LATINO
2022
Partner; Vice Group Leader, Business Litigation
LEADERS Worth Watching
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INTERNATIONAL
There’s No Substitute for a Having a Job that Makes You Happy
Education: BA, Grinnell College; JD, Harvard Law School Company Name: Ulmer & Berne LLP Industry: Law Company CEO: Scott P. Kadish, Managing Partner Company Headquarters Location: Cleveland, Ohio Number of Employees: 305 Words you live by: “Mom, let’s go. We’re going to be late.” Who is your personal hero? Walt Whitman What book are you reading? Hahahaha…. Ask me again when I’m not a working mom with young children. What was your first job: Intern at my hometown’s alternative weekly newspaper, the CS Indy Favorite charity: Minds Matter of Cleveland, an all volunteer organization that works with high potential youth throughout their high school years and provides mentoring and supplemental instruction to help them reach their college goals. Interests: Running, baking, and yoga Family: My spouse, Brian, and my children, Ascencion (8), Guadalupe (6), and baby Mateo. I’m also a stepmom.
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2022 First Quarter
I left my first law firm to take a job as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA). AUSA positions are very competitive and most people who get them have a coveted combination of skill, credentials, and really good luck. I worked there for a year and realized I didn’t like it. I missed private practice. The AUSA position just wasn’t a good fit. I felt hugely guilty for disliking the job. I felt like I cheated everyone who really wanted the position and didn’t get hired when I did. I felt like I should want to serve my country through federal service. I felt like working at the Department of Justice should be a career pinnacle. Mostly, I felt like I was letting people down who had supported me in my legal education and legal career up to that point.
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It feels very scary to achieve something and realize you don’t want it, especially when others are looking at you as a role model.
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“Don’t be afraid if you don’t want to do what is expected of you.” This advice came to me from a senior lawyer in the U.S. Attorney’s Office when I was considering whether or not to leave after such a short time. This was the advice I needed to hear, right when I needed to hear it. I think that many Latino professionals end up doing what is expected of them. A lot of times, they do it to meet other people’s expectations. Often, they carry with them the weight of expectations that comes with being from an immigrant family, or being the first in their family to go to college or get a graduate degree. It feels very scary to achieve something and realize you don’t want it, especially when others are looking at you as a role model. There is no replacement for doing what makes you really happy. I love being in private practice. I love civil litigation. I really (really!) love my job. Loving the job makes the stress, the grind, the hard work, and the time away from my family worth it. My current position may not be the career path that was expected of me, but it is the one that makes me truly happy. There is no substitute for having a job that makes you happy and I strongly encourage people to find their passion, even if it is off the expected path.
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AWARD
Dolores (Lola) Garcia
