Diversity Journal First Quarter Magazine 2022

Page 68

LATINO

2022

Managing Partner, San Francisco Office

LEADERS Worth Watching

TM

INTERNATIONAL

My Mother’s Hard Choices Helped Me Become the Attorney I Am Now

Education: JD, Columbia Law School; MA, Stanford University; BA, Stanford University Company Name: Sanford Heisler Sharp Industry: Law Company CEO: David Sanford, Chairman Company Headquarters Location: New York, New York Number of Employees: 100 Your Location: San Francisco, California Words you live by: Don’t talk about it, be about it. Who is your personal hero? My mother, Susan Gilbert-Burns What book are you reading? When You’re Expecting Twins, Triplets or Quads: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy, 4th edition by Barbara Luke, Tamara Eberlein & Roger Newman What was your first job: Office automation clerk, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Sacramento, (summer during high school) Favorite charity: Legal Aid at Work in San Francisco, where I serve on the Board Interests: I enjoy spending time with my fiancé and friends, walking my Rottweiler, and trying new restaurants. Family: My immediate family is relatively small, but my extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins numbers well over 70. With twins on the way this spring, I’ll be adding to the family soon!

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2022 First Quarter

My sights were set on a legal career from childhood. Raised primarily as the daughter of a single mom who did not have a college degree and often worked long hours in concurrent low-paying jobs, I saw firsthand how she was taken advantage of at work, including discrimination that resulted in legal claims. My view of the law as a viable way to handle such grievances was sharpened by my mother’s love of Court TV, which she watched and which provided me early exposure to high-profile matters like OJ Simpson’s and Scott Peterson’s murder trials, and Anita Hill’s Senate Judiciary Committee. I was also inspired by Clair Huxtable (played by Phylicia Rashad) on The Cosby Show. She played an extremely poised and competent attorney, who excelled at achieving an enviable work-life balance, managing an upper-middle-class household, and raising a lively family of five children. I watched each episode, hoping that one day I would be able to do the same. My resolve to become an attorney strengthened when I attended an all-girls catholic high school. Although academically prepared, I didn’t immediately fit into the privileged student body. Those years gave me insight into the impacts of race, ethnicity, and class on economic opportunity and fairness, and helped me better understand clients who experience “Imposter Syndrome.” I had to constantly remind myself I deserved to be at the school and had earned all the successes I had achieved. My mom was always backing me on this path—from helping me dress as a lawyer for Halloween when I was eight years old to supporting my extracurricular interests—even though she had to make difficult choices to provide enrichment experiences for my older brother and me. There were times we had no electricity, hot water, or telephone service because she had paid my swim club fees, competitive soccer team dues, or summer camp fees, instead of household bills. The lengths she went to make sure I was prepared academically and socially for college and law school came at a cost. Though many of my mom’s financial decisions may have seemed short-sighted at the time, in hindsight, I recognize they made it possible for me to become a leading lawyer in one of the nation’s top civil rights law firms—the only career I ever dreamed of.

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AWARD

Felicia Gilbert


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