What service to the Latino community impassions you?
Serving my Latinx brothers and sisters impassions me. I have built a law practice where our only billing method is a reasonable flat-monthly fee. A majority of the Firm’s clients are Spanish speaking only and earn wages that disqualify them from receiving pro bono services, however, they cannot afford the uncertainty of the traditional hourly rate. Our fee structure has assisted so many Latinx clients, who only dreamed of affording a lawyer. My ability to communicate with them in Spanish creates a level of openness where the client feels no judgment based on their immigration status or legal situation.
My service to the Latinx Community is also at the heart of my volunteer work. I am proud that I regularly receive pro bono Guardian Ad Litem appointments for children who only speak Spanish. This provides a level of protection and comfort to children within the Domestic Relations realm. As Vice President of the Board of Directors at Between Friends, a nonprofit committed to ending domestic violence, I regularly meet with and work on behalf of a majority Latinx client population. I also advocate on LGBTQ Latinx legal issue through my work and leadership at the Annual LGBTQ Summit by the Hispanic National Bar Association. The summit brings together LGBTQ Latinx attorneys and empowers them to build and advocate for a stronger LGBTQ Latinx community.
My service, through my practice and volunteer work, presents multiple touch points of individual conversations that strongly impact the Latinx Community. You see, by having a conversation in Spanish, you can calm someone’s worries, relieve their stress, and empower them with the confidence to continue forward. By bringing together Latinx attorneys and having conversations concerning our community, we progress policy issues by way of the courts and legislature. These conversations become small acts. when multiplied, bring the community together truly progress it forward.