Alumni: Where are they Now?

MAKING A POSITIVE IMPACT

Sandy Pineda is a 2014 graduate of Ave Maria Law. Sandy is currently in-house counsel for King Jesus Ministries, one of the largest conservative evangelical churches in the country. Sandy has done a great deal of good work with the church after her law school graduation, as well as with a prominent Miami immigration law firm.

How did your experience at Ave Maria Law help shape the person you are now and the attorney you’ve become over the years since graduation? My experience at Ave Maria Law helped shape the person I am now through the morals and principles and high-level education. Ave Maria Law helped form my critical thinking skills and with its wide verse of classes and internships, helped me grow as a legal professional every day. I was confident that after graduating Ave Maria Law that I was prepared to embark on the purpose of my life to be an attorney. Professors such as Ligia de Jesus and Ulysses Jaen really pushed me as a student to believe in myself and were pillars to my success in law school and beyond when I left Ave Maria Law to obtain an LL.M. at American University Washington College of Law.

Can you share a snapshot of your current job as in-house counsel at King Jesus? What do you enjoy most about your job? King Jesus International Ministry is an international fully bilingual ministry which is a conservative Evangelical church, founded by Apostle Guillermo Maldonado in 1996, a Honduran native. He is the CEO of King Jesus and serves on the Evangelical Coalition for Trump in his personal capacity as a spiritual advisor. Apostle Maldonado has served as a spiritual advisor and has been invited to the White House multiple times and prayed in the House of Representatives. His work is known throughout the nations and we have a network of about 350 + churches. King Jesus also does work for religious freedom and social service. For religious freedom, we help and donate to a church in Pakistan who was attacked and imprisoned for practicing their Christian religion. Our monies helped the local pastor obtain local attorneys to free the Christians who were being persecuted by their government for practicing and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have two orphanages in Honduras which has a total of 65 children who we maintain, clothe and offer education to. We

SANDY PINEDA, CLASS OF 2014

also have a food pantry that has served over 4,000 families and distributed just this month of July 743,600 pounds of food and served 9,295 families. The legal department is essential to these activities taking place since we have to buy insurance and have waivers signed, logistics, volunteers, etc. Due to COVID-19, I have worked closely with management to re-open the church, and I was able to extend an invitation to the Miami-Dade Mayor Gimenez to come to our premises to approve our re-opening plan and guidelines. Mayor Gimenez approved our plan and stated that we have thought of everything to protect our congregants. This was critical prior to our re-opening because we wanted to provide a haven. In Miami-Dade County, there has been a large surge of COVID-19 cases so we had to limit the amount of people who attend the services at 25% capacity. I have helped our ministry build relationships with the local community government leaders through my legal efforts to help us move forward. It is crucial that we help the community and we do so by providing them counseling, teaching and community support. My current job is very diverse. One day, I am reviewing multimillion dollar contracts, the next I am reviewing and preparing a trademark application, or drafting internal policies. I plan the Board Meeting agenda, request that certain leaders of departments bring financial reports, or their department reports so we can see the state of the current and past affairs. As a board member, I have certain responsibilities and duties to the Board and the Corporation. I review every pending legal case or demand letter, and respond accordingly. I advise the CEO, COO, HR Director, Finance Director, Media Director and everyone in management

regarding legal issues or how to expand and help built efficient work flows and have heavy and deep compliance with the law. What I enjoy the most about my job is that I learn something new every day! Also, I love the people I work with – it is great to teach them about the law and work with such passionate, energetic and creative people. There is always an area of law that I did not know about and must research or someone comes to me with a legal scenario or idea – it is invigorating as a legal professional.

Prior to working at King Jesus Ministries, you were an attorney with Angel F. Leal, P.A. How did your responsibilities differ between jobs? Are there specific aspects of your job at Angel Leal you carried with you over to your position at King Jesus? My responsibilities are completely different. It feels like I changed careers. At Leal, I was in court almost every week, had over 200 clients that I had to assist and it was very high volume immigration law practice. At Leal, I worked as a managing attorney supervising other lawyers, and implementing internal systems. In my current job, I must manage different areas of law, for example, trademark, entertainment, copyright, contracts, worker’s compensation, insurance, corporate formation, international, labor and employment, government and political, and Non-Profit, among some areas. Since some areas of law are so specific, we must hire outside counsel. I have the privilege of working with outside counsel who are experts in their respective fields of law that I select to help us. These outside counsels explain and review over documentation or help me create systems in place. At my current job, there has only been very experienced lawyers who have worked in this position. I thought it was going to be a daunting task, considering that there was a construction litigation ongoing case when I started the job. However, we finalized that case within 3 months of starting my position, on a case that was ongoing for 3 years. The specific aspects of my job at Angel Leal carried over to my position at King Jesus is that we petition for workers and religious leaders, and all my time-management and litigation skills help me see ongoing and risk management issues that we will have in the long run if things are not fixed. Additionally, I have always paid a lot of attention to compliance laws and organizational management. Having a litigation background, has helped me avoid a lot of pitfalls for the ministry since I see things differently than everyone else does. As a ministry, we are very trustworthy since a lot of good, honest people work here, however, in working in the outside world, I saw a lot of the pitfalls that corporations and companies can fall into and I avoid that at all costs to my client. It is great to focus on one client and can execute and perform at high levels for the advocacy and management of the company. Also, depending on what our goals are and our mission is that year, I tailor my services and my focus to better assist all of the 27 departments that we have that may not know the functions of what the legal department does and how we can help them execute their work or their productivity. King Jesus is also a platform for a lot of politicians to come speak and introduce themselves to the community. Since we have an international and national platform, the media loves to write stories about this. Since I started in my position, there was no Public Relations protocol. On January 3, 2020, President Trump rented out our main temple in Miami, Florida to have the first ever event of “Evangelicals for Trump”. I was the attorney who helped draft the leasing contract, and had to ask his campaign, which of course, we do not endorse, for certain rules and communicate with White House and Campaign staff. I learned a lot about the experience, and met many people who support and work for the acting President. I had to draft and create the PR protocol. This was an unprecedented event, and I had to read the IRS code on politics and religion and the restrictions that we have. I also had to advise the Main Pastor and CEO of the Church what was prohibited, along with the management and leaders. It was a learning experience for me and I am very happy that everything turned out well. I became the PR face for the ministry and drafted summaries and press releases that are legally required but with the aspect of our mission and our voice as a Christian ministry. This is something that I did not trust that anyone else could do in our ministry since I am the only general counsel and lawyer that works here.

What advice would you provide to current Ave Maria Law students preparing for a career in law upon graduation? My advice is savor the law school experience, obtain internships and externships in areas of law that you want to explore. When I started law school, I wanted to be a labor lawyer, but after some time, I really loved immigration law. Now, I have the privilege and honor to work in every area of law that relates to my home church and the list is endless. I have even learned about zoning law since we have some properties that we have had to obtain certificates of use and occupancy, with certain cities in Miami that have very particular zoning and ordinances. Network as much as you can, and get to know your professors and colleagues. Build good connections and always maintain your values and beliefs – do not doubt your abilities – and always learn more. I love to attend CLE’s and read articles and be a part of different organizations that help build my career. Always keep an open ear and eyes out for the new cutting edge cases and keep the fire burning for the passion of law, and take care of yourself. If you do not sleep or eat well, your clients and you will suffer so please love yourself and pamper yourself since we work hard!

Sandy, thank you for offering your time and insight.

INSIGHT FROM A FOUNDING CLASS ALUMNUS

JOSHUA McCAIG, CLASS OF 2003

Joshua McCaig graduated from Ave Maria School of Law in 2003. Prior to law school he was a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville. He is a shareholder with the Polsinelli law firm in its Kansas City office. In 2007 he founded the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Kansas City and then founded the Catholic Bar Association in 2015, serving as its inaugural President from 2015-2017. Joshua is the current CEO of the National Lawyers Association, the largest professional bar association in the nation with a pro-life position as part of its platform. Mr. McCaig, through his accomplishments, is a great example of how he finds the importance of faith as a part of his career path.

What attracted you to attend Ave Maria School of Law? What would you say is the greatest gift you’ve taken away from your law school experience? I was immediately drawn to the mission of Ave Maria Law and the unique opportunity of being a part of its founding. It was one of my greatest honors to be a part of the inaugural class and to spend three years with the most impressive group of people I have ever had the privilege of knowing.

In 2007 you started the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Kansas City. What prompted you to create this organization? In 2006 we moved from Ann Arbor to Kansas City, where we went from a vibrant Catholic legal community to a wonderful city but one that did not have a formal Catholic lawyers organization. This prompted me to start one, so I organized a group of well-respected Catholic attorneys in the area, met with the local Bishops and the rest is history.

You were a part of uniting Catholic lawyer’s guilds into a Catholic Bar Association. Congratulations on your accomplishments. The Catholic Bar Association is a response to a need within the Church, a need to unite Catholic attorneys into an international organization, and is really an extension of the mission of Ave Maria Law. The CBA is, at its core, about building Catholic community. It is about providing a place where legal professionals can go to grow in their faith, a place where members can find support to live out their Catholic faith within their profession and a place where they can develop professionally through education and networking opportunities.

What would you say to those who ask about your faith, specifically how does it impact who you are as an attorney? Christian discipleship is a way of life. We can say “I believe”, but do we really, for if we truly believe and if we truly have a relationship with Christ then following Him does not begin and end at the church doors, but carries into every aspect of our lives, including our professional life. As Christians we are called to be on mission, to evangelize and bring our faith to the world. Being an attorney means nothing to me but using my profession to proclaim Christ’s message of hope, mercy and salvation does.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN HIS DREAM VOCATION

ALEXANDER VERNON, CLASS OF 2005

Professor Alexander Vernon, Class of 2005, directs the Immigration Law Clinic at the University of Detroit Mercy, where students assist people fleeing for their lives, struggling for family unity, and striving to regularize their status in the United States.

How did your experience as a student at Ave Maria Law shape who you are today? My experience at Ave Maria Law gave me an opportunity to take my ideals and help me build a career. It gave me the concrete skills and training to realize a vocation to helping people. When I reflect on what I get to do on a day to day basis, I realize I am living a life I would only have dreamed of before I had the doors opened up to me by Ave Maria School of Law. As an Immigration Lawyer I get to help save lives! I get to help people regain a sense of human dignity that is often ignored or denied. I get to help protect people from persecution, rescue people from torture and abuse, reunite families, build new families, and build dreams. I get to be a respected and trusted counselor, that people reach out to when they need help. And on top of all that, as a professor in a clinical program I get to help open the eyes of law students and give them opportunities to be advocates and do all the amazing things I get to do.

What insight would you share with law students today thinking about where they want to be following graduation? I would say be prepared to do something else for the time being, but never lose sight of the goal of where you want to get to, and reach out to others who can help you take steps to get there. If you don’t have a job lined up and are considering going solo, make sure you have a good set of mentors who can help you get proficient in the areas of law you choose to practice in. Make yourself available to assist more experienced attorneys on a contract basis, to do preliminary hearings, administrative interviews, jail visits and lots of other things established attorneys don’t always enjoy doing and might be willing to pay you to do. Try to avoid unnecessary bridge burning, personally and professionally. Bridge builders tend to experience a great deal of personal satisfaction.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given? Career wise, I think it was important for me to know to look for positions that are not advertised. Be willing to “cold call” people. On the advice of my career counselor at Ave Maria, I reached out to every immigration lawyer I could find in the Detroit area to let them know I was looking for a position. Every time I sent out a volley of tailored resumes and cover letters, I got calls back within days from firms that were not advertising positions. That’s how I landed my first position with a lawyer I consider a mentor to this day.