April 13, 2006
APALSA Welcomes Back Darlene Palaganas ‘97
The Asian Pacific American Law Students Association of Thomas Jefferson welcomed back Darlene Palaganas (’97) on March 27 to kick off Diversity Week at the law school. Palaganas spoke to students about her experiences as a TJSL student and how she became a partner in her law firm.
Darlene Palaganas ('97).
Palaganas is a partner with Fitzmaurice Demergian & Palaganas in downtown San Diego, where she practices international litigation and transactions, corporate law and real estate. She also is the current president of the Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego.
One of the keys to her success that she discovered as a student at TJSL was taking advantage of all the networking opportunities that allowed her to meet attorneys and judges. Palaganas, one of the founding members of the Pan Asian Law Students Association (now APALSA) at TJSL, said that networking, along with work experience and doing clerkships, all were a tremendous boost to helping her land where she is now. She also advised the students that enrolling in legal writing courses would only improve their writing skills, an asset she highly recommends when trying to win a case for a client.
Darlene Palaganas, co-founder of the Pan Asian
Law Students Association (now APALSA).
Palaganas recommends preparing early for the state bar exam and encourages the use of flashcards and taking necessary bar review courses. She said one key aspect of her bar preparation that helped her to pass was to have her prep essays reviewed by attorneys, who then gave her feedback.
Palaganas isn’t just shooting from the hip; she knows a thing or two about preparing for a bar exam. She not only was successful on the California bar exam after graduating from TJSL, but Palaganas also passed the New York Bar in 2004, even though she has yet to practice there.
Palaganas addresses TJSL students.
She also had a tip for students who want to practice in the area of international law. She says one of the key elements to achieving a successful practice is the ability to learn a second language, a task Palaganas highly recommends. Learning Mandarin and Spanish, in particular, are languages she feels will help one’s practice.
Her international law practice also involves travel. Palaganas is planning to visit the Philippines in April to follow up on some business transactions.
From left: Charles Rosene, Patricia Miranda, Darlene Palaganas,
Stella Shih, Ray-Al Alcantara, and Rock Jung.