JJustine graduated from UC Berkeley Law School in 2024 and is part of the first Samvid Scholars cohort. She currently works at the law firm Latham and Watkins in their London office, where she is a first-year corporate associate in the U.S. Capital Markets practice group. In this role, she advises clients on corporate transactions, including issuers and initial purchasers in connection with securities offerings. She also maintains an active pro bono practice, primarily in partnership with the International Refugee Assistance Project and Sanctuary for Families in NYC.
Justine has been involved with sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) work for nearly a decade, but it was in law school that she turned her focus to how the judicial system and family policing system keep women from leaving their abusers or reporting abuse due to fear of losing their children. She connected with two like-minded peers, Ariane Walter, and Greta Sloan, who came from child welfare and public defense backgrounds, and together they formed the Family Defense Project (FDP) to raise awareness about family defense at Berkeley Law and to create more opportunities in the Bay Area to advocate for parents. By the time they graduated, the law school decided to fund the first family defense clinic on the West Coast—a great example of the impact Justine during her time as a law student. The Samvid Scholars Team caught up with Justine this month to reflect on her time as a Scholar and what this community means to her:
What is your favorite moment or event from your time as an active Scholar?
My favorite event from my time as an active Scholar was the conference, including the Aspen seminars, in 2022. It was my first opportunity to meet everyone in my cohort face to face, and the whole weekend I felt like I was just continuing years-long conversations with old friends. Not only is my cohort truly brilliant, but they’re also genuinely good people. There was one moment where I fell into a divot on a hike and instead of letting me feel self-conscious about it for even a second, the group cracked jokes about other things to distract me. Like I said, good people. I wish we could all get together like that again (minus twisting my ankle).
Do you have any advice you would give to your fellow Scholars?
My main advice to the current Scholars is to be as present for yourself as possible during grad school and during your time together as Scholars. The years do go by so quickly, and the moments of pause are as critical to the full experience as the moments of productivity. I remember feeling so much anxiety during law school about what came next and about launching my career, and I wish I had spent more of my time and energy on my well-being outside of my work. I wish I had celebrated big and small life events more! Maybe that’s a piece of advice I should be telling myself now, too, at the beginning of my legal career.
As you plan for the year ahead, what are your goals?
I am extremely excited to see the Berkeley Law family defense clinic launch this fall, but I’m also excited to take on more pro bono work in my own practice as an attorney—specifically I’m hoping to get involved in more cases with the Domestic Abuse Response Alliance here in London. On a personal note, I am very much looking forward to my brother’s wedding and traveling a bit more around Europe!
