Dean Varona, Dean Lawson, and Pacifica’s Carlos Chavez.

Pacifica Law Group had the honor last week of hosting a conversation with Tamara F. Lawson, University of Washington School of Law Toni Rembe Dean and Professor of Law, and Anthony E. Varona, Seattle University School of Law Dean and Professor of Law. During the discussion, moderated by Pacifica partner Carlos Chavez, the Deans spoke about current efforts to increase equity and inclusion in the legal profession, including the roles law schools, law firms, government attorneys, and the wider legal community can play. The Deans also offered ideas for actions legal employers and individual attorneys may take to support students and graduates from underrepresented communities, and to create a more diverse bar.

Below are some key takeaways from the conversation.

Barriers to Legal Education and How to Break Them Down

The discussion with Deans Lawson and Varona touched first on the biggest barriers to legal education that students from diverse backgrounds face, and what can be done to help grow the pipeline of legal students from underrepresented communities.

Dean Lawson noted that finances are a significant barrier to legal education. Increased scholarships and other financial support will improve access to legal education and increase the talent pool, she said. She also highlighted the importance of confidence. “Certain communities have been told more often than others that they don’t belong [in the legal profession],” she said. Welcoming, embracing, and encouraging prospective students from underrepresented communities can have a significant impact on their confidence.

Aspiration is another significant barrier, Dean Varona explained. Many prospective law students from diverse backgrounds do not have contact as children or young adults with legal professionals, and hence do not consider law careers. It is important to find ways to reach, mentor, and inspire more young people to pursue the law.

Legal education is also physically not available to many potential students, Dean Varona added. For instance, he noted the Hispanic and Latinx communities in Central Washington, and that lawyers and law schools are primarily in Seattle or elsewhere. “Not only do [potential law students] not have access to role models, but they don’t have access to local easy legal ed,” Varona explained. He later highlighted Seattle U School of Law’s effort to launch hybrid law school hubs in Yakima Valley, South Puget Sound and Anchorage, areas where no brick and mortar law schools currently exist.

Dean Varona also noted that Washington’s three law schools (Gonzaga University, Seattle University, and University of Washington) partner with Heritage University in Toppenish, WA, on the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) Program, a law school pipeline for Latino/Latina/Latinx students and Indigenous students from the Yakima Valley. The program, which is funded by LSAC and just finished its second year, has seen Heritage University graduate students into law school programs for the first time. “It’s been very successful,” Dean Varona said.

How Legal Employers Can Increase Equity and Inclusion through Hiring

Deans Lawson and Varona also discussed the impact legal employers may have in creating opportunities and widening the pool of talented early career lawyers.

They both suggested that law firms and other legal employers take a hard look at their hiring practices and consider who those practices may be excluding. Students who come to law school with fewer privileges are more prone to struggle initially in law school, causing them to miss out on opportunities such as the Law Review or clerkships, Dean Lawson noted. “Your first grades in law school put you on a pathway, or exclude you from the pathway where you can impact the profession,” Dean Lawson added. “I would encourage us all to step out of some of the traditional stereotypes or limits or barriers that we have set in our profession, around elitism, frankly, and be willing to explore each individual.”

“You have to get to the bottom of what it is that your hiring practices are really screening for,” said Dean Varona. Traditional approaches exclude students who for reasons of personal circumstance may have struggled early in their law school careers, or may not have been able to attend an elite institution. “Is there tremendous talent among other law students that haven’t achieved those particular metrics? Of course there is.” Dean Varona explained that it is common for students who do not come from privileged backgrounds to struggle early on, but to then go on to become excellent students and achieve high marks in their second and third years. “Is that kind of student captured by the current law firm recruiting model? Largely not,” he said. “Isn’t there a talent, isn’t there a tremendous gift, as an employee, as a new lawyer, in overcoming such a set of significant obstacles and becoming a successful law student?”

How Legal Employers May Help Create a More Inclusive Pipeline of Legal Students

Deans Lawson and Varona suggested that law firms also have important contributions to make in increasing the number of students who choose to pursue legal education, and in preparing those students for success.

Dean Lawson suggested law firms find ways to support students and prospective lawyers in their development of written and oral communications skills. “We all know that your writing skills are paramount for our profession. And almost always, they’re slightly lacking [in students],” Dean Lawson noted, including as a result of COVID-related educational disruptions.

Pipeline programs that reach high school and college students need much more involvement from lawyers, Dean Varona said. Legal professionals may get involved in bar association activities, or reach out to high schools and offer to speak to students. “These small things can ripple out in such important ways that it’s easy for us to underestimate,” Dean Varona explained.

On the Need for Mentoring and Sponsorship, and Attorneys’ Professional Obligations

In concluding the discussion, Deans Lawson and Varona singled out the importance of mentoring and sponsorship for students and early career lawyers from underrepresented communities. Dean Varona pointed out that the level of mentoring needs to increase. “In many of the programs that we have set up over the last several decades, ‘mentoring light’ is what we’ve been offering, and it’s simply not enough,” he explained.

Dean Varona also noted the distinction between mentoring and sponsorship, and that the latter means connecting students and early career lawyers with concrete opportunities. “We have a professional obligation as attorneys who have licenses to diversify the profession and provide pro bono service,” Dean Varona said.

Dean Lawson emphasized the importance of DEI activities leading to concrete action and commitment in the form of scholarships, externships and internships, jobs, and other opportunities for students from underrepresented communities. The challenge for law firms and for individual lawyers is to, not just check a box by participating in a DEI activity, but to “follow through…as it relates to making a true impact in the landscape of the future of our profession.”

Pacifica Law Group 2023 Summer Associates, clockwise from top left: Ariel Archie, Jonathan Ng, Molly Quillin, and Ariana Nilchian.

Summer is a critical time for law students. Summer associate positions offer many aspiring lawyers their first opportunity to test their hard-won knowledge and skills, and experience the day-to-day life of practicing law. Summer associate positions can also expose students to options and opportunities that help shape their career trajectories and aspirations.

Pacifica believes strongly in offering a positive—and dare we say, fun—summer associate experience in Seattle for rising second year law (2L) students. Our program focuses in particular on inclusivity by recruiting and supporting law students from communities and backgrounds underrepresented in the legal profession and in private law firms. In addition to our direct hires, we partner with the Gregoire Fellows Program and Legal Employers Advancing Diversity (LEAD-WA). Both of these Seattle-area initiatives share a mission of creating greater inclusion and diversity in the legal profession.

“We view the Pacifica Summer Associate program as our opportunity to support and inspire the next generation of law students, and to share with them our vision of the legal profession,” said Pacifica managing partner Denise Stiffarm. “We offer our summers a well-rounded experience by exposing them to a broad range of meaningful work across our practice groups, and to a variety of external educational opportunities.”

This summer, we welcomed four students to Pacifica: Ariel Archie (Seattle University School of Law); Gregoire Fellow Jonathan Ng (University of Washington School of Law); LEAD-WA Fellow Ariana Nilchian (University of Washington School of Law); and Molly Quillin (University of Oregon School of Law).

Our summer associates worked in our office in Seattle across our practice groups, fielding assignments, assisting with critical research and writing projects, and sitting in on meetings and legal proceedings. They attended criminal and civil hearings and a jury trial. They observed sentencing and oral arguments, and had opportunities to speak with judges in chambers.

As the summer associates’ time with us neared an end, we asked them to reflect on their experiences for the benefit of other law students who may be interested in spending their summer with Pacifica Law Group. Here’s what they had to say.

Drawn to Pacifica

As the summer associates evaluated opportunities for their first summer as law students, they gravitated towards Pacifica because of its reputation, public interest focus, opportunity to practice in different areas of the law by working with Pacifica’s five practice groups, and the connection they felt with the attorneys with whom they interviewed.

During his search, Ariel said Pacifica stood out due to its varied practice, and its work for both public and private clients. At Pacifica, he saw a chance to explore different avenues of the law. “It felt like it was a really good opportunity for me to spend some time…trying to understand what do I enjoy, what don’t I enjoy, and then go from there and figure out what it is that I want to do,” Ariel said. Ariana felt similarly. “A goal for me this summer was to try different things and see if something clicked with me,” she said.

As participants in the LEAD-WA and Gregoire Fellows programs, Ariana and Jonathan interviewed with several firms and public entities. Both said they connected with Pacifica’s emphasis on public interest work and appreciated the conversations they had with Pacifica attorneys during the interview process. “It was less question and answer. They genuinely wanted to get to know me,” Ariana recalled. “I feel like I connected with the culture in that way.”

Molly said she “appreciated that everyone in my interview spoke so highly of community-centered work…. I really value that. It was exciting to me to find Pacifica.”

Learning Skills, Developing Ideas

Asked to identify a few of the key things they learned during their summer experience, Pacifica’s summer associates highlighted a mixture of practical skills and ideas about the legal profession.

“Lawyers are very multifaceted,” Jonathan pointed out. “They aren’t just people who argue in the courtroom, they are also counselors for their clients and they really try to help their clients either evaluate risk, or even just say no to clients sometimes.” In his work with the public finance team, for instance, Jonathan saw that “a lot of their job…is being very detail oriented and understanding a kind of a microcosm of the law, to the point where you’re being a good advocate for your client in a risk management and risk assessment sort of way.”

Molly said she was not only able to develop her research skills, but saw the practical application of research. “I really valued the opportunities to take a question as some part of a case or research process…and go quickly and find the answer, and gaining strategies on how to be faster at that.” She also appreciated seeing how the answer to a seemingly minute question could become a dispositive part of a case. “It’s just really interesting to see it all come together.”

One of the biggest takeaways for Ariana was how workplace culture can influence the work of attorneys. She saw “how important it is at Pacifica not only to be good coworkers, but how much it helps in your work to connect with each other,” she said. She also learned that “the more I do within the legal field, the less sure I am what I want to do,” and that that’s okay. Through conversations with Pacifica attorneys, she felt encouraged to keep her options open and try new things. “A lot of them are not doing what they originally expected they would be doing,” she said.

Ariel said he now understands “that there is no one right way to be an attorney.” It was suggested to him previously that there is some correlation between personality type and success in the legal profession. Seeing the variation in personalities at Pacifica helped him realize that is not the case. “You can show up as your authentic self and still be a zealous advocate for your clients and do the things your clients need you to do,” he said.

The Experience of Day-to-Day Life

Another goal of Pacifica’s summer program is to provide law students with as much exposure as possible to the day-to-day life of attorneys. We want them to understand the breadth and scope of the work we do, and we enjoy giving many students their first impressions of life at a law firm. So what stood out to our summer associates?

“Everybody is reading all the time,” Molly observed. During her 1L studies, she would at times wonder about the practical application of all the reading she did, while at the same time noticing her own “stamina increase in terms of how much I can read in a day.” Seeing the amount of reading attorneys do, and how that reading translates into legal writing, has helped connect “school to real life,” she noted. “I personally love reading, so it’s been really fun for me to see that that that’s such a big part of the job.”

Both Ariel and Jonathan both noticed the agility required of attorneys, who at any given moment are asked to shift their focus between clients and matters. “It’s been impressive to see” how attorneys can switch their attention between different, frequently complex matters, Ariel related. “It wasn’t something I thought about before.” Jonathan remembers observing one attorney step in to help out a colleague on a case, quickly getting up to speed and arguing a motion on behalf of a client. “I think it’s amazing that attorneys here have this great capacity to wear many hats,” Jonathan said. “That’s been an eye-opening experience and something I didn’t fully comprehend.”

Ariana noticed how open Pacifica attorneys were not only to feedback and help from one another, but also from the Summer Associates. “They’re all very smart and accomplished, but they also appreciate our input as summers, and they want to hear from us and they’re very welcoming,” she said. She also observed that openness throughout the firm, noting that interactions between partners and associates, for instance, did not seem hierarchical. “Everyone feels like they are on the same playing field,” she explained.

No Really, It’s Fun

As part of inspiring our Summer Associates in their journeys as law students, it is also important to us that they have fun, because we do. Lawyering is frequently challenging, but we enjoy facing those challenges and working with each other to deliver for our clients. As Jonathan noted: “Everyone [at Pacifica] seems like they’re having fun at work, which is always a good feeling to have.”

Ariana said she enjoyed being able to “to try something within each practice group,” and also sitting in on practice group meetings and other day-to-day discussions. For instance, she attended a litigation moot session in which an attorney practiced an argument for a motion for summary judgment, which she found similar to a law school moot court. “I thought that was really cool that they still do that, and it was fun and interesting for me to experience,” she said.

Jonathan and Ariel both said they were uplifted by the chance test the knowledge they gained in law school. “When you’re done with your first year you’re like, ‘Ok, I did all these things, what do I actually know?’” Ariel explained. Knowing how, for instance, to find answers to questions attorneys asked, helped validate his studies. “I can see where law school has paid off,” he says. Jonathan said he feels like he’s “learning how to swim” and “realizing how much I’ve learned after only one year of law school.”

Working under the supervision of Pacifica attorneys was also fun, Molly said, because they took the time to explain the work. “When somebody gives me an assignment, they’ve really walked through it with me and helped me if I had questions,” she explained. “That makes it a lot more fun than sitting in a room freaking out about what you don’t understand.” “Everyone here has been so kind and friendly and willing to give us work and help us learn,” Ariel added.

The summers also appreciated getting to know one another, problem solve together, and discuss what they are learning in their different law school programs. “Just comparing our experiences and talking about things we have in common with each other—it’s been really fun,” Molly said.

The application window for the 2025 Pacifica Law Group Summer Associate program will open in early December, 2024. Follow Pacifica on LinkedIn to stay up to date on our Summer Associate program opportunities.

The full story is online here. Below are a few highlights:

• Faith explains how she discovered municipal finance law early in her career in part through the mentorship of another early Pacifica partner, Jay Reich. Faith “felt lucky,” she recalls, to find an area of the law focused on working with clients to finance development projects that benefit the public. “I have clients who want to do the right thing, and I get to help them with it,” Faith told Super Lawyers writer Bob Geballe.
• The article touches on Pacifica’s genesis. “We wanted to recreate a firm based in community,” Faith said in recalling what motivated her, Deanna Gregory, Gerry Johnson, Paul Lawrence, Stacey Lewis, and Matt Segal to found Pacifica. “We grew up in an era when you gave back, where you were part of the community.”
• Faith calls accepting the assignment in 2014 to co-chair Mayor Ed Murray’s Housing Affordability and Livability task force “the best yes” she has said in her career. The story gets into the challenges of the HALA process—one task force member, Sightline Institute Founder Alan Durning, called it “a 10-month hair-pull”—and explains why Faith’s leadership was essential. “She did remarkably well,” Durning recalled, at keeping the 28 members of the task force, who represented varying interests and backgrounds, engaged in building consensus. “She’s not argumentative in any way,” Durning told Geballe. “That’s a real skill: to have all the content knowledge and the skills of a Super Lawyer and to have the social skills and likability to keep a fraction group focused on the problem.”
• HALA not only successfully delivered a Seattle housing roadmap to Mayor Murray, Geballe writes, it created the Mandatory Housing Affordability program, which has raised more than $150 million in the past two years to fund affordable housing projects in the city. It also helped make affordable housing an essential topic of conversation in the Seattle community. “Prior to HALA, I think there was the view that it was an issue, but there wasn’t public engagement,” Faith told Geballe. “I think that changed.”

We are excited to see Washington Super Lawyers recognize Faith and her leadership in our community, and hope others will give this thoughtful piece a read.

We value community service at Pacifica, and we also have quite a few avid gardeners in our ranks. So we were happy to get our hands dirty with Tilth Alliance on a recent, typically beautiful summer Saturday in Seattle. Pacifica attorneys, staff, and family members joined other Tilth Alliance volunteers at the Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands, a working farm, garden, and education center that serves the Rainier Beach and wider Seattle communities.

The city park, which is owned by Seattle Parks and Recreation and co-operated by Seattle Tilth and the Friends of Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands organizations, is Seattle’s largest urban farm. Aside from being a lovely place to go for a walk on a nature trail and revel in blooming flowers, fruiting trees, and thriving organic produce, the Urban Farm & Wetlands is also a place to learn about organic food, gardening, and other environmental education topics. In addition, it offers free organic produce to the community via its two U-pick gardens, and sells food via its community supported agriculture program and farm stand.

After learning more about the Urban Farm & Wetlands, we dug in to help clear bindweed, English Ivy, blackberries, and other weeds from a rain garden and the apiary, and helped construct a trellis in the vegetable gardens.

Volunteer opportunities abound at Rainier Beach Urban Farm & Wetlands and with the wider Tilth Alliance organization, which is working “to build a sustainable, healthy, and equitable food future” for Washingtonians. We encourage you to learn more about the organization and consider supporting their work.

Originally formed in 1968 as the Loren Miller Bar Club, the LMBA is a civil rights organization named after famed civil rights attorney Loren Miller, who successfully argued Shelley v. Kramer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948), the U.S. Supreme Court case that found covenants that prohibit property sales to non-Caucasians unconstitutional. In the 55 years since its inception, the LMBA has celebrated the birth, growth, maturation, and success of the Pacific Northwest Black legal community, including its law students.

“The LMBA and its members make such a significant contribution to our community and to progress in the legal profession,” said Pacifica managing partner Denise Stiffarm. “We appreciate and are happy to support their work, including their efforts to uplift law students, and we’re excited to see the Seattle legal community come out to recognize Ariel and his peers.”

Ariel is a rising second year law student at the Seattle University School of Law and the incoming president of Seattle U’s Black Law Student Association (BLSA). He has excelled in the classroom, earning the Dean’s Diversity Award and was a First Year Fellow with the University’s Access to Justice Institute, and has made significant contributions during his internship with the litigation group at Pacifica. Ariel is also active in his community through his work with the BLSA. Ariel began his career in human resources at Amazon, and he looks forward to transitioning his work to a legal career in public service.

The LMBA Summer of Success Celebration will take place on Thursday, July 27, 2023 at Communion Restaurant.

Why did you choose your area of practice and what do you like most about it?

My decision to pursue litigation continues to be driven by my interest in several substantive legal matters, including those which pertain to securities, consumer protection, intellectual property and commercial law, the False Claims Act, and class action defense. Practicing in those areas continues to provide me insights into issues public and private businesses and public-private partnerships face in various legal contexts, and has allowed me to assist clients with some of their most sensitive matters. These are the aspects of my practice from which I derive great professional and personal fulfillment.

Why did you choose to practice law at Pacifica Law Group?

My decision to practice at Pacifica was motivated by the firm’s proven track record in complex disputes, the opportunity to practice with and learn from the firm’s esteemed partners, and my shared commitment to public outreach and service.

WHAT KINDS OF VOLUNTEER, PHILANTHROPIC, OR COMMUNITY EVENTS ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU?

In addition to serving the WSBA’s Section on Antitrust and Consumer Protection as a member of its Executive Committee, I enjoy volunteering and helping members of my community obtain access to justice.

What is something others might find surprising about you?

I’m constantly in search of a great grilled cheese.

What is your favorite past adventure?

Without a doubt, my pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago.

Why did you choose your area of practice and what do you like most about it?

I chose Litigation because I enjoy research and writing and there’s always new issues and questions to dig into. Also, I love that litigation can have a direct, positive impact.

Why did you choose to practice law at Pacifica Law Group?

I chose to practice at Pacifica because the lawyers here are very bright and talented, but also are compassionate and involved in the community.

WHAT KINDS OF VOLUNTEER, PHILANTHROPIC, OR COMMUNITY EVENTS ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU?

I’m new to Seattle, so am still looking for ways to get involved in the community, but I previously served on the Leadership Council for Boston Scores and volunteered with organizations that provided services to sexual assault and domestic violence survivors. 

What hobbies and activities do you participate in outside of work?

I am a huge sports fan, particularly women’s sports. I played soccer in college and continue to play in an adult league and am a big supporter of the Seattle Reign and Seattle Storm. I also watch English Premier League soccer every weekend.

What is your favorite past adventure?

Going to Old Trafford to watch Manchester United play in person.

Why did you choose your area of practice and what do you like most about it?

I chose litigation because I think it can have a direct impact on people’s lives. I enjoy the variety of tasks from brief writing to court appearances as well as the fast-paced nature of the practice.

Why did you choose to practice law at Pacifica Law Group?

I chose to practice law at Pacifica Law Group because I greatly admire its commitment to public service and to the community. Additionally, it has a reputation as one of the leading law firms in the state, and I knew that it would be a place that I could continue to grow as a lawyer.

What kinds of volunteer, philanthropic, or community events are important to you?

I currently serve on the board of the Joint Minority Mentorship Program. This program matches experienced lawyers and judges with law students and young lawyers, who self-identify as underrepresented in the legal community. The pairs are encouraged to meet at least three times per year. In addition, the board organizes events throughout the year that the pairs can attend. Some examples of events we have organized in the past are a panel on different pathways to the bench and a rooftop networking event.

What is something others might find surprising about you?

I wanted to be a concert violinist when I was younger and went to the Peabody Conservatory of Music for my undergraduate degree in violin performance.