CBA Record July-August 2018

a lawyer, he wanted to be a truck driver, but his dad wouldn’t have it. His dad’s advice was to find a job with air conditioning. Hernandez talked about growing up in Florida among affluence, and the chal- lenges of being gay. He was made fun of in school “a lot.” But the challenges that he faced shaped him as an individual and helped him to become a stronger advocate. The fact that he may act or talk differently, “doesn’t change the fact that I can be better than you,” Hernandez said. Now part of a two-partner firm, Hernandez talked about the difficulties of being in a small practice, and the mentoring he received through the JEP. He said that any additional represen- tation from minority groups is beneficial. “The idea of one more Latino lawyer in the profession is a good thing for the entire Latino community.” Tina Tran agreed that representation matters. “Maybe if I had that growing up, I wouldn’t have felt so isolated, deprecated and self-doubting” she said. Tran told the audi- ence that, “First, I am an attorney. Second, I’m Asian-American. Third, I am queer, and fourth, I am gender-queer.” She said her per- spective allows her to understand what it feels

like to be misunderstood on a daily basis. She originally went to law school to become a criminal defense attorney, but has found herself more effective at helping people as a bankruptcy attorney. Tran said that “repre- sentation” goes beyond the attorney/client relationship. “People deserve to have their voices lifted and their stories heard.” Although all five speakers came from different backgrounds, their presentations had a common thread. At one point or another, each of them was discouraged from becoming a lawyer. They all have faced bias in the workplace, sometime overt and sometimes unconscious. They all talked about diversity and inclusion. And they all talked about “diversity” not only from ethnic and sexual perspectives, but also from the perspective of being open to diverse ideas and non-traditional approaches to the practice of law. “I believe it is a requirement for companies to suc- ceed,” Robinson said. “We want to be included so much that if we aren’t included, we will use that thing called the internet to become entrepreneurs and give our great ideas, perspectives and experiences directly to the market.”

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           

                                                               

      

       

  

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