We were lucky to catch up with Melissa Saenz recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Melissa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share a story with us from back when you were an intern or apprentice? Maybe it’s a story that illustrates an important lesson you learned or maybe it’s a just a story that makes you laugh (or cry)?
When I was in law school I reached out to one of my old UTSA professors who was a sitting federal judge in Bexar County, Texas. He graciously offered me a law clerk internship for the summer. That internship gave me my first courthouse experience and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity he gave me. As a Judge, I try to do the same thing and pay it forward offering college students an internship so that they can experience the criminal court system and see if this is a career they are really interested in. At one point I had nine interns because it was hard for me to tell interested students no. I think a lot about the opportunities people gave me to get my foot in the door and I’m trying to do the same for students interested in law.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Melissa Saenz and I’m from San Antonio, Texas. I graduated from Southwest High School and attended the University of Texas at San Antonio for undergrad. I was a first generation college student and had no idea what I wanted to do when I entered college. I changed my major three times my first year of college. I eventually settled on a on a degree in Political Science because I enjoyed political philosophy and world politics. I thought I’d be a high school government teacher. During my Junior year, I enrolled in the UTSA Summer Law Prep Academy so I could get the courses I needed for my minor in legal studies. The program changed my life. At the time, the program was led by Dr. Richard Gambitta and he became a mentor for me encouraging me to apply for law school. Being a lawyer had never been on my radar. Growing up, I never saw any lawyers or judges who looked like me on tv. Going to law school and becoming a lawyer just seemed very out of reach for someone like me. I applied to law school because of Dr. Gambitta. At the time, I could only afford to apply to two schools. I got rejected from one accepted by the other. Even after acceptance being a lawyer still seemed out of reach because of how much law school cost. It was because of my parents that I actually went. They co-signed a loan for me so I could pay for school and then drove me to Lubbock look for an apartment.
Law school was a lot harder than undergrad for me. Eventually I graduated, passed the bar exam, and moved back to San Antonio. I knew I didn’t want to do civil law so I applied to Bexar County District Attorney’s Office. I was hired by then DA, Judge Susan Reed to be an Assistant District Attorney in the criminal division. I was put in a court on my first day. I had no trial experience. It was a very much learn on your own, think on your feet environment. Looking back, I’m grateful I “grew up” in this type of environment because it ultimately made me a better attorney. I worked as an Assistant District Attorney for close to 12 years. I quit for a short time to go into criminal defense but it was difficult running a business so I eventually went back to the District Attorney’s Office. In total, I worked under three different DA’s: Susan Reed, Nico LaHood, and Joe Gonzales. I promoted to Felony First Chair, which is the highest position you can be in aside from a Division Chief. I was one of two Latinas in the office that held this position. As a first chair, I was the lead Prosecutor for my court, supervised attorneys, and was responsible for handling all the murder and aggravated child abuse cases in my Court.
I decided to run for Judge of Bexar County Court No. 2 because there had been a lot issues in there. Since being elected I’ve made it a priority to get people connected to services so that they can get the resources they need and not return to the Court System. County Court No.2 is a criminal misdemeanor court. The majority of cases I oversee are non-violent and usually involve individuals that need some type of substance use, mental health, or housing assistance.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
As an attorney you gain respect by being honest, reasonable, and fair. I live by those same standards as a Judge.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I didn’t start utilizing social media until I ran for Judge. When I ran first ran for Judge, I didn’t see that many people using social media to connect with voters. I started using Facebook and Instagram to post about my campaign and what I thought the criminal court system needed. While campaigning, I realized many people don’t know that much about criminal law, jury trials, docket systems, or even the rights you have in the criminal justice system. I started making and posting videos that would hit on these topics in order to educate the community about them. Between posts and videos, I think the community was able to get to know me, see my qualifications for judge, and see that I was involved in our community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.melissaforjudge.com
- Instagram: @judgesaenz
- Facebook: Melissasaenzforjudge
- Other: Tik Tok is @judgesaenz
