Take 5 with Cristina Baeza
As soon as finals wrap up, UW Law students travel near and far for summer employment opportunities that offer them a chance to move beyond the classroom and see the law operate in practice. Their jobs span the gamut of law firms, government offices, nonprofits and private businesses throughout the country — and abroad. They collaborate with practicing attorneys, work with clients and delve deep into real-life legal work.
Throughout the summer, we’ll check in with rising 2L and 3L students to see the impact they’re making through their work and to invite them to reflect on how these experiences shaped their personal growth.
This week, we met up with Cristina Baeza, a rising 2L.
UW Law: Where are you working this summer?
Cristina Baeza: I’ve had two roles. I started the summer at the U.S. District Court here in Seattle for eight weeks, and then after that, I am working at where I am now, which is for seven weeks at McKinley Irvin, which is a family law firm with a pretty big footprint here in Seattle and around Western Washington.
UW Law: Are you originally from Seattle, and if not, where?
CB: I moved around a lot. I was born in Los Angeles, and halfway through my childhood, I moved to Boise, Idaho. Then I went to undergrad at the University of Arizona. So, just like a big West Coast rectangle.
UW Law: What types of projects are you working on?
CB: At the court, it was a lot of legal research and writing that involved drafting what would eventually become orders, which was very fun because you're contributing to the development of the law, sort of, in real time. And other parts of it were memos, which are just more informational for the judge.
Then at the firm, a lot of it has to do with client assets, what property they have, and a lot more litigation. So, focusing not just on trials, but alternative dispute resolution.
UW Law: Do you work as part of a team, and if so, how many people do you work with?
CB: My two jobs are very different. For the court, you do all the research by yourself. You do all the drafting by yourself. You'll get some feedback, but you implement it basically by yourself. And so the chambers was three clerks and the judge plus me, but everyone is working on their own individual matters.
At the firm, it's a little bit different. There are a lot of paralegals, and my managing attorney has one paralegal and two attorneys, sort of, under him. So, I get to work within that team.
UW Law: Are there any other legal interns you're working with?
CB: At the firm, no. I'm the only one. But at the courthouse, it was me and 11 other interns. We would meet all the time for lunch. Sometimes, we would all get together and watch hearings or trials together — we got to know each other really well.
UW Law: What type of networking opportunities have you had this summer?
CB: I've had a lot. The nice thing about working at a courthouse was that it's not just the judges there. I got to meet with the prosecutors and the public defenders, and the probation office is in the same building, so I got to meet with all of those people as well. And there's many judges. If you count the magistrate judges, there are over 30 judges at the courthouse. So, we got to meet with all of them.
At the firm, it's been nice to meet with just attorneys. It makes it simpler because everyone has a similar job. At my firm, there's really an openness with talking and being willing to network and have coffee chats and things like that. So, I have had a lot of networking opportunities.
UW Law: Have you had any “aha” moments about the law or legal practice during your time working there?
CB: Yeah, when it has to do with litigation, there's so much happening in the background. For example, when you do a mock trial in law school, you only get to do the fun part — you get to talk and give your argument. But at both of my jobs, I've had to do a lot more work and have more insight into all the background work that goes into making that argument successful. And I think that that was surprising to know that it's not just the lawyers doing all that background work, but it's their entire team behind them.
UW Law: What's been the steepest learning curve you've had so far?
CB: I think my biggest challenge transitioning from an academic environment to a more professional one has been knowing when to identify what is worth elaborating on. You need to find out what's worth dissecting and what’s a smaller issue. And being able to identify and differentiate between those two things is difficult as a student because you want to cover every ground.
But in real life, you need to know what's worth spending your time on. You need to make sure you're efficient, not just because you only have so many hours in the day, but it's truly the most efficient use of your client's time and money.
UW Law: What do you think will be the most memorable part of this experience for you?
CB: At the courthouse, I was allowed to sit on the bench with my judge when she was doing criminal sentencing. I got to see the public defender fighting for their client, I got to see them looking at the judge. I got to see the client's face when a judge was like, “I'm going to sentence you to however many months in prison for this crime that you did.” I've never had that experience before, so it was really powerful to see.
UW Law: What's one positive surprise you've had since beginning your summer employment.
CB: At both my jobs, everyone takes their work seriously, but they don't take themselves too seriously, and that's really nice.
UW Law: What's the most “lawyer-y” thing you've caught yourself saying at work, or outside of work, this summer so far?
CB: The best is when lawyers on TV object to stuff. I’ll say, “That’s not an objection” and my friends are like, “No one cares.” It irritates me because nothing happens when someone makes an objection. I'm like, “Is the objection sustained or denied?” I've done a lot of that.
UW Law: What’s one habit you picked up, good or bad, during this job?
CB: I was really good about making my coffee at home when I was in law school. I've gotten bad about it now that I've started work. So, I would say that's a pretty bad habit, simply because it's not budget friendly. But then I think a good habit I've picked up is meal prepping lunch. I think that will carry through to when I'm a student again, so that helps.
UW Law: Are there any particular practice areas or types of law you've been exposed to that you hadn't considered before?
CB: At the court, I was introduced to a lot of civil matters that felt important. It was a great way to see good lawyering and to feel inspired by the work that people are doing. It piqued an interest in me to explore plaintiff-side litigation with personal injury or product defect cases because those cases can really affect your clients.
UW Law: Has this experience changed your career goals or clarified them?
CB: I think that it’s helped clarify that I can seek out writing-intensive jobs and not feel like my writing isn't good enough. I think I've proven to myself that I can do it with deadlines and with pressure. And my time at the courthouse also taught me that I don't want to work in criminal law, which is valuable.
UW Law: What's one thing you wish you had known before starting your summer positions?
CB: Everyone here knows you're a student, but I wish I would have known that that gives you the room to keep learning. I wish someone would have told me that because people are going to give you a lot of grace and it's okay to make mistakes.
UW Law: If your office had a talent show, what would your talent be?
CB: It would probably be making the crispiest fried egg or the perfect scrambled egg or something like that.
UW Law: What's one mistake students should try to avoid during their summer job?
CB: Forcing yourself to like what you're doing. It's not a waste of your time — and you’re not a failure — if you decide to switch or do a completely different thing the following year.
UW Law: Do you have any other plans for the summer outside of your employment?
CB: So many people are taking vacations, but since I did two summer jobs, I unfortunately cannot plan one. But one thing I was able to do a lot this summer was get out on the water more. I'm planning a summer send off — like a kayak-paddleboard situation — because we have so many lakes and stuff here in Seattle. So, I've been able to do that this summer, and it's been great to enjoy the nice weather outside.
UW Law: What are you looking forward to once school starts back up in the fall?
CB: Seeing the 1L class again and being able to hear about everyone's job experiences. And not having to wear business casual.
UW Law: What's one interesting thing about you that people may not know?
CB: One thing that people might not know about me is that I really like sports. I feel like I don't give off that energy but I'm always tracking sports. I'm keeping up with my home baseball team. I'm watching figure skating at the Olympics every year. I think because I'm a law student and I like reading books, I think some people think that I don't know anything about sports, but I love sports.