Insight and Advice from an Attorney

For my fourth blog post, I chose to interview Sonia D., a Los Angeles-based lawyer who owns a firm specializing in representing children in family law, guardianship, restraining orders, and Hague convention cases. She was kind enough to take time out of her schedule to answer a few of my questions about her journey to becoming a lawyer and what she has accomplished since. Sonia paints a picture of how her studies shaped her later occupational experiences and what advice she would impart on aspiring lawyers who, after reading this blog post, will be inspired by her own journey.

1. When did you know you wanted to be a lawyer? Did it happen as an epiphany or was it a gradual gravitation toward the field?

I realized I wanted to be a lawyer sometime in middle school. I had always loved government and politics, they were a true passion of mine but I wanted to be a teacher. When I was in middle school I was talking with my mom about something having to do with education and I realized that if I was a lawyer or a politician I could improve education by changing the laws and the way things were done in education. This is when I decided I wanted to go to law school so that I could improve our society from the legal perspective and I wanted the focus of my legal career to be about kids and laws having to do with kids.

2. What did you study as an undergrad, and how did that shape your experience later in law school? Did you specialize in a certain concentration of law in grad school that was influenced by classes you took or experiences you had in undergrad?

As an undergrad I studied political science at Berkeley. In law school, I was part of the Moot Court competition and won an award for best oral argument. I also did numerous internships for different district attorney's offices working in the domestic violence and sexual assault divisions and I worked at an internship during the summer working for the family law judges in Ventura County. All of this made me realize that I wanted a legal job that allowed me to be in the courtroom and handle hearings and trials in court. There are many different types of positions you can have as a lawyer and some lawyers never step foot in a courtroom, by their own choice. From my experiences in law school, I realized I wanted a position where I could go to court and I realized working in family law would allow me the opportunity to work with families in difficult times, while helping the children of those families, and I could make court appearances.

3. What was the transition like from law school to working in a firm or as a partner? (I'm not very familiar with the terminology!)

Because my internships during law school were in the public service field (not a private firm), I was not recruited from law school like many people are who work for firms. I had to apply for jobs and I looked for jobs that were in the public service sector and I was very fortunate to get a job with a nonprofit firm that helps low income people with family law, guardianship and adoption cases in Los Angeles. The transition to working in the real world, as opposed to law school, was a little daunting at first, especially with the realization that I now had an incredible amount of responsibility to actually get a good outcome for my client and represent the client to the best of my ability, so I worked hard to make sure I knew the law and was fully prepared for each case. Although I had wanted a job where I could go to court for hearings, it was actually really stressful to make court appearances at the beginning of my career. I felt unsure of myself and had to learn from experience, but it was also super exciting, especially when I did well. The nonprofit firm I worked with had great staff that was helpful and friendly so that made the transition from law school a lot easier. I guess the transition from law school was scary, daunting, exciting, fun, and eye opening all at the same time. This job allowed me to learn so much about the family law and guardianship fields of law and about appearing in court that it was the best experience I could have as a brand new lawyer.

4. What is your current position/role, and what does your typical day look like?

Currently, I am the sole proprietor of my own law firm, which means I own my firm. I specialize in representing children in family law, guardianship, restraining orders, and Hague convention cases. I represent children of all ages in all types of difficult situations. (I have represented kids as young as 9 months old to 17.5 years old). This means, I meet with kids and interview them, I meet with their parents, I gather any evidence I can to represent the child's best interest and the child's wishes, which means I interview teachers, day care workers, therapists, pediatricians, medical specialists, and anyone else that works with my child client. I obtain medical records, school records, and any other records I need. I then appear at hearings and trials on behalf of the child. My days are never the same, but the days I am in court, I have hearings that start at 8:30 a.m. and could last until noon or until the end of the court day at 4:30 p.m. A trial will last all day and may go day to day until we are done.

The parts of my work day when I am not in court, I am meeting with kids or their parents, I am contacting all the people that work with that child and I am preparing documents for my case. I also prepare for court hearings. Sometimes, I prepare for court at the end of the day once I am done with all my meetings and phone calls. Trial preparation is very different from preparation for a hearing and trial preparation takes a lot more time.

I have a receptionist at my office but I do most of the legal work by myself. Working for myself is great in some ways; I can take time off without having to clear it with anyone and I can accomodate my schedule as I need to, but it is also a lot of work. If I do not work, then nothing gets done and I don't get paid so there are pros and cons to working for myself.

5. What is one thing about your occupation or experience that you would change if you could?

There is a lot of pressure on attorneys, especially in the type of field I work in. If I could change anything, it would be the anxiety and stress some people bring to the job and the way they treat each other. There is no need to be antagonistic and disrespectful. We can all do our job while treating each other with respect and civility, but some people forget that and get too caught up in their role of "fighting" for their client. Another aspect I would have changed is some of the way certain hearings were handled in court but the truth is that the pandemic forced some changes and, in my opinion, made improvements to the court system.

6. What is the most rewarding aspect of your work?

The most rewarding aspect of my job is working with kids and trying to help them. Sometimes the child's circumstances are incredibly sad and it is rewarding fighting for their best interest in order to improve those circumstances.

Another rewarding aspect is constantly learning and studying changes in the law and figuring out the best ways to use it for my cases. It is always challenging and exciting to continue studying the law but for different outcomes than in law school. I also have met and made a lot of good friends in the law community, people who are very smart and fun.

7. Is there any advice you would impart on students thinking about pursuing law? Any perspective you could provide?

I would say not to be intimidated by law school or the idea of practicing law. You do not need to be in a big firm to have a great law career. You do not need to be at the top law school in the nation to be a good lawyer, pass the bar exam and have a good law career. If you have a passion, or an interest in the law, go for it and don't give up if it becomes a little difficult, you can get through it. There are many different types of jobs that you can have with a law degree. Within the legal profession there are boundless possibilities for example, you can have a legal career where you never go to court or one where you are there everyday, etc. If you like the law, don't get intimidated and you will find your niche.

It is helpful to find internships and volunteer positions so you can be exposed to the many different areas of the law and to find people who will be your mentor through the process. A mentor could be really helpful to a law student or someone just starting out in their career. Law students and new lawyers should reach out to their local bar associations to see if they have mentorship programs for them.

Sonia has been a wonderful family friend since her daughter became best friends with my little sister around 2010. To be honest, I wish I asked Sonia earlier to share her experience because there is a lot that I'm also discovering at the same time as my blog readers. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I enjoyed conducting it.