Inspiring leaders: Julia López

Continuing our Inspiring Leaders series, in this episode we kick off Hispanic Heritage Month by featuring Julia López, the partner chair of UNIDOS, Reed Smith’s Hispanic/LatinX business inclusion group. Julia is the national finance director for the Hispanic National Bar Association and past president of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey.  She shares her sources of inspiration that drive her success and ability to overcome challenges.  Julia provides valuable advice to our listeners on inclusive leadership and the importance of fairness and justice.

Transcript:

Intro: Hi, I'm John Iino and I'm Iveliz Crespo. Welcome to the Reed Smith podcast Inclusivity Included: Powerful Personal Stories. In each episode of this podcast our guests will share their personal stories, passions and challenges, past and present, all with the goal of bringing people together and learning more about others. You might be surprised by what we all have in common, inclusivity included.

John: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. As usual, joined by our co-host Iveliz Crespo. Hey, Iveliz.

Iveliz: Hey, John, how are you?

John: Great. Hey, just got back from vacation. Huh?

Iveliz: I did. It was great. I almost didn't come back.

John: It's always so tough. I know that those first couple of days and, you know, I always find when I'm back from vacation, my mind is still, whether it's slow or it's mushy, it's just not, not sharp, but uh I don't know if you're going through the same thing.

Iveliz: Oh, man, I can tell you that I have like 400 emails that I'm working my way through slowly but surely.

John: Yeah, I tell you, it's, it's tough to come back. But for me, uh you know, I, I, when I was in on, on summer vacation, I came back, It's the first couple of days, obviously you're catching up and all those things like that. But then you kind of reassess like why we're doing what we do. And for me, it's just kind of aligning with purpose and the, the, the day to day things that we do to support our program is, and then really made me realize it's as great as vacation was, It's really great for what we do. And so at least for me that's where I've, where I've gotten to, you know, and, and, and days coming back from vacation.

Iveliz: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm certainly feeling very refreshed, which is good. In this work, you do need to recharge to continue fighting that good fight. And speaking of which I think, you know, I'm really excited to be introducing our guest today for this episode. We are thrilled to be continuing our Inspiring Leaders series with our next guest, Julia Lopez, who if you've tuned into some of our other episodes, you may recognize because Julia has certainly been a guest here before.

For those who aren't as familiar with Julia, let me just give you a little introduction as to who Julia is now. Julia is a partner in Reed Smith's Life Sciences Health Industry Group and primarily defends pharmaceutical and medical device companies and products liability and commercial litigation. She represents clients in New Jersey Courts as well as courts across the United States in both federal and state litigation. Julia is also a DEI leader, both at Reed Smith and in the legal community. At Reed Smith she serves as the partner chair of UNIDOS, our Hispanic Latinx Business Inclusion Group for the Hispanic Latinx attorneys and professional staff at the firm. She is also the National finance director for the Hispanic National Bar Association and is a routine contributor to the DEI space. So welcome Julia. We are so thrilled that you are able to join us for our fourth episode in our Inspiring Leader series.

Julia: Thank you so much Iveliz and welcome back. I'm so glad you had an opportunity to recharge in the DR and glad to have you back and glad to join you and John on this podcast.

John: Welcome Julia.

Iveliz: So Julia I've been blessed to kind of really get to know you since I've joined Reed Smith and I'm certainly very impressed with you always and your career is certainly blossoming. But what I'd like to do is, you know, we're going to talk about all your accomplishments and the like. But what I'd really like to do for now is really get to know who you are. I want to talk about your personal story, you know, tell us your story, your journey to being the leader that you are today.

Julia: Sure Iveliz happy to and, and I will say this is the hardest part of the podcast when you open up about your personal life, but I'm happy to do that and to share what we do here, we are sharing personal stories. Well, I guess my, my story starts with the fact that I'm the product of two of the hardest working parents, my late abuela, my grandma. I was born in Guatemala from Guatemalan parents. My father and my mother had me when they were pretty young. I think they were like 22 with three kids. My father was a blue collar worker at Nestle Corporation in Antigua Guatemala, which is one of the loveliest towns. And I highly recommend that you visit that next. He he was a blue collar worker and, and at the time, this was like the early eighties, there was an influx of communism into Central America and a lot of the foreign corporations started to leave Guatemala and other Latin American countries. So my father lost his job. We had a pretty nice living. He owned his house. He had very little bit left to pay on a mortgage at the time. So he was faced with a hard decision and having to leave home, go to the United States and try his plan was to try to make some money, come back to Guatemala and with a little bit of money and start his own shop.

Of course, that plan completely changed. He came in 1982 by Christmas of that year. He missed us. He was homesick. He told my mom go get your visas. I need you guys here by January. My mom jumped on that, we jumped on a plane and by February 1983 we were all here. We settled in a town Elizabeth New Jersey, which is an urban town that's really, really diverse. I went to public schools my entire early childhood. We faced discrimination, like a lot of, you know, diverse communities. You're faced with discrimination. But I will say it wasn't until I went to college and I had the fortune of getting into really good schools. My father always said my mother and my grandma, they always said, you know, education is the key to success.

So I, I was very focused on getting into the best schools. I got into Ivy League schools. I ended up going to Georgetown University, loved it, loved the academic experience, but had some real challenges. And for the first time, really experienced discrimination at a, at a new level and it really shaped me and changed, changed my path, changed my way of seeing life, opened my eyes to some of the harsh realities that we're still facing in 2022. But it prepared me, right. It was one of those experiences that also shaped me and made me resilient and helped me kind of forge through down my path. I came back to New Jersey and I went to Rutgers Law School. I'm a proud minority student program graduate. I then clerked for two of New Jersey's finest jurists justice Johnny Wallace of the Supreme Court of New Jersey and Judge Esther Salas at the District Court of New Jersey and learned so much from the two of them. In 2014, I joined Reed Smith as an associate and at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 I made partner. So that's, that's my journey in a nutshell.

John: Fantastic. I just lo love hearing all, all your successes. But at the same time, you know, the challenges you talk about discrimination when you got to Georgetown and, and like you say, the harsh realities of world we live in. So I'm curious in terms of all your lived experience, Julia, how, how, how has that shaped your approach to the law? How it shaped your approach to serving clients?

Julia: Thanks for that question. I think it's a great one. You know, we're certainly all a product of our lived experiences and really, that's the beauty of being diverse. We bring a very unique, diverse experience, you know, and I think there's a couple of things. I think first, my culture has impacted my profession and my approach to the legal industry, the profession and my clients, you know, my parents would have smacked me if I didn't say good morning or behaved. So I think people are sometimes surprised about how friendly I am, you know, with everyone from the global managing partner to the cook in the kitchen, to the cleaning lady that stops by my office every day. Uh To me, it's, you know, part of my culture, part of my culture and my upbringing taught me was just to be a decent human being and be kind and be warm and affectionate. That is, you know who I am. And that's the, the type of person I am in the office and outside of the office.

I think, second, I think I'm also a people person. Business development is, is not easy. But I, but I think I've learned how to make personal connections with people. I listen to their stories and I think that has helped me with potential clients and existing clients. I've been able to kind of bring that warmth into conversations and develop real connections. And then I will also say that, you know, I believe in fairness and justice and that whether I'm representing a pro bono client or a pharmaceutical company, you're entitled to a fair representation and fair adjudication. You know, I've been on both sides and, and I've seen, you know, I've seen that when I've seen injustice, I've seen when a plaintiff doesn't have the right advocacy. But I've also been on the other side, you know, my father had a heart transplant nine years ago now and I can really, really appreciate, you know, everything that the pharmaceutical companies do to help our communities.

You know, I think it's really naive when people think that, you know, there's the good guys and the bad guys. And you know, pharmaceutical companies help, helped us get through the pandemic with the vaccinations, with their investments into medicine and science. And it saved my dad, it saved my dad. It has given him quality of life. So all of those lived experiences have really shaped my career today.

John: I love so much that you said there, you know, just, just be kind and then that's whether it's cultural, we all can learn that and what you said, listening to people's stories just to, you know, how, how that creates connections. If we all could just be great listeners, we would be best, you know, be kind, but we'd be, you know, create stronger relationships and the belief in fairness and justice and, and not every company, it's not black and white, they're not all good guys and bad guys and so love everything you said about that. Thank you for sharing.

So I, I'd like to shift gears a little bit for, with, with our series here called Inspiring Leaders. Let's talk about your development and leadership. Now you're leading our, our Latinx group. You're the national finance director for the Hispanic National Bar Association. You're the, I know you're the past president of the Hispanic Bar Association in New Jersey. To share with our audience how did you position yourself for these roles? And what do you think the key skills that people need to, to achieve these roles? And what skills have you learned since you've been in these roles?

Julia: Sure, John. I hope I don't forget any of your questions. But, well, you know, I think, I'm an immigrant and my family had to start in this country from zero in a leaving home. All right, with a new language. So I knew that I had to be hungry. I knew that I needed help. And I also quickly realized that there were trailblazers in my community, in the legal community that had come before me had already started to pave the path for me. And that it would be kind of silly if I didn't take advantage of everything that they, they had built before me. And someone in law school, my very first year told me that networking starts now, literally, my first day in law school, networking starts today. And, you know, I, like I mentioned, I came from a family of blue collar workers. Uh We weren't, we didn't even speak the language. So I knew that that was key for me to develop a network.

So I've, you know, I've also devoted my entire career to serving the Latino legal community and impacting change. So that is, I think what has helped me position myself for these positions? I've always raised my hand. I've always said, presente, I don't shy away from work. I understand, you know, our jobs are not 9 to 5, but there's certainly so much more that we have to do after hours to really be successful and really make an impact in the legal community. So as far as some of the skills, you know, I think I make real connections with people. That's one of the things that I mentioned, I just mentioned. I also think that I try to be an inspiring leader. That's, that's really key for me being an inspiring leader. You can't just have a, it's the carrot and the stick analogy, right? You can't just always have a stick. You have to inspire people.

I've learned how to manage a heavy workload and multitask in these roles because there is so much to do, you know, the day starts early and it ends really late every single day and on the weekends and I, you know, I'll share public speaking is something that didn't come naturally to this immigrant. In second grade I remember stuttering, I remember not knowing English. I remember being in ESL classes and I remember being terrified when the teacher would ask me to speak in front of the classroom or read from a book. I could barely get through a sentence. And today, you know, I stand in, in crowds at the HNBA conferences with 700 people and I'm, I'm seeing, you know, galas. And so, you know, these are, you know, I've been fortunate to be able to develop these skills with all of these other opportunities.

Iveliz: That's amazing, Julia and you know, I just want to echo what John has been saying about your wonderful career and leadership abilities. And one of the things that I often think about is, you know, you are a role model and a mentor to so many people, people look up at you and I think it's easy for people to forget that that didn't come easy, right? That, that the success that you have was all a result of hard work. And like myself, I'm sure there were many challenges along the way.

And I want to focus a little bit on that because I believe that those lived experiences really shape who we are. How have you navigated some of those challenges that you face? For example, like being the only woman in the room or in many instances being the only Latina woman in a room or the only Latinx person. And then, you know, we can end with what advice would you give to members of our community to immigrants on reaching your level of success or, you know, this leadership level that you've attained?

Julia: Oh what a what a profound question Iveliz. You know, I will start with the beginning of that. You said something critical there is that people sometimes look at us and think, oh, she had it easy. Everything's good. You know, and it's been quite the opposite. There are so many challenges and one thing that I've come to realize is that, and it's sad but a lot of, uh, you know, I'm obviously surrounded by a lot, a huge network of diverse Latinx, you know, black and brown and other diverse attorneys in my in my path, and one thing that I've noticed is that when we reflect upon our lives, a lot of us have learned to be resilient and to have to forge ahead because we've gotten through so many hard challenges.

So the discrimination that, you know, I have faced in the courtroom or in a deposition is really the least of my worries. I, I don't listen to it. I don't let it impact me because I've been through so many harder battles in my life and I don't know if it's because of we're a product of hardship in life and that has shaped us, you know, but I'll share a few personal examples. I'm not gonna go through all of them because I, I don't know how many hours you have here, but I'm gonna keep it brief. But I have a friend who one day stopped me and said, do you realize that all of us in there was like, there's four girls in my my one really small group of girlfriends that I have, and she said we have all lost a sibling tragically and I stopped for a second to think, oh my God, that's so true. And it's, it's, you know, it was a profound epiphany of how we have bonded. But how much hardship we have gotten through that has shaped our success today. You know, I lost a brother when I was 14. He was a young age of 10. And at the time I wasn't able to advocate for him. I tried my best at a hospital. I remember talking to the doctors and, and trying at the age of 14 to convince them that they need to do more, that he's not getting the attention that he needed. I, I then had to face a legal battle with my father, but I was too young. I was way too young. I didn't really understand the system and I didn't know how to advocate for myself or my family.

After years of, of struggling and you know, the hardships that we faced as early immigrants in this country. You know, I went through a really ugly child custody battle when my parents decided to go their separate ways. And again, the legal system made the decisions for us. We didn't really have the best advocates or maybe my father did. He ended up having custody of my sister and I, my mother ended up having custody of my brother who, who is now deceased. But these were moments in our lives that shaped us completely changed our paths. We have had challenges with mental illness in our family. At Georgetown, I had a roommate who accused me of being a gang member and I had to go before a disciplinary committee to explain that that was just the worst kind of racism I had ever faced and that it was based on absolutely no truth. And then, you know, it, you know, like I said, about nine years ago, my father had a heart transplant. We almost lost him. He was given 6 to 9 months to live. And, and that's a hard thing to face when your, your father is your world. And at this time, you know, I'm much older. I have uh I have a degree. Um I remember clerking for Judge Salas at the time and I remember going to the doctor speaking to every single possible doctor, getting him on the right hospitals, getting advice, figuring out how to put him on a transplant list. And because I finally felt like I had a voice and I had empowered myself with my law degree, not just to do the work in the courtroom, but really to empower my family. I mean, I know it's by the grace of God first that he is alive. But I do think that, you know, God put me and my career and everything in our paths so that he could be here today.

But then I also think about, you know how my parents had to leave their home in their early twenties to a country with foreign people with a foreign language where they were treated like third class citizens. And I think about my abuela, my grandma, and how she raised my dad on her own, how she had to sell food and she was really proud of it. And, and she was the best cook, but she sold food at a courthouse to judges and attorneys outside of a courthouse in Guatemala in order to raise my father. And then she came to the United States when she was my age today to help raise me and my siblings, She worked at a factory and then she came home and she cooked for us. She helped raise, you know, another three grandchildren that weren't hers. And when, then I think about the fact that we were actually lucky because the best thing that my father did was to take me back to Guatemala every single summer and show me true hardship. And that helped me really appreciate every single thing that I have, I had then, and I have and even more than I have now, right at, we never had or wanted for, for anything really that we needed. We had a roof over our heads. We had food in our bellies, we had clothes on our backs and my father and my mother and my abuela instilled in us that education was the key to success.

So when that voice kicks in, Iveliz to your second point, the imposter syndrome, or when somebody in is looking at me the wrong way in a courtroom, or when I'm alone in a room with people that look, nothing like me, I really try my best to remember that I went to law school. I got the same degree. I passed the same bar exam. I remind myself that I may not be the smartest or the most experienced, but I am prepared and I can do this. And so, you know, the bottom line is like I've really overcome harder battles. So I try to quiet that voice and ignore those looks and ignore those comments because I, my life has prepared me to be resilient.

Iveliz: That's amazing. You know, Julia, I think if I could just take that little snippet and play it for myself every morning, I think I would be a different person, right? I think that what you said is truly powerful and truly inspiring and, you know, there's always this theme that we do on this podcast and it always just seems to pop up for me and that's that, you know, we are our ancestors' wildest dreams, you know. To think of everything that they did for us, right? For us to be living these, these lives. It's truly, you know, a blessing and truly a a result, right, Of all of their hard work.

John: Yeah, Julia, that, that was like you dropped the mic moment. I almost felt like, wow, let's just, let's just celebrate that, that on, on, on, on what you just said, it's just so so powerful. I wanna shift it towards the the to inclusive leadership, the topic of inclusive leadership. So here at Reed Smith, where we put a lot of emphasis around inclusive leadership. We wanna make sure that all of our members of our firm are focused on inclusive leadership. So whether you're on our senior management team, you're leading a team, you're a senior associate and working with others. You know, it's so important for it to be an inclusive leader. Similarly, on our professional staff, whether you're a manager or a director, you know, how you really focus on being inclusive. So for you, what does the term inclusive leadership mean to you?

Julia: Sure John and you know, this is a really good point and I think you both have been doing a great job of, of leading that effort to make sure that we're all being inclusive leaders at the firm. So thank you for that. But to me, I think inclusive leadership means making sure that everyone has a voice that, that I am bringing out the very best in everyone, that I am helping to fix crowns discreetly, as I would say in order so that we can foster that growth, right? You have to know how to pivot depending on the talents of your team. You know, everyone can bring something very meaningful to a project or to, to whatever we are working on at the moment. But you have to really understand what, how they function, how they work, whether they need the carrot or the stick, whether, you know, they, they like working individually or whether they like to work as a group, you know, inclusive leadership also means to me that we need to make sure that everyone is represented because nothing is more important to me than the phrase representation matters. This has been a constant theme in my life. I firmly believe that if people are not at that table, we're not really being inclusive leaders.

John: Fantastic, you know, and, and just for our audience to you, you talked about a little bit of some of the traits or just behaviors that you, you do to be an inclusive leader. And I, you know, you said be kind, listen to people and try to lift up people and get to know them and understand their individual circumstances. What are some other activities, specific tactical things that you do to really be an inclusive leader?

Julia: Sure, John, I mean, I think, you know, when I think of all the leaders at Reed Smith or at the bar Association that have, that I aspired to be like, you know, I do think about, you know, being kind because some of the folks that have inspired me to be another leader or, or and have fostered my growth have been kind. But I also think they've been extremely encouraging and, and uplifting, you know, they have really believed in me and, and I, I thank them so much. They're also honest with me when I need that, but they do it in a way that encourages my growth and it, it provides constructive criticism and it helps me develop, has helped me develop into the leader that I hope to be today. I also think that they are, they're fair.

You know, I remember when I joined Reed Smith, there was, there's one partner who I, I was an associate at the time and I worked a lot for her and, you know, I remember that first email and she did this all the time and not just with me, she did this with everyone, but she would send an email to the client to, you know, the CRL in the case and she would, she would attribute, you know, whatever was done to the associate that actually did the work. You know, there are so many times where I see folks, you know, take the credit for some someone else's work and, you know, I don't think that's fair, you know, I think that there's something about being a real team and, and being fair that, that, you know, she taught me, right? It's so important to make sure to give credit where credit is due. And that will also get everybody more excited about delivering the best work product and being a good team, right? And so that's, I would say that's number two.

I would say third, I was, I think that all of the leaders that I aspire to be like, have taken time and invest the time to mentor me, to sponsor me and to teach me. So those are things that I try to do. I try to do today, whether at Reed Smith or in the bar association. You know, if I sign up to be your mentor or your sponsor, you're gonna get my attention. And I, I have recognized that I'm busy but you're gonna get my time and I am invested in your career too because folks have done that for me and it's my responsibility to pay it forward. And I would say the last thing that I think about leaders that, that I want to aspire to be like is you have to be passionate, passionate about whatever it is you're doing, passionate about your work at Reed Smith. You know what, whatever practice area you you're in, if you don't like it, switch to another team, find your passion in the legal industry, but you have to be passionate about the work you do and, and if it's outside of, you know, why do I do everything that I do at the bar association? Because I'm passionate about that, that work, I'm passionate about impacting change in the legal industry. So I, I think, I think those are the traits that  I think about when I think of those leaders that I aspire to be like.

Iveliz: That's amazing. So Julia, who have been your role models and, and how have your mentors and sponsors really supported your career and how have you developed those relationships? Because we know they're very important, particularly for women of color in the legal industry.

Julia: Yeah, that's so true, Iveliz. Well, I'll say, you know, my first mentors and role models are my parents, my mom and dad, you know, because they, their work ethic, their ability to just forge ahead despite whatever life throws at them has been really inspiring to me and motivation for me to continue to try to, you know, give back and to try to be the best that I can be on this earth. Second, I will say my mentors really come from, you know, the Bar Association and the law firm, right? And I think, you know, for me, these, you, you can't just force a relationship. They've, they've been very organic, you have to kind of get over your fear um as a young diverse attorney and show up at events and you're gonna maybe make a connection with one of the 20 people that you meet, but that might lead to a, you know, grow your network, that person might introduce you to other folks. And, and really, that's when you start to develop meaningful relationships.

I think one thing that I did that I hear has had, has really been well received by my path in the Bar Association world was the fact that I didn't just take, right? As a mentee as a, uh, as someone that was trying to learn and, and I needed someone to teach me the way I didn't just take, you know, I always made sure to volunteer. So, if you took the time as the president of the Hispanic Bar Association, when I was a baby law student and you had lunch with me and told me about, you know, you should consider clerking or you should consider this or, you know, have you thought about this? You know, they're, they're really busy. I knew that they, they're already practicing attorneys, they're running organizations outside of their, their regular jobs. And so I always made sure to find a way to contribute and give back to them. So, for example, you know, I remember being right out of my first clerkship, I worked at another law firm and I signed up to, to run and co-chair a committee that organized the CLE conference for the Hispanic Bar Association. That person is still to this day, grateful for everything I did for him that year that made his life easier as president, right? And to this day, if I say, hey, can I borrow your house at LBI, you know, he's quick to say, of course. So, you know, we, I've developed real friendships because it's not just about taking and I think that's really important that I, I know we, we need information and I know we, we seek to learn and people that actually, you know, spend the time to teach it, you know, should be thanked, number one. I'm super grateful to all of those people because like I said, they are super busy. And so I really appreciated it.

And I think at the law firm, same thing applies, right? You're not going to have a perfect organic relationship with every single person that's in your path. But you're going to make connections with some and those people that take the time to take you to a client to, to teach you something about the practice area to invite you to a conference to pull you aside and just say, hey, you know, I saw you did this today. I wanna say that was a great thing that you did. Maybe this time next time, I would also do this. People that take the time to invest in my career, my mentors, you know, I'm always super grateful for that. So if there's anything I can do to make their lives easier, I've always tried to do that and, you know, we talk a lot about as associates. You know, we need to be able to learn how to manage up and manage down, especially if you're like a mid level or a senior level associate. Well, that's part of that, right? These are when I have role models that are, that are giving back to me, I'm also trying to make their lives easier because they are my, my client internally at the firm.

John: Such great advice, Julia, I really appreciate all of that because I've always said that mentorship is a two way street, just not, you know, mentor me, mentor me, mentor me. I really have to give back and like you say, how to make people's lives easier. I'd like to close with a question you hit on it at the beginning and all the things you're doing and how you're developing your, your network and, and all these relationships you're building at the same time being such a successful lawyer and leader. How are you able to balance all these things that the demands of the career with, with a personal life?

Julia: Oh, I wish I had a magic answer John. I'll be honest. It's a struggle. It is a struggle. You know, I am, you know, if you've taken anything away from this podcast, I am huge on family. Family is my life. I, I love my family dearly. I come from a culture where, you know, we have Christmas parties with 40, 50 people that, you know, come together at every single holiday, at every single birthday. And so, you know, they, they have been a big part of my life and, and, you know, I, I choose to always make time for them, but I work a lot and I work late and sometimes I have to make sacrifices. You know, that's part of, that's part of the career that we've, we've chosen. I'm now very focused on business development as a partner. You know, I'm often traveling, I'm trying to get out there to meet potential clients to go to events. I'm running bar associations.

But I remember, you know, that, you know, it kind of others haven't had this opportunity, you know, the statistics, but there's less than 4% Latinx attorneys in big law. Less than 4%. Less than 2% are Latinas and less than 1% ever make partners as Latinas. That hasn't changed in 10 years. So when I remember those statistics, you know, I remember that, you know, I need to forge ahead and I need to figure it out. But, but if I'm honest, you know, I, I always try to remember to take care of myself to get a good workout in and if I need a massage, I'll book it, I'll book it at the spa.

Iveliz: Julia you know, I've always enjoyed our conversations. As I've said to you personally, you're one of my favorite people at the firm. And you and I have done a lot of work across DEI particularly helping clients with it. And I always say it's such a pleasure to have you because you bring such energy and such commitment to this kind of work. Uh So again, thank you for coming on to our podcast and sharing your personal story. You know, I, I love this part of our podcast because I think there are a lot of people out there, you know, I, I like to say, and one of the questions that I was gonna ask, we didn't get to is what would you say to the little girl version of yourself? Right? Um Because I think there are people listening who may not know what's next, right? May be facing imposter syndrome. And I think these stories particularly yours and how powerful it is, really does help people and really does, you know, give some guidance to people who may be thinking about what their next steps are or you know, how they can reach the levels of success that you have. So again, thank you so much for all that you do and to champion diversity and inclusion in this legal industry and for coming on our podcast, it's truly been a privilege.

Julia: Thank you so much, Iveliz, I also love working with you and I thank you and John for really empowering us and teaching us at the firm. I was really honored and humbled that you asked me to tell my story today. And I'm even more grateful to learn from you. And, and I feel very lucky that we have had two incredibly passionate DEI leaders shaping our firm today. So thank you for everything that you both do.

John: Thank you, Julia.

Outro: Inclusivity Included is a Reed Smith production. Our producer is Ali McCardell. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher. PodBean and reedsmith.com.

Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for educational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice and is not intended to establish an attorney-client relationship, nor is it intended to suggest or establish standards of care applicable to particular lawyers in any given situation. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Any views, opinions, or comments made by any external guest speaker are not to be attributed to Reed Smith LLP or its individual lawyers.

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