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VARGAS-CALDERÓN WITH HER CHILDREN, PAULA AND JOSÉ
AALM: When did you rst know you want- ed to become an attorney? What drew you to this career?
Vargas-Calderón: Originally, I decided to go to law school because I wanted to study something else besides my bachelor’s degree. I don’t have any family members that are law- yers, so I really didn’t know what I was getting into. Once I started law school and I visited a courtroom for the rst time I knew this was the right career for me. I could just feel it in my gut that I was in the right place.
AALM: Do you have any mentors or profes- sors that encouraged you along the way? What is the best lesson they taught you?
KAT VENICE PHOTOGRAPHY
Vargas-Calderón: Yes. I had many professors that I greatly admired, but I had a great men- tor that I will never forget. My rst law related job was as a law clerk for a boutique law rm in Puerto Rico called Luis Martinez-Llorens Law O ce PLLC. Mr. Martinez is literally a book and taught me more than I could ever learn in all my years of law school. I will always remember his willingness to coach me and teach me all the tips and tricks he had learned all through his career. at is something seldomly o ered as part of a job experience nowadays, but the most valued from the employee’s perspective.
When I think about lessons, cost-e ectiveness is one of the many things that come to my mind. Being e ective is one of the best qualities an attorney can have. Your clients want results and they want results now. So, you need to know what you’re doing and how much money and hours it is going to take you, so you can evaluate it against the risks of executing any given task and compare di erent approaches and options on the case. is lesson is very valuable in all aspects of the law practice, not only when you’re billing the client for your day to day tasks, but also for when you’re making the big deal decisions and assess the real value and risks of a case.
AALM: What experiences have taught you the most?
Vargas-Calderón: Nothing will ever teach me more than motherhood. I’m a rm believer of leading by example, so as a mother I have learned to be courageous and to believe in myself, so my kids can be inspired to be so when they grow up. I apply those values every day in my law practice. It doesn’t matter how much you study or how much you prepare for a case, they can take unexpected turns and make our careers very challenging, not only intellectually but also emotionally. Courage and self-con dence are very valuable assets in my practice.
AALM: What do you nd particularly rewarding about your practice? Vargas-Calderón: is one is easy.
Being an immigration attorney has uncovered a whole new legal area for
me. I nally can connect to my clients personally, I know their history, I know where they are coming from and where they want to go, I meet their families, and working hard with them I am able to help them achieve their dreams. In my professional life, I have never had a job as rewarding as my immigration law practice. When you help immigrants through their path and to nally achieve their objectives, be it asylum, a green card, citizen- ship, etc., and they say things like ‘you have been the answer to our prayers’, you just know that all this commitment and sacri ce is more than worth it ... it really feels as if you’re changing, and sometimes saving, someone else’s life.
ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · SAN ANTONIO · VOL. 1 NO. 1 16