Today we’d like to introduce you to Claudia Carr.
Claudia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m originally from El Paso, TX and moved to California in 2011 to pursue my law degree. I always had so many goals I wanted to achieve in life, but most importantly, was to make my family proud. Even though I intended to go to law school and had many goals, I couldn’t even really picture myself finishing, let alone passing the bar, but I stuck with it. Law school was incredibly challenging.
I had no social life and my family and friends never saw me. “Life” was class, studying, maybe eat or take a nap, repeat. It took me four years to finish instead of the traditional 3, but I passed the bar on my first try! Taking an extra year to finish allowed me the opportunity to work part-time for a small family law firm while in school. The experience taught me the practical piece of being a lawyer, but also inspired me to one day open and managed my own law firm. I’m typically reserved and make calculated decisions. I appreciate structure and am a rule follower, so being an entrepreneur was not on my radar. After I graduated, I was hired as an Associate Attorney with the same firm I interned within law school. Owning my own law firm was definitely a long term goal that was not within the near future, but sometimes God has other plans for you. When COVID-19 hit, the firm was forced to close and I was laid off. Like everyone, this really hit hard. I felt scared, confused, and uncertain about the future. It was even harder with having a family to support. Coincidentally, my law school bestie Briahna was looking for a change in her career. We would talk and catch up during the initial weeks of the shutdown, but as stay-at-home orders continued to be extended, those conversations turned into planning and the planning turned into executing and before we knew it, the Law Office of Chuvac & Carr, LLP was established.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been exactly smooth, but whose life is? I have been extremely blessed along my journey despite some obstacles. One of my biggest obstacles has been my health. I suffer from an autoimmune condition that is triggered easily by stress. I was diagnosed when I was 19 years old and was able to manage with medication only suffering a few flare-ups throughout my undergraduate college years. Once I could no longer continue on my parent’s health insurance, I couldn’t afford the cost of the medication I was taking. Once I ran out, I started exploring with a vegetarian diet and was able to stay in remission for about two years.
But, while in law school, I lost four loved ones to cancer within two years. On top of that, with the stress of balancing school and work, I fell back into bad habits. Not exercising, not eating healthy, just always on the go and never having the time to prioritize myself. Still now, I struggle and have yet to really get control of it and suffered the worst flare of my life just after COVID-19 hit. Thankfully, the silver-lining of the COVID shutdown and being forced to stay home has allowed me to focus and prioritize my health, which was also a driving factor for starting my own business. Being able to manage my time in a way that fits my needs for my health and my family has been the ultimate blessing.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are a female-owned, virtual boutique law firm serving Los Angeles and Inland Empire. Our practice is primarily focused in Estate Planning and Probate but we also handle some Family Law and Dependency cases. I believe what sets us apart is our ability to empathize and relate to our clients. Briahna and I both come from low-middle class backgrounds, we are the first in our families to obtain a doctorate level degree, we are both minority women and we are both working mothers. An important part of our vision and goal is to work with and represent people like us. Which is why we offer multiple levels of legal services and pricing to meet people where they are in life. We provide full representation, document preparation and legal coaching. The legal coaching sessions are typically for those who are self-representing. You can book us at an hourly rate and we can go over documents, put together a strategy and provide feedback. The legal coaching or “strategy sesh” as we like to call them have been really popular and we enjoy them the most because we see people go from feeling helpless, not knowing what to do or where to start, to then feeling empowered by the time we are done.
How do you think about luck?
I would say that I’m fortunate in not experiencing bad luck but rather challenges that kept me on the right path. Experiences I felt that weren’t so easy helped redirect me and I made good decisions based off of those challenges and mistakes. I know I said I am a “rule follower” but I believe that’s because growing up I could never get away with anything, I always got caught! Fortunately though, this kept me on the right path.
Contact Info:
- Email: ccarr@chuvaccarrlaw.com
- Website: www.chuvaccarrlaw.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuvaccarrlaw/?hl=en
Image Credits
Veronica Sequeira
