LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we want to tell you about a special event helping Latinos work toward a future in law.
A group of valley attorneys are breaking financial barriers by providing scholarships for students looking to get into law school.
FINANCIAL BARRIERS
The path to becoming an attorney was not easy for Melissa Corral.
"My mother came here undocumented. She had no idea what the LSAT was," Corral said. "She knew I needed to go to college. But she didn't know what entailed to go to college or even less law school. So, it's all about, in that instance, me taking the reins of I want to do this and me figuring it out."
"Three tries at the LSAT, five tries for the bar, and where are you now?" I asked.
"I'm currently an attorney. I've been practicing for seven years," Corral said.
Now that she is an attorney, she's hoping others who come from similar backgrounds won't have to go through what she went through.
That's where Marisa Rodriguez and the Nevada Latino Bar Association come in, creating the Andale 5K. For five years, it aims to raise funds for scholarships for Latino students who want to become lawyers.
SCHOLARSHIPS
"Fewer than five percent of attorneys are Latinos, and the number is even worse here in Nevada because we represent 30 percent of the population, and we still only represent about 5 percent of the attorneys," Rodriguez said.
Money raised from this event goes toward scholarships that cover an LSAT prep course and the LSAT exam fee, which Rodriguez says is around $2,000.
"It's incredibly important, especially for those people who may not have someone in their circle who can help them navigate through the process," Rodriguez said.
Someone like Corral, going from student to mentor, or as her mentees call her, Dona.
"I don't like saying that because that makes me feel really old," Corral said.
FUTURE GENERATIONS
"But I can see where they're coming from. It's a respectful sort of salutation. Maybe they see me as somebody that has a practice that they want to be someday," she said.
Something she says she didn't have when she was in their shoes.
"If you want it and work hard enough, you'll get there," she said.
