California Lawyers Association Family Law Section Scholarship Essay Winners

• Citation: Vol. 46 No. 1
• Publication year: 2024
• Author: Written by Bridgett Gloudemann, Carly Garcia & Miriam Pieters

CALIFORNIA LAWYERS ASSOCIATION FAMILY LAW SECTION SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY WINNERS

Written by Bridgett Gloudemann, Carly Garcia & Miriam Pieters

California Lawyers Association Family Law Section Scholarship Essay Winners

The California Lawyers Association Family Law Section offered a scholarship this past year to all law school students in California interested in the area of Family Law as their field of practice. The scholarship was meant to help students who are passionate about Family Law to achieve their career goals and make a meaningful impact in this area of law. The scholarship is intended to help defray some of the costs associated with taking the bar exam and encourage more students from all backgrounds to consider entering the family law practice. As part of the scholarship contest, the top three entrants would have their essays published in the Family Law News. This year's winners and featured essayists are Bridgett Gloudemann, Carly Garcia, and Miriam Pieters. Congratulations to the winners!

BRIDGETT GLOUDEMANN

Right after finishing my undergraduate education, I became a legal assistant at a legal aid office in my hometown. It was my first professional job and although I had no idea what I was doing I was so excited to start my career. Little did I know how important that job would become to me as my life unfolded.

As a legal assistant at the legal aid office my role was to provide support to the Director and be the first point of contact to the public. The legal aid office was a nonprofit business funded by grants and community support. The primary mission was to provide legal aid services to low-income people in the community and the main area of law we provided support in was family law.

I remember coming to work first thing in the morning and the line would already be formed outside of the building. People from all walks of life came to our clinics to obtain help with divorce matters, custody disputes, obtaining and/or modifying child support orders, and more. After just a few weeks of working there, my role quickly shifted from providing support to the Director and sitting at the front desk and advanced to conducting client intake and interviews independently and handling my own caseload.

During my time at legal aid, we served countless people and I took pride in my ability to connect with and help so many families. However, one person stood out as I reflected on my time at legal aid. A woman came to our clinic in tears wanting to leave her abusive husband, but she did not know where to start or what to do. under the supervision of the Director, I prepared the legal documents for the woman to file for divorce and to obtain a domestic violence restraining order. Aside from the document preparation service, I...