#144: Sophia Lin Lakin - ACLU Voting Rights Project Director

Welcome back to another episode of the How I Lawyer Podcast, where Professor Jonah Perlin interviews lawyers about what they do, why they do it, and how they do it well.

Today's guest is Sophia Lin Lakin, the Director of the Voting Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where she directs and supervises the ACLU's voting rights litigation strategy nationwide. Before joining the ACLU, Sophia clerked for Judge Raymond J. Lohier Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Carol Amon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She is a graduate of Stanford Law School, where she also received her MS in Management Science and Engineering, and holds a BA in Political Science.

In this episode, Sophia shares valuable insights about the legal profession including:

🎓🔄 How her academic journey through political science, management science, and engineering prepared her for a career focused on security and human rights before she discovered law [2:35]

🏥💪 How her experience with a serious health condition shaped her desire to become an advocate for the public interest [6:08]

🔄🗳️ How serendipity led her to voting rights work when Professor Pam Karlin suggested an internship at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund during an extra summer [7:52]

⚖️🔍 How the Supreme Court's Shelby County v. Holder decision created a sea change in voting rights work just as she was entering the field [11:10]

🚀💼 How her early career involved being thrown into challenging litigation tasks with minimal preparation—taking depositions, handling expert witnesses, and defending clients just months into her fellowship [12:36]

🧠👍 How she advises junior lawyers to "take a shot" and try to figure things out themselves first to build confidence and judgment [14:49]

📜🔄 How voting rights litigation has evolved from focusing on voter ID and early voting restrictions to exploring new legal avenues including First Amendment protections, disability rights law, and state courts [16:37]

🌎🚫 How election subversion and anti-immigrant rhetoric present serious concerns for voting rights in the current political climate [19:34]

🏢🔄 How law firm experience can be valuable for public interest careers by providing litigation skills that small organizations can't easily teach [28:00]

🏥💬 How being open and honest about her health condition throughout her education and career has been valuable, emphasizing that everyone deserves accommodations to perform at their best [33:28]

🎯🧠 How staying true to your goals despite law school distractions and maintaining confidence in your own path is crucial for success [36:46]

This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.