As a criminal defense attorney, I often meet my clients at their darkest moments. My job is to shine a light—on overlooked facts, on helpful resources, on legal rights—and help to lift that darkness. It is challenging work I feel privileged to do.

I became a lawyer after years of working in higher education, the technology sector, and the restaurant industry because everywhere I looked I saw gaps in our justice system. No matter where I worked—whether with honors students at USC, the most talented computer engineers in Silicon Valley, or the hardest-working dishwashers in Los Angeles—I saw people’s rights jeopardized by systems and power structures that all too often lose sight of the real people involved. And I knew I could help.