Take Five with Eddie Jauregui

This edition of “Take Five” is with Partner Eddie Jauregui (LAX), a first-generation American born to working-class Mexican immigrant parents. Born, raised and educated in Los Angeles, Eddie is part of a large extended family with seven brothers and sisters (“and lots of nieces and nephews”), making him a son, brother and uncle as well as a proud husband and dad.

YOU ARE THE FIRST PERSON IN YOUR FAMILY TO ATTEND AND GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE. WHAT DID THAT MEAN TO YOU?

Although I am proud of my roots, I know firsthand that it is hard to be a low-income or working-class person in the United States. Neither of my parents graduated from high school and both worked extremely hard to provide for us. My dad, in particular, did not want me to live with the same economic anxiety he did. He wanted me to know a life beyond struggle and he repeatedly emphasized that the way to a better life was through school. He was right, but not just because it has allowed me to live a better life economically.

Higher education has allowed me to access a fuller and richer life – it opened my mind, gave me confidence, introduced me to new experiences, and brought me in contact with people from all over the country and the world. It allowed me to view myself as fully equal to other Americans, which is no small thing for a first-generation Mexican-American kid who, on top of everything else, also happened to be a closeted gay kid until after college. It also allowed me to bring other perspectives and possibilities back to my family. While I may have been the first, I was, thankfully, not the last. My brother, a former Marine (or, more accurately, a lifelong Marine), is working on an MBA, and I also have a sister in college and a few cousins who are in college or have graduated college already.

WHAT EXPERIENCES LED YOU TO GET INVOLVED IN THE DEI SPACE?

I am a person of color, gay man and first-generation attorney. While I know how hard this profession is for everyone, I also know that people of diverse backgrounds often shoulder an incredible mental and emotional weight on top of everything else and can find the profession to be unwelcoming and isolating. And I’ve seen too many diverse lawyers leave the practice of law altogether. To me, that is not just unfortunate, it is unjust, and I want to do what I can to encourage and support other diverse lawyers to stay in the profession because our system of justice needs us, and we deserve a seat at the table.

I have been fortunate in my career to have been given many opportunities and to have learned from extremely talented legal professionals, including judges, federal prosecutors, federal defenders and law firm partners. I feel like it’s my duty to pay it forward and ensure other diverse lawyers are getting opportunities to grow and develop.

WHAT AREA(S) DO YOU THINK ARE DOING WELL, AND WHICH NEED MORE ATTENTION?

I was recently on a panel for law students featuring all gay partners at large law firms. The general sentiment seemed to be that although work remains to be done, large law firms have taken great strides in creating inclusive and welcoming places for LGBTQ+ attorneys. While I’m somewhat newly returned to private practice, that appears to be true. In terms of what needs more attention, I’d say it is the recruitment, retention and promotion of lawyers of color.

The data show that the number of African-American and Native American lawyers declined slightly over the past decade, while the increases in Hispanic and Asian-

American attorneys have been extremely modest. In law firms, African American, Latinos and Asians make up less than 10 percent of all partners, according to the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), and the numbers for women of color are particularly low, with Latinas and black women making up less than 2 percent. I think it is important that we not lose sight of these populations.

OF ALL THE WORK YOU’VE DONE IN THIS SPACE, WHAT MAKES YOU THE PROUDEST?

The first would be serving as a mentor to younger attorneys and attorneys of color. I have served as a mentor, formally and informally, numerous times in my career and I just love doing it. Part of me feels an urgent need to pass on everything I learn to someone else, whether it be substantively connected with the practice of law or just sort of “secrets to success” in a particular office or space. I have been blessed with a lot of opportunities in my career, and I want to share those far and wide.

The second is the work that I have done to help tell the stories of Latinos in the law and in our country. Together with a close friend, I created and taught a course at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law called “Los Angeles, Latinos, and the Law.” I was inspired to develop the class based on work I’d done at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in connection with diversity programming and Hispanic Heritage Month presentations, such as moderating panels on the story of Chavez Ravine (the present-day location of Dodger Stadium, which used to be home to a tight-knit Mexican American community) and on the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. In our course, we are examining a number of landmark cases involving school desegregation, redistricting, reproductive rights, criminal justice and other areas, and it is extremely rewarding to see students engage with the material and gain a whole new perspective on the social and legal history of Latinos in Los Angeles and California. While not traditional DEI work, it is, in my view, important because it centers on a group that for too long has been marginalized in history and academia, and does so in a way that honors our community’s dignity and belonging.

WHAT MAKES YOU WANT TO CONTINUE WHAT YOU DO?

For me, it comes back to justice and equality of opportunity. I have lived, studied, and worked in diverse, multicultural spaces for much of my life, and my own family has become ever more diverse through marriage. What I know for sure is that regardless of race, ethnicity, class or sexual orientation, the thing we all crave most is to be treated with dignity and respect and to be given a fair chance to succeed. A lot of time, women, people of color and other marginalized people are not provided either, and that is unjust.

Thank You for Reading

We hope you enjoyed this edition of Inclusion in Action and reading highlights of the firm’s efforts and successes in building a more diverse, equitable and inclusive organization in the second half of 2021. If you have any questions about the firm’s DEI initiatives, please contact Diversity Partner Tiffani Lee (MIA), Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Nichole Olajuwon, Diversity and Inclusion Assistant Arleen Longoria (both HOU) or Business Analytics and Diversity Manager Hamlet Bonilla (OPC).

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