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

My father immigrated to the United States from La Paz, Bolivia when he was sixteen to attend college. My mom was the youngest of five in a blue-collar Irish/German family from Birmingham, Alabama. As different as their upbringings were, their love of Spanish and the Hispanic culture brought them together. After meeting in Spain and moving to Colorado, my parents opened a travel agency—Hispanic World Travel—and I was exposed to the cultures and people of Spain, Mexico, and South America. But when I was about eleven, my family’s business went bankrupt, and we lost everything. We moved to Texas and lived with the family who had opened their home to my father when he first moved to the United States. My parents became Spanish teachers. My father noticed many of his students’ families were immigrants who did not speak English, let alone understand the American educational system. So, he started a program called Maestros de La Comunidad to help these families navigate the educational system and get their kids into college. The group often met at my house to discuss issues or enjoy each other’s company and cultures. My house was frequently filled with food, dialects, and music from around the Hispanic world, including the beautiful sounds of the Bolivian zampoña and charango.

Watching my parents endure the loss of their business and then work hard for our family to flourish all while helping others from our Hispanic community undeniably shaped who I am now. My experiences taught me the value of education, hard work, perseverance, empathy, and community. I know that my desire to mentor and help others succeed spurs from my childhood experiences and watching my heroes—my parents—lift up others even when their resources were stretched thin.

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

During my senior year of college, I interned with the communication department of the Texas Attorney General’s Office. I officed on the same floor as several of the attorneys. One of my projects entailed reviewing advertisements in Spanish to determine whether the ads appeared deceptive. I would review the ads and provide my interpretation of the advertisement. I then saw how the attorneys would utilize that information. While I enjoyed the communication side of the position, I was fascinated by the lawyers’ ability to analyze the facts and the law to advocate for the citizens of Texas and change things for the better. I took the LSAT that semester.

What was your law school experience like?

I truly enjoyed my Texas Tech School of Law experience. As a first-generation law school student, I did not know what to expect, but I took every opportunity to challenge myself while seeking out experiences that resonated with my beliefs and interests. In addition to moot court and law review, two other experiences stick with me. First, I met Professor Jorge Ramírez during my 1L year. Every summer he took a group of students to study abroad in Guanajuato, Mexico. The summer after my 1L year, I jumped at the chance to learn from Professor Ramírez while taking in the beauty of Guanajuato. Second, I served as president of the Student Public Interest Initiative (SPII) my 3L year. Our goal was to educate ourselves and others about how public interest work and the law could intersect. Every year SPII raised money to fund scholarships for law students who wanted to take on unpaid public-interest internships, like for Lone Star Legal Aid. We raised a record-breaking amount of money my 3L year, and our funds assisted almost ten students’ pursuit of public interest work.

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 excelled in my legal writing course during my 1L year, and so I competed for a spot as a brief writer on one of my law school’s national moot court teams during my 2L year. Bitten by the moot court bug, I continued to compete, both as a brief writer and an oralist for the rest of my law school career. During my 3L year, my law school hosted the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces to hear arguments in United States v. Chatfield. The court allowed a group of students to serve as amici for both the prosecution and the defense. Not only did we get to file an amicus brief, two students were selected to argue before the court. I argued on behalf of the defense. My love for appellate law was solidified.

My legal writing professor and several other wonderful professors encouraged me to apply for an appellate clerkship. I submitted my application all over the state, and I secured a clerkship with Justice Jeff Brown when he served on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston. My clerkship with the wonderful Justice Brown changed my life and set me down the path to becoming a practicing appellate lawyer.

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

In 2019, I was serving as appellate counsel at trial in a contentious personal injury case. My client had rear-ended a couple, who alleged injuries as a result of the accident. During his rebuttal in closing arguments and without any cause, evidence, or basis, the opposing lawyer accused my client of not wanting to pay one of the plaintiffs because she was an African American woman. The trial lawyer and I immediately moved for a mistrial, which the trial court denied, and the jury awarded the plaintiffs $12.5M. We appealed the case to the Texas Supreme Court. In June 2024, the Court reversed the trial court’s judgment and stated, the “inflammatory argument was uninvited and unprovoked. At no point did the defendants or their counsel indicate any prejudice against [the plaintiff] based on her race or gender, nor did they urge the jury to award her less money because of these immutable characteristics. In fact, the topic of whether [the plaintiff’s] race and gender should affect her damages award started and ended with plaintiffs’ counsel. Extreme and unsupported personal attacks on the opposition ‘damage the judicial system itself’ by striking at the impartiality, equality, and fairness of justice rendered by the court.” Alonzo v. John, 689 S.W.3d 911, 915 (Tex. 2024). Comments like those without any justification divide people and create unwarranted fear and animosity. I am proud to be a part of the team that made sure courts will not stand for such personal, unsupported attacks.  

How often do you encounter Hispanic/Latinx people in the appellate field? Why do you think that representation is important?

While I see more Hispanic attorneys in the appellate field than when I clerked 15 years ago, the number does not come close to reflecting the percentage of the Hispanic population in the state. The Hispanic people of Texas make up at least 40% of the state’s population. We want a legal profession that reflects our communities. Diversity encourages intellectual discourse and fosters confidence in our justice system. Driven individuals with the talent for appellate work should be encouraged to pursue appellate law regardless of their background or culture.

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

Be bold and reach out to practicing lawyers about their experiences. The fear of rejection and failure can often overwhelm a law student’s desire to learn more about a certain field or the practice of law generally, particularly if the law student already feels out of place. But take that step and reach out to practicing appellate lawyers and ask them questions about their practice, career path, and any advice they have. We are here and ready to listen, answer your questions, and serve as mentors!

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

Law schools should facilitate discussions and meetings between their students and members of the judiciary. As a law student, I was nervous about interacting with judges. I did not come from a family of lawyers, and judges seemed unapproachable. But my law school and its organizations brought members of the Lubbock judiciary and various appellate judges to speak and mingle with the law students. During my 3L year, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor came to speak at my law school. We were able to meet her and share a meal with her. She was welcoming, kind, and encouraging when she shared her path to the bench. Sometimes all a person needs to hear is that no matter where you come from or what your background is, if you work hard, you can achieve your goals. The diverse judiciary I heard speak during law school echoed those words.