
The FPOC Podcast
By Anthony Solana

The FPOC PodcastJul 06, 2023

"Go Tell It on the Mountain" | Ep. 10
For People of Color, Inc.'s board members Sunita Bali-Williams, Rod Fong, Willie Brown, Tony Tolbert, and Anthony Solana, Jr. discuss the UNC and Harvard U.S. Supreme Court decisions.
Supreme Court Decisions: 20-1199 Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (06/29/2023) (supremecourt.gov) I've Been to the Mountaintop: I Have Been to the Mountaintop Full Speech - YouTube A Letter from Birmingham Jail: Letter from Birmingham Jail, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (letterfromjail.com)

A Conversation with Norma Nava Franklin | Ep. 9
Norma Nava Franklin is a Deputy Attorney General in the Land Use and Conservation Section of the California Department of Justice. She represents California state agencies in litigation in federal and state forums on matters involving housing and housing element enforcement, resource conservation of environmentally sensitive habitats, protection and maintenance of state lands, and coastal development. Norma returned to public service after a decade in private practice.
Previously, she was a partner in the Los Angeles office of Garcia Hernandez Sawhney, LLP. Her practice specialized in complex litigation and representing the firm’s education and municipal clients. After graduating from UCLA School of Law, Norma clerked for Hon. Oliver W. Wanger (ret.), United States District Court, Eastern District of California. Norma is a seasoned trial attorney with vast experience litigating complex disputes in federal, state, appellate, and administrative tribunals.
Apart from her litigation work, Norma is passionate about civil rights. She worked as a legal fellow with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Drug Law Reform Project and is Vice President of For People of Color, Inc., an organization that provides free law school admissions consulting services to thousands of potential law school students.
Specialties: Litigation, Public Law, Environmental Law
Law School: University of California at Los Angeles School of Law
Practice Regions: State of California, United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, United States District Court for the Central District of California
Accomplishments:
2018 Hispanic National Bar Association Top Lawyers under 40
2015 Justice Cruz Reynoso Community Service Award, Mexican American Bar Association
2014 Alumna of the Year, UCLA School of Law La Raza Law Students Association
2005 Hewlett Foundation I American Bar Association Section of Environment Energy and Resources Minority Fellowship Program-Environmental Justice Fellow
Community Involvement:
Vice President and Board Member, For People of Color, Inc.
Member, Mexican American Bar Association
Member, Latina Lawyers Bar Association

A Conversation with Agustin D. Orozco, Partner, Crowell & Moring LLP | Ep. 8
Given his background as a former federal prosecutor, clients trust Agustin Orozco to lead complex white collar cases and investigations, handle contentious and sophisticated pretrial litigation, and successfully prove highly difficult cases at trial. Agustin’s experience as a federal prosecutor and government contracts attorney leaves him uniquely situated to help clients where government contracts and white collar intersect.
Agustin represents clients in criminal and civil government investigations and enforcement actions. He also represents and counsels clients on matters involving federal, state, and local government contracts. Agustin has litigated civil False Claims Act matters and other government contracts issues, such as disputes, claims, and terminations, as well as suspension and debarment matters. He is also experienced in matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, including conducting investigations abroad and counseling clients on compliance issues.
Prior to rejoining the firm as a partner, Agustin was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Public Corruption & Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. While serving in this role, Agustin represented the United States in criminal investigations, prosecutions, and/or appeals of public corruption, bribery (both domestic and abroad), conflicts of interest, honest services fraud, procurement fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, money laundering, tax, and civil rights crimes. He worked on hundreds of criminal cases, served as lead counsel in federal trials, examined dozens of witnesses on direct and cross-examination, delivered opening and closing arguments, and briefed and argued multiple cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
During law school, Agustin was an extern for the Hon. Barry Russell at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Central District of California and interned at the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles. He also served as the co-chair of La Raza de Loyola and as chief justice of the Scott Moot Court Honors Board.
Agustin is active in the community and serves as a commissioner on the Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission of the State Bar of California; on the steering committee of Just the Beginning, Los Angeles; and as a board member of For People of Color Inc. He is also a board member of the Federal Bar Association-Los Angeles and on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Privacy & Cybersecurity Section. Agustin previously served on Project LEAD, where he helped teach elementary school children about the criminal justice system, and as vice chair of the LACBA’s Diversity in the Profession Committee. Agustin was selected to the Pathfinder Program of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity in 2016.

A Conversation with Isidro Zuniga Vazquez | Ep. 7
Isidro Zuniga Vazquez is a rising senior at the University of Southern California, double majoring in Political Science and Spanish.
At USC, Isidro is the Founder and President of the first cultural pre-law organization, Latino Students in Law (LSL). The organization, which consists of more than 60 members, provides resources such as mentorship, panel discussions with admissions officers, and LSAT tutoring. The goal of LSL is to increase diversity in the legal profession.
Isidro looks forward to applying to law school in the fall of 2023.

A Conversation with Willie D. Brown, Jr. | Ep. 6
A conversation with Willie D. Brown, Jr., Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, San Jose Water Company. Willie is a Founding Board Member of For People of Color, Inc.
https://forpeopleofcolor.org/about/williedbrownjr/

A Conversation with Misty M. Sanford | Ep. 5
A conversation with Misty M. Sanford, Partner, Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP.

4. Successful Summer Positions - Public-Sector Panel (3 of 3)
For People of Color, Inc. hosted a 3-party Successful Summer Positions webinar. The third session focuses on public-sector positions, including internships with nonprofit organizations or governmental entities or judicial externships.
The panelists are:
Jose Perez, Deputy General Counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Marisa Hernandez-Stern, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, California Attorney General's Office
Fabian Renteria, Deputy Federal Public Defender, Federal Public Defender
Irina Trasovan, Deputy Attorney General, California Attorney General's Office

3. Successful Summer Positions: Private-Sector Panel (2 or 3)
For People of Color, Inc. hosted a 3-part Successful Summer Positions webinar. The second session presents a private-sector panel consisting of Big Law partners and a general counsel.
The panelists are:
misty m. sanford, Partner, Willkie, Farr & Gallagher LLP
Jose Luis Lopez, General Counsel, Zeplin, Inc.

2. Successful Summer Positions with Vilma Palma-Solana (Part 1 of 3)
For People of Color, Inc. hosted a 3-part Successful Summer Positions webinar. The first session presents Vilma Palma-Solana, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, California Attorney General's Office. Vilma focuses on "top 10 tips" for successful summer experiences.

1. A Conversation with Jose Perez, Deputy General Counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Jose Perez served as LatinoJustice PRLDEF’s Legal Director from 2007 – 2021 and has been the lead lawyer in several precedent-setting immigrants’ rights cases: 1) establishing fair housing eviction protections for undocumented rent regulated tenants in NYC. Recalde v. Bae, 2008 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 4397, July 15,2008, 2008 WL 2806577; 2) private landlords are not required to ascertain immigration status of prospective tenants. Bolmer v. Connolly Properties Inc., 09-4541, (3d Circuit 2012); 3) local law enforcement barred from enforcing administrative immigration warrants. Santos v. Frederick County Bd. of Comm’rs, 725 F.3d 451 (4th Cir. 2013); and 4) the Cesar Vargas bar admission case establishing that NY’s Character & Fitness Committee can determine a dacamented law graduate’s bar admission eligibility without any prior enabling state legislation authorizing such professional licensing, and that a dacamented law graduate can fulfill state character and fitness bar admission licensing requirements. In re Vargas, 10 N.Y.S.3d 579 (App. Div. 2015)
Jose who has mentored countless college and law students of color over the past three decades oversees LatinoJustice’s Cesar A. Perales (CAP) Leadership Institute and its many nationally recognized and innovative pre-law pipeline programs while continuing to manage internships and external pro bono relations. He is a 1985 graduate of St. John’s University School of Law where he created the award winning Spanish Street Law community education know your rights program. Jose began his legal career with the Queens County District Attorney’s Office; and has also served in NYCHA’s Anti-Narcotics Strike Force, the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights and Civil Divisions as a staff and supervising attorney, and as a supervising attorney at Hofstra University Law School Housing Rights and Disability Law clinics. Prior to joining LatinoJustice, he served as an Assistant Attorney General, Deputy Chief, and Acting Bureau Chief of the NYS Attorney General’s Consumer Frauds & Protection Bureau where he helped develop and lead the AG’s Latino immigration services (“notario”) fraud consumer protection initiative.
https://www.latinojustice.org/en/latino-justice-team/jose-luis-perez

Trailer
For People of Color, Inc. ("FPOC") is a nonprofit organization founded by Anthony Solana, Jr. For 23 years, FPOC has assisted thousands of first-generation and underrepresented pre-law students with their law school applications. We are proud to launch this podcast which will feature interviews with lawyers, community leaders, pre-law students, law students, and others.
Thank you for joining us.