“The law is generally written, and precedent set, by people who are more powerful.
Ingrid Nava ’03
Ingrid Nava saw a law degree as the tool that would help her affect the bigger picture. “After college, I was a union organizer in California,” she explains. “I felt I was doing something important, but wanted to be a change agent on a wider breadth of issues.”
Today, at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Local 32BJ in New York, Ingrid serves as associate general counsel. Her branch represents more than 175,000 members in 10 northeastern states, Washington, DC, Florida and other parts of the United States. The largest property service workers labor union in the United States, 32BJ members include office cleaners, security officers, doormen, porters, maintenance workers, engineers, bus drivers and aides, window cleaners, school cleaners and food service workers. “It’s hard work,” says Ingrid, but eminently satisfying.
“I learned from [Professor] Karl Klare that when you work on the union side, you have to be smarter and more creative,” she says. “I love the challenge.”
Greater Boston Legal Services, Boston, Massachusetts
On her first co-op, Ingrid wrote a booklet, “Know Your Legal Rights,” specifically for immigrant workers.
Public Interest Law Scholar
As a result of her commitment to social justice, Ingrid received the law school’s most generous and prestigious scholarship.
- Latin American Law Students Association
- Massachusetts Employment Law Association (founder of NUSL chapter)
US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts
Ingrid honed her legal writing skills on this co-op, drafting summary judgment decisions for Judge Patti Saris.
Poverty Law and Practice Clinic
Ingrid represented several clients in unemployment hearings, where she learned how to cross-examine.
Segal Roitman, Boston, Massachusetts
Ingrid credits this co-op with introducing her “to what it means to be a union lawyer.”
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
Ingrid researched the potential employment application of newly enacted U-Visas and helped to launch a CORI reform project.