
37:53
SPEAKER_01: And you know, self-doubt still like comes up consistently throughout your career.
37:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
37:57
SPEAKER_01: Uh and like you said, lean in.
38:00
SPEAKER_01: Like I remember, so I was a guest at like on the Latino podcast before I was an attorney here at Goma's trial attorneys.
38:06
SPEAKER_01: And you know, I I've always been a fan of Nike, and that's why I love their motto of just do it.
38:11
SPEAKER_01: Yep, but it doesn't really matter.
38:13
SPEAKER_01: Just go ahead and do it.
38:14
SPEAKER_01: There you go.
38:14
SPEAKER_01: Like, what's the worst that can happen?
38:16
SPEAKER_01: You know?
38:17
SPEAKER_01: Um, and you know, uh, we want to make sure that people find you, Agustin.
38:20
SPEAKER_01: I know you're not really in social media because I was trying to attack you on some of the scholarship fun stories, but where can people find you?
38:28
SPEAKER_01: Like email, cell phone, LinkedIn.
38:31
SPEAKER_02: So social media is uh it has not been very present for me in quite some time.
38:36
SPEAKER_02: The quickest way is maybe email.
38:38
SPEAKER_02: It's first name.lastname at sandiego d a dot g-ov.
38:43
SPEAKER_02: Um quickest way to get a hold of me and or the San Diego La Raza Lawyers uh email, S T uh San Diego La Raza Lawyers uh S Fund at gmail.com.
38:55
SPEAKER_02: Perfect Agustin.
38:57
SPEAKER_01: And you know, before we leave and before we uh close the session out, we generally so we we're big followers of Osotrava.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you're who if you're familiar with their cracks.
39:06
SPEAKER_01: Great, great podcast.
39:07
SPEAKER_01: So we like especially John likes to close with this.
39:10
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, he says that if if you if you could write a message to the whole world to see, like in clouds for the rest of eternity, yeah, what would your message to humanity be?
39:24
SPEAKER_02: My message to humanity.
39:25
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's that's a tough one.
39:26
SPEAKER_02: So um there is ah, there's this quote by Anatoly France.
39:32
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna butcher it.
39:33
SPEAKER_02: I I I wish I had in front of me.
39:36
SPEAKER_02: If if you can if you can dream it, you can accomplish it, you can accomplish it.
39:41
SPEAKER_02: If you can, if you can wish it, you can I I forget what what that last part was.
39:47
SPEAKER_02: But basically why I like that quote is because it it it encapsulates not only the imagination that we should have in accomplishing whatever we want to do, but it also uh forces us to prepare for that and take concrete and tangible steps.
40:04
SPEAKER_02: So it's a good balance and look, dream big, do what you need to do, get out there, accomplish great things, but be strategic, be have concrete steps, have a plan, talk to people and actually take those affirmative steps in accomplishing what it is you want to want to accomplish.
40:20
SPEAKER_02: Don't just have the dreams, but actually take steps in furtherance of those dreams, is is essentially what that quote is saying.
40:25
SPEAKER_02: And and that's what I think my message would be is have big dreams, but make sure to have a plan and how to reach those big dreams.
40:32
SPEAKER_01: Amazing, Agustin.
40:34
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, thank you, people.
40:35
SPEAKER_01: Take steps, take steps towards your roles.
40:38
SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that uh that that nice quote.
40:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh Agustin, thank you.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for what you do.
40:43
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for what you do for the community at the DAS office.
40:46
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for what you do at the community with Sandeola Rasa Scholarship Fund.
40:50
SPEAKER_01: We are looking forward to a great event on October 16th at the Gaylord.
40:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh hope to see you there.
40:57
SPEAKER_01: Sponsors, if you hear us, reach out and guests, please sign up.
41:01
SPEAKER_01: We'll see you there.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: And for with this, the Latino podcast signs off.
41:06
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.