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Crafting a Career as a Chicana Lawyer, Prof, Judge

Christine Martinez Arguello

First generation college graduate. First in her class at the University of Colorado at Boulder. First Colorado Latina admitted to the Harvard University School of Law. First Hispanic to make partner in one of Denver’s four biggest law firms. First law professor ever awarded the University of Kansas’s Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence. First Hispanic chief deputy attorney general for Colorado.

Many firsts later, on October 21, 2008, Christine Martinez Arguello was sworn in as a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. She was among those considered for the U.S. Supreme Court seat that eventually went to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, whom she greatly admires.

She keynoted the 2009 annual conference of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators in Denver. Asked if she could speak for an hour, she replied, “Of course. I’m a lawyer.” Her life offers lessons for any minority woman trying to craft a career, especially in a field dominated by men like higher education.

Early years of poverty

In her early years her father worked on the railroad. Sometimes the family lived in a boxcar without electricity or running water. He realized at 35 that he couldn’t lift ties forever, so he left the railroad to retool as a barber, eventually barbering at the Air Force Academy. In doing so he modeled a work ethic and a willingness to take risks.

While her brothers ran around their new home in Buena Vista CO, Christine—as oldest daughter—helped with the housework. At seven she was responsible for the dishes, using a high stool to reach the sink. At nine she decided to do what she wanted. Her family called her stubborn (in Spanish) until she thought it was her middle name.

She planned to be a teacher. The summer after fourth grade she discovered the library two miles away. She walked there every few days each summer to check out three books, the most she was allowed at a time. The summer after seventh grade she picked up a news magazine that changed her life. It had a feature article on lawyers.

“I love to argue; I could be a lawyer,” Arguello said. The article said Harvard Law School was the best; photos featured Harvard’s ivy-covered brick. It blew her away. From that moment on, she planned to study law at Harvard. To get into the best she had to be the best, so she worked to make every grade an A.

She didn’t tell others of her ambition until high school, when a teacher went around the room asking each student’s plans for the future. Christina took a deep breath and said it: She planned to go to Harvard Law School and become a lawyer.

Silence. Giggles. It was beyond anything her classmates could imagine. She hid out in the bathroom after school so no one would see her cry. She began to doubt herself. Who was she, the barber’s daughter, to expect to go to Harvard?

Happily, the teacher lingered to catch her on the way out and say, “Chris, I know you can do it.” One person who believed in her revived her belief in herself. She went back to class dressed to the nines and thinking, “They’re going to eat that laugh at my 10-year reunion.”

From college to court

She met Ron Arguello her first week at the University of Colorado (CU) at Boulder. He was the first man who wasn’t threatened by her—and her first-ever date. (She wasn’t allowed to date in high school because her father feared she’d get pregnant and shame him.) They married young and grew up together. He would become a grade school teacher and primary caregiver for their four children as she advanced in her legal career.

She entered Harvard Law School in 1977, graduated in 1980 and joined a Miami law firm. When their first child was born, Christy and Ron returned to Colorado to be near the grandparents. At the law firm Holland and Hart she became a partner in 1988 and chaired the litigation section.

In 1991 she was invited to direct the University of Kansas School of Law’s trial advocacy program. She got tenure and the rank of full professor in 1998. Soon after that, now- Interior-Secretary Ken Salazar became Colorado attorney general and asked her to join his team. Again the Arguellos returned to their home state.

President Bill Clinton nominated her to a seat on the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, but the Senate delayed acting on the nomination and President Bush did not renew it. Instead Salazar made her his chief deputy attorney general. After four years in his office she returned to private practice as a partner with the Denver law firm Davis Graham & Stubbs.

CU–Boulder called her back in April 2006 to be her alma mater’s managing senior associate counsel. By then Ken Salazar was in the U.S. Senate. Two years later President Bush put her on the list to be a federal judge for the District of Colorado, and this time the nomination was confi rmed.

Dream big

“Set high goals. Don’t be afraid,” Arguello said. Her fourth grade teacher in Buena Vista had whispered in her ear, “My, aren’t you ambitious?” The teacher’s tone indicated that ambitious meant something good. Christy checked a dictionary and found it meant a strong desire for success or achievement.

Before that she’d been counting the years until she was old enough to drop out. Now she decided to be ambitious. She would stay in school and become a teacher just like the one who’d encouraged her.

Her bigger ambition formed after seventh grade when she picked up that magazine. Studying law at Harvard was a daring dream for a working class Chicana—especially in those days, when no Chicana had yet been admitted there.

Hold on to that dream; there will always be naysayers. Beyond holding the dream, she worked hard to achieve it. Getting A’s was not enough; she had to be the best.

Take risks

“I don’t take unnecessary risks. I plan it out. If I decide to change jobs I’ll do it,” she said. But sometimes you need to change course, as her father did when he left a known job for barbering. And you never know what your new course will bring.

When you ride a horse at a gallop, you risk falling off. “You will fail,” she said. Get back up and ride again.

She got her first C at Harvard Law School, which seemed like failure compared to the grades she’d made before. Her husband consoled her, “If you know the material, what does it matter what your law professor says?”

That’s where she learned you don’t have to be the best. “There will always be somebody smarter or prettier. Accept who you are and move ahead with your goals,” she said.

When her appointment by Clinton to the federal judiciary fell through, it seemed like another failure. Eight years later she is on the federal bench, with some wonderful experiences in the interim.

Be willing to pay the price

After working in a law firm, her love of mentoring called her to teach in law school. She took a 50% pay cut to go to the University of Kansas. (She still earned five times her husband’s salary for teaching elementary school.)

They were looking for a way to return to Colorado when Salazar offered her the job with the state. That was yet another pay cut, from a 9-month to a 12-month position for less money. Her son asked, “Mom, you tell me how this makes sense for our family.”

It made sense. You adjust; you don’t eat out as often. She loved being chief deputy; she wanted to keep growing. Without Salazar she wouldn’t be a federal judge today. She grew further in her stint at CU. “That rounded experience makes me good. What I learned makes me the good judge that I am,” she said.

Obstacles abound. Women must be two or three times better than men. You can carry a chip on your shoulder or you can accept it and be better. “I have achieved my full potential because I’ve worked to be the best I can be,” she said.

Find what energizes you

If you’re not doing what feeds your spirit, you’re not giving 100%. Find that energizing niche. “If you’re not excited to get out of bed, it’s time to change,” Arguello said.

Mentoring energizes her. She’s had important mentors: supportive parents, two remarkable teachers, senior colleagues at each of her jobs. She’s received many awards for her mentoring, especially of women and Latinas.

Success is what works for your life, not necessarily what the world sees. “I’m viewed as very successful and proud of my accomplishments,” she said. As an overachiever, young mom and law firm partner she worked long hours. Coming home before 8 PM was early.

One evening her three-year-old son wanted to go play with daddy. She pulled out a kangaroo book to read to him. He pointed to the kangaroo with a baby in its pouch and said, “That’s daddy. Mommy Kangaroo is working.”

What is success? It’s the life you want to live. “It took the words of a three-year-old to reach me.” she said. She left the law firm to teach and rebalance. “Don’t sacrifice your life for your work.”