Tell us about your community growing up. Looking back, how did they shape who you are now?

I was born and raised on the island of Trinidad and Tobago. This was a cosmopolitan environment, in that I am from a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural environment. I am a mixture of many people, Carib Indians, Venezuelan, African and Caribbean people. I have family members also with different ethnicities. For example, my religious upbringing was that of the Anglican Church (the church of England), but my culture celebrated Hindu festivals such as Diwali, and Muslim festivals as well. The food I eat are influenced by the people on the island, African, East Indian and Chinese. I believe because of my intersecting background based on race, language and religion that I tend to see similarities where others may see differences.

Describe your journey to law school. What motivated you to apply?

A colleague at an accounting firm I worked at who also was an attorney mentioned it to me. He attended Seattle University School of Law (when he went, it was UPS Law School). I researched it and the rest is history. My mother, before becoming a teacher, wanted to be an attorney and I have attorneys and a judge in my extended family all back home or in England. Also, if you ask my mother she would tell you that I loved to argue. I guess when approached it seemed like a good fit.

What was your law school experience like?

Intense. I worked three jobs while attending. I was one of five Black students. I did not meet anyone who was Black, LGBT, immigrant, and with a disability. Even today, I am the state’s only Black openly LGBT judge, and when appointed to the Supreme Court, I became the first Black LGBT State Supreme Court Justice in the entire country. I was lucky to have parts of me represented in most of my classes. I found strength in my intersecting identities with each class and learned to understand how much it was a benefit. I developed my intersecting lens in law school where I see legal issues and resolutions broadly.

Did you know about appellate work in law school? If not, when and how did it first get on your radar and why were you drawn to it?

I did not learn about appellate work in law school. I learned about it through working as a Rule 9, as a Prosecutor and then later as a Public Defender. I learned about the importance of the appellate court’s work from a litigation perspective. The importance of making a good record for an appellate purpose was again reinforced when I became a Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals Judge. I cannot say that I was drawn to it as it just seemed like a natural progression from my trial work on all three levels of the trial court.

Tell us about one of your appellate cases that you found particularly meaningful.

This may sound strange but honestly, I would have to answer that all of them so far have been particularly meaningful. I have learned so much from my bench mates as well as the very good attorneys who appear before us. For me, the meaningfulness comes from seeing the law develop through the many discussions after intense research and oral advocacy. It is an amazing process. I am humbled by it.

How often do you encounter other LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly those of color, in the appellate field? Why do you think that representation is important?

Occasionally, but it is rare. Representation helps build trust and confidence in the legal field as well as in the judiciary. It moves us from viewing laws and situations in a monolithic way. This is the reason I mentor as much as I do. I ask one thing of all of my mentees, and that is please find someone to mentor, share the opportunities that you receive. We have to be in the room where decisions that impact us are occurring. There are many tables and there is room at those tables for more of us. I can’t sit at all of the tables, but together we can cover more than I ever could alone.

When we become gatekeepers, it is imperative that we be “intentional gatekeepers” and offer opportunities within our spheres of influence to others and the experiences necessary to help them advance to the next level.

What advice would you give to a law student of color who aspires to be where you are now?

Be intentional and understand that you matter, your voice matters, your presence matters within the legal field. Also, believe in yourself and as you move up in whatever legal area you choose, reach back and always bring forward at least one other person with you.

What’s one thing law schools and/or the appellate bar can do to ensure our highest courts are representative of all our communities?

I have been the first in many areas of the legal profession, so I am a big advocate for creating opportunities for non-traditional groups of people. I offer clerkships and externships to all, but I am also an intentional gatekeeper to accessing opportunities for marginalized individuals. This does not mean I accept substandard candidates, it means that I seek qualified individuals from non-traditional lanes.