Pepperdine Law Congratulates Sarena Friedman
April 24, 2019 | Pepperdine Law congratulates another bell-ringer in celebration of post-graduate employment success, Sarena Friedman! Among those joining in the festivities were Dean Paul Caron, Dean of Admissions Shannon Phillips, and members of the Administration Offices and Deans' Suite. A special guest at the ceremony was Sarena's mother, Brenda Friedman.
Sarena has been working at the Ventura County Public Defender's Office as a law clerk since January, 2019. She applied and was accepted to a post-bar summer position while she was an intern. Working at the Public Defender's Office has been Sarena's most rewarding experience in law school.
Sarena clerked exclusively in defense work throughout law school, including private criminal defense and criminal appeals work. At Pepperdine Law, Sarena served on the honor board as honor board investigator. She was also secretary of Pepperdine Law's National Lawyers Guild (NLG), a student organization dedicated to protecting human rights and securing economic and social justice. NLG hosted a variety of events, one being the Students Against Mass Incarceration Week. One of the NLG's main goals is to greatly increase diversity and minority representation at Pepperdine Law to make it a more inclusive space.
Sarena's passion for public defense can be best explained through a portion of NLG's
mission statement: "We recognize the importance of safeguarding and extending the
rights of those most vulnerable in society including the working class, women, immigrants,
differently-abled people, LGBTQ+, and people of color, upon whom the welfare of the
entire nation depends; who seek actively to eliminate racism; who work to maintain
and protect our civil rights and liberties in the face of persistent attacks upon
them; and who look upon the law as an instrument for the protection of the people,
rather than for their repression."
As an undergraduate, Sarena attended Northeastern University and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Criminology in 2016. She is graduating in May with a Juris Doctor and Certificate in Criminal Legal Practice.
Congratulations to Sarena!