焦点成员:凡妮莎Sophir

While some lawyers work their legal networks, others connect at soccer games and camp drop-offs. 对于瓦内萨·索菲亚澳博app来说，两者都是.

在我们庆祝母亲节的时候, 我们聚焦索菲亚, a former public defender who took a 10-year break to raise her three children before getting “back in the game.”

Today she is an attorney for Hamlin Law Group in Silver Spring, 马里兰, 代表贫困的父母.

你是怎么进法学院的?

The economy was going downhill when I graduated [from Cornell University], 我对找工作很谨慎. I knew that law would be a good background no matter what I decided to do, so I went to law school. I also was interested in history and politics, and lawyers often are big players in those.

我上的是波士顿大学法学院. 我发现法学院的大部分课程都很乏味，而且很理论化, but I loved the practical work I did with the school’s juvenile advocacy clinic. The clinic helped me develop my passion for working with children and families, 与客户建立有意义的关系, 在法庭上代表客户.

你从法学院毕业后的第一份工作是什么?

法学院毕业后, 我是克雷格·伊斯科法官的书记员, right after he was appointed to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. It was his first year as a judge, and I was his first clerk, so that was exciting. 就好像我们在一起解决问题. Usually law clerks have a wealth of information from the clerks that came before. 一切都是从零开始.

我很幸运，因为伊斯科法官有刑事案件. I don’t think I would have found a civil docket nearly as interesting. 工作繁忙，节奏快，充满戏剧性. 伊斯科法官是一位伟大的导师，我们仍然保持联系.

你当完书记员后在哪里工作?

At the end of the year, I became an assistant public defender in Fairfax County. 我刚开始的时候，他们把我送上了交通法庭. That was a good experience because I would defend five to ten cases every day. 几个月后, the new chief public defender asked what I really wanted to do, 我说"未成年辩护.” She said, “Good, let’s put you there, because there aren’t too many attorneys who want to do that. 如果你对此充满激情，你就应该去做.”

我真的很喜欢. Juvenile court was often less about punishment and more about rehabilitation. 这些青少年, I had that hope that this could be their first and last interaction with the criminal justice system.

我最终...在D的一家小诉讼公司找到了一份工作.C.在那里，我专注于诉讼. 我要在联邦法院执业, 我接触到了法律的各个领域, 包括一些白领刑事辩护和家庭法律. 我怀了双胞胎就离开了.

你休息了一段时间当澳博app. 为什么?

我在家和我的三个孩子呆了大约10年. 我喜欢孩子，我很享受和他们在一起的时光. 我丈夫工作时间很长, and it made sense for the family for me to be home in those early years. 这是我个人的选择. I had always thought that when I had children, I wanted to be with them during the early years.

你是怎么回到澳博app行业的?

I decided to go back when my youngest child started all-day kindergarten. My kids didn’t need me as much, and I felt that it was time to return to work. 我已经在维吉尼亚州和华盛顿州被禁赛了.C., but during the time I had been inactive, we had moved to 马里兰. 我想找一份离家近的工作，所以我考了马里兰澳博app.

I started networking by letting people know I was back in the game. One thing that was interesting was that I didn’t need to leave my usual network of friends and acquaintances. 我朋友的母亲是一名公设辩护澳博app. 我们在足球比赛和送孩子去露营时聊天, and I told her that I was going to be practicing in 马里兰. She let me know that the 马里兰 Public Defender’s Children In Need of Assistance Division was looking for an intern. I got an internship with them until the swearing in ceremony for the 马里兰 State 酒吧.

在那之后, 我在考虑自己出去闯荡, so I set up some appointments with local lawyers to ask for advice. 我想听听他们的意见. The first person I met with was a lawyer who turned out to be looking for an associate. I began working for her just a few weeks later, and it has been a great fit.

在我回去工作之前, I thought it might be challenging to re-enter the legal field after such a long break. I was pleasantly surprised at how welcoming other attorneys have been to me. Nobody seems to question my decision to stay at home with my kids.

你现在在干什么?

我在哈姆林澳博app事务所工作. I spend a lot of my time 代表贫困的父母 who are either in danger of or already have had their children removed by 马里兰 Child Protective Services. I find the work rewarding because I believe the family unit is so important. I believe in the essential right of a parent to run the family, and I think it’s important work to help maintain the bond between child and parent.

There is no doubt that this is a difficult and emotional area of the law. 父母往往处于不利地位, 进入一个对他们要求很高的系统, 他们几乎没有, 如果有任何, 控制. These parents need attorneys to help them navigate the court system and tenaciously represent them. Many of these parents have so much to deal with along with poverty. 许多人过去也曾是暴力的受害者, 许多人有精神健康或药物滥用问题. My job is to vigorously and knowledgably guide them through the legal system.