Tell us about your interest in appellate work and why you decided to join this Mentorship Program.

I was drawn to appellate work from the moment I first learned about it in law school. I love to write so I appreciate the opportunity that appellate work provides to first carefully craft your argument on paper. I also enjoy talking with others about topics that I’ve spent time myself understanding. Learning every facet of a case and then discussing the issues it raises with judges during oral arguments is an exhilarating experience. Despite my draw to appellate work, I knew that opportunities to practice it were limited, especially for individuals who look like me. When I saw that TAP was seeking to address this issue, I applied immediately to TAP’s mentorship program.

What has it been like working with your mentor/mentee? Is there an experience you particularly enjoyed, something significant you learned, etc.?

Working with my TAP mentors has been a fantastic experience. I was impressed with how thoughtfully I was paired with my two mentors. Adele graduated from my law school and so was well prepared to help me with understanding the appellate playing field for a lawyer of color graduating from Vanderbilt Law. My other mentor, Danny, has been instrumental in assisting me with navigating appellate practice opportunities as a queer person, based on his own experiences. A very memorable experience was Danny directing my attention to an article and twitter thread regarding the need for diversity at the Federal Circuit, a court I was very interested in clerking for. I responded to the twitter thread, which serendipitously led to an interview and resulting offer to clerk for Judge Todd Hughes on the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in 2023, which I accepted.

What is something you will take with you from this experience? It could be appellate-related or more broad, such as something you realized about yourself, mentorship, etc.

This experience taught me the value of paying it forward when seeking to increase diversity in appellate practice. TAP has connected me with a variety of practitioners who have been generous with their time in mentoring me. Without it, I likely would not have the clerkship I have today. Going forward, I’m committed to being a resource for students coming through law school who are seeking the same opportunities I’ve sought. This is important to me because, as cliché as it may sound, when one of us succeeds, we all succeed.

Tell us about your interest in appellate work and why you decided to join this Mentorship Program.

After starting my career as a commercial litigator and completing three years of federal clerkships, I decided to make the transition to appellate work. I was drawn to the generalist nature of the practice. I enjoyed research, writing, and thinking about legal issues. I appreciated the collegiality and lack of contentiousness within the appellate bar. And last, but not least, I felt that appellate practice would position me well to do impactful and meaningful pro bono work.

I decided to join the mentorship program after hearing about it from my colleagues in Orrick’s appellate group, including Elizabeth Cruikshank and TAP board member Tiffany Wright. Meanwhile, I had been feeling an increasing sense of urgency to take concrete action that promotes diversity in the appellate field, particularly as I’ve been reflecting on the ways that systemic inequality manifests itself in the legal profession. So the timing was perfect.

What has it been like working with your mentor/mentee? Is there an experience you particularly enjoyed, something significant you learned, etc.?

Working with Ramon as a mentor has been energizing, rewarding, and fun. While we are both out LGBTQ lawyers, the superficial similarities end there. We have had very different paths in life and the law, and hearing about his experiences has been fascinating. It’s been a privilege to work with Ramon to pursue his appellate interests. His accomplishments have been remarkable, even in the brief period that we’ve worked together. He came into our first meeting with a clear agenda and set of goals, including doing government contracts work and obtaining an appellate clerkship. From there, Ramon carefully researched various possibilities, reached out to former and current clerks, and advocated for himself to make sure his applications did not go unnoticed. The result: a clerkship offer from Judge Todd Hughes of the Federal Circuit. I’m so glad he will have this much deserved opportunity, which is a testament to his initiative, vision, and ability to engage others.

What is something you will take with you from this experience? It could be appellate-related or more broad, such as something you realized about yourself, mentorship, etc.

The experience has highlighted for me that mentoring initiatives like TAP are essential to the goal of diversifying the appellate field. Those of us who are established appellate practitioners have accumulated a huge amount of insider knowledge that’s incredibly valuable to anyone wishing to pursue appellate law. Unless we are intentional about breaking out of our existing personal and professional networks and sharing that information with others who may not have the same advantages, we risk replicating the same disparities that currently exist.