EXPERIENCES SHAPE LAWYER’S COMPASSION, FOCUS
Aristy’s support from strong women helps her push for equity, fairness
The question of what experiences and people shape who we are can be murky for some, yet have remarkable clarity for others.
Listening to Lawyers Club of San Diego President Yahairah Aristy for even a few moments makes clear that she is firmly rooted in that latter camp. Her life is testimony to a play on an old adage: Behind every strong woman, there is a group of strong women who have supported, nurtured and prepared her for success.
The guiding light of her young life was provided by her grandmother, a native of the Dominican Republic who immigrated to New York City when Aristy’s mother was 13 years old. Born and raised in Manhattan with a couple of happy years in the Dominican Republic for middle school, Aristy benefited from her grandmother’s wisdom and warmth as she helped raise Aristy when her mother battled addiction. That foundation helped her overcome a brief yet sad time in foster care before being emotionally lifted by yet another strong woman.
As a child, Aristy’s elementary school teacher, Ms. Lawson, was a woman who really saw her. Ms. Lawson was not aff licted by the subtle racism of low expectations that many children of color must overcome from their teachers. Ms. Lawson’s faith in, and encouragement of, Aristy’s talent and intellect helped shape the lawyer and civic leader she became.
And so did another strong woman: Aristy’s mother.
Often the stigma society places on addiction not only reduces people, but it also ignores their humanity and the complexity of their existence. Her mother, despite her addiction (she eventually recovered), was always involved in community service. Aristy, 47, credits the strength and servant leadership of her mother for inspiring her path. She is not only the current president of one of the most influential legal organizations in the state, but also the former president of the Earl B. Gilliam Bar Foundation and the La Mesa Foothills Democratic Club.
The diversity of her life experiences drove her to ensure that the Lawyers Club would not just have a one-off committee for diversity and one for LGBTQ issues, but that these would be integral parts of the organization.
As a 15-plus-year public defender, she said, “I believe every
person deserves the best lawyer, and I believe in Gideon v. Wainwright,” the U.S. Supreme Court case that confirmed the constitutional right of every defendant in a criminal trial to a publicly supported legal defense.
She found her way into the courtroom after spending years as a clinical social worker representing children in horrific cases. Realizing that the lawyers she encountered frequently did
not seem to place the family at the forefront of cases with enough zeal, she put her trademark tenacity and goal-orientation to use and enrolled at Thomas Jefferson
School of Law. She passed the bar exam on the first try and went on to defend a wide range of people.
As we talked, Aristy, who lives in La Mesa, mused about how if she won the lottery, she would use the money to change the world.
The reality is that changes in the world are an amalgamation of actions and choices, large and small, that we can’t always identify. They are individual decisions to be kind, to persist, and to have gratitude in the face of all the difficulty that society can bring. These are all traits at the core of who Aristy is, and there is no doubt that, even without the lottery winnings, she is already changing the world for many in our community and beyond.