Work & Experience

My interest in the law began in fifth grade. In December 2016, I stepped up to the lectern at a San Luis Coastal Unified School District board of trustees meeting to address the adults in the room. I was there to speak in support of a Safe Schools Resolution that would declare district grounds safe places for students and families regardless of immigration status — a matter of urgent concern in the weeks following the 2016 election. The board voted unanimously to adopt the resolution after a standing ovation. That night, I discovered something I have carried ever since: that my voice could be used on behalf of others, and that the law was a place where that kind of advocacy could matter.

Through middle and high school, I deepened that commitment. From seventh through twelfth grade, I competed in mock trial, an experience that sharpened my instincts for argument, evidence, and the performance of legal reasoning. During high school, I also had the privilege of interning under a number of California jurists in the superior and appellate courts, gaining an early and formative view of how legal institutions actually operate — and who they serve.

During the summer of 2025, I worked at Latham & Watkins LLP, supporting their litigation, business services, and talent acquisition departments. The experience deepened my understanding of large-scale institutional legal practice and the infrastructure that sustains it.

This summer, I will be joining the newly opened Washington, D.C. office of Stris & Maher LLP, a boutique trial and appellate litigation firm known for its sophisticated constitutional and commercial practice. I look forward to working closely with a small team on high-stakes matters.

The following summer, I will return to California to extern for a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit — a position that will allow me to engage with federal appellate law at the highest level and bring my academic interests directly to bear on legal practice.

Alongside this trajectory, I work as a research assistant to Professor Paul Robinson at Penn Carey Law School, where I assist with research on how criminal law derives its moral authority from alignment with community intuitions about justice and desert. I also serve as a Writing Fellow and Tutor at Penn's Marks Family Writing Center. Previously, I conducted sociological research with Professor Chenoa Flippen examining patterns of wealth accumulation and homeownership in the United States.

Following graduation, I plan to pursue either a master's degree in the United Kingdom — extending the work of my honors thesis on Shakespeare, cultural capital, and Anglo-American legal culture — or a position at a boutique litigation firm before law school. Ultimately, I hope to use a legal career to defend the rule of law and give voice to those who feel they don't have one.