Angélica Jiménez: A JOURNEY OF SERVICE By Natalie Wilson
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Angélica Jiménez photographed for San Antonio Lawyer at the San Pedro Creek Culture Park by Adrian Garcia, Onward Group.
6 San Antonio Lawyer | sabar.org
ngélica Jiménez’s ascension to the 408th District Court was the fulfillment of a life-long ambition. She first knew in elementary school that she wanted to become a judge. Angélica was cast as Rosa Parks’ attorney in a school play based on the life of Rosa Parks. When the young actors discussed the various roles, young Angélica realized that the judge was the person with the most power to effect change in the scenario. This school play was Angélica’s first exposure to the legal profession. She grew up in Eagle Pass, where her father owned a bakery. Her mother stayed home with Angélica and her brother, Luis, until Angélica was in elementary school. Angélica’s mom then went back to school and became a Licensed Vocational Nurse. Both parents instilled in Angélica the belief that education was the key to improving their own lives and the lives of those around them. Nevertheless, Angélica did not have a straight path to achieving her ultimate goal. After earning her undergraduate degree in Spanish Literature and History, Angélica married Javier Espinoza. They met as undergraduates at the University of Texas at Austin, working on a student-led outreach project called Helping Everyone Reach Opportunity and Education (HEROE), which was dedicated to mentoring and tutoring high school students in low-income areas. Javier’s career goals also included the law, but the couple could not afford to attend law school at
the same time. Javier hit the books first, while Angélica pursued a career in corporate finance, and they started their family. By 2007, Javier’s legal career was thriving, so Angélica enrolled at St. Mary’s University School of Law, where she excelled and graduated in 2010. Following graduation, Angélica’s career path turned in a dramatically different direction from her banking days. After working at a small firm, she opened the firm of Figueroa & Jiménez with Laura Figueroa. Angélica focused on Family Law matters, while Figueroa practiced Immigration Law. While in private practice, Angélica’s best days were always adoption days. She was thrilled and energized by the joyous culmination of the hope, love, and hard work that went into forming forever families. In less happy circumstances, Angélica approached her cases with a particular end goal. She focused not just on the hearing or trial, but on the bond that her clients would have with their children once they had grown up. She always counseled clients to make decisions that would solidify and enhance their relationships with their children by preserving a sense of love, safety, and stability, in spite of the disruption of a divorce. Figueroa and Jiménez enjoyed practicing law together, but both had aspirations of judicial service, although they thought it would take some time for those goals to come to fruition. As it turns out, both women took the bench much sooner than they anticipated. When Judge Larry Noll announced that he was retiring, Angélica felt that it was the right time to throw her hat into the ring. She entered a crowded Democratic primary, with five serious contenders. Despite the competition, the primary contest was remarkably positive. Angélica recalls that the primary did not feel like a rivalry; the candidates all knew each other and trusted that they all wanted to serve the community in the best way possible. The candidates focused on their own strengths and on building support without engaging in the negative campaigning one might expect from such a crowded field. Entering such a packed race, Angélica knew that she would have to work incredibly hard to stand out and gain name recognition. She focused a lot of her energy on meeting non-lawyers because she was already very active in the bar. At the beginning, she was terrified of block-walking and having to make her pitch to strangers. That turned out to be her favorite part of the campaign, however. She recalls those long days fondly, recounting that it was a fun and energizing experience, even when she literally walked holes in the
