Lessons from the Legal Field
When I walked into my first legal office in 1993, I didn’t know the difference between a deposition and a declaration. What I did know was that I needed to rebuild my life from the ground up.
Starting at Zero
Most people in the legal field have degrees, connections, and clean backgrounds. I had none of those. What I had was desperation and a willingness to do whatever entry-level work nobody else wanted.
Filing. Copying. Organizing boxes of documents that other paralegals wouldn’t touch. The work was tedious and the pay was minimal, but I showed up every single day.
Learning by Immersion
There’s no substitute for being in the room. I absorbed legal terminology, procedure, and strategy simply by being present. Every case file I organized taught me something. Every deposition I sat through was a free education.
What the Law Taught Me
Precision Matters
In smuggling, close enough was good enough. In law, a single misplaced word can change the outcome of a case. Learning to be precise — in language, in deadlines, in documentation — rewired how I thought about everything.
Everyone Has a Story
Working in law exposed me to hundreds of people in difficult situations. Many of them had made mistakes. Some had been dealt unfair hands. The experience gave me compassion I didn’t have before — and a perspective that only comes from recognizing yourself in other people’s struggles.
The System Is Flawed but Functional
I entered the legal field with a deep distrust of the system. After years inside it, my view became more nuanced. The system isn’t perfect — it’s slow, expensive, and sometimes unjust. But it’s also the only mechanism most people have for resolving disputes without violence.
The Long Game
It took years to build credibility. Background checks were a constant obstacle. But time and consistency eventually outweigh a past — at least in most situations. By the time I earned my degree from Chapman in 2005, I had over a decade of legal experience backing it up.
The lesson: you don’t need permission to start over. You just need to start.
John Buzzanca
Writer and legal professional based in Southern Orange County. Author of The Smuggler's Daughter — a true story of smuggling, surrogacy, and redemption.
