Adrian Martinez: Reaching his American Dream

Adrian Martinez was born and raised in Mexico City. When he was little boy,  Adrian’s dream was to be a lawyer like his favorite uncle; but more specifically, he wanted to practice law in the United States. 
“I read that lawyers in California and New York needed to pass an exam that was really hard to be able to practice law, and that the people that checked the exams didn’t knew the identity of the people doing the exams,” Martinez said to La Prensa San Diego. “That idea gave me a lot of curiosity. I come from a middle class family and although my parents gave me a comfortable life and an education from a private school, in the United States it didn’t matter where I came from.” 
Martinez got his bachelor’s degree in law from Universidad Anahuac del Sur in Mexico City in 2000. He then began his first job as a lawyer under Eduardo Martinez Urquidi, public notary number 56 in Mexico City. 
“I mainly worked at the public notary but I also worked alongside my uncle. It was very special to work with him,” Martinez said. “I remember when I was little I used to go everywhere with him, and when I got older he used to take me to court where everybody said hello to him; I could see how everybody respected him and appreciated him.” 
While Martinez was working in Mexico City, he was offered a job at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego, and he didn’t hesitate to accept it. 
“I saw it as an opportunity to live and study abroad and to work for a public office,” Martinez remembered. “I actually told some of my friends that my professional dream was to work as a lawyer in the United States, so that opportunity to work at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego was a step to fulfilling my professional dream.” 
From 2000 to 2004, Martinez held a post at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego where he was in charge of human rights, juvenile immigrants, and letters of request. 
“It was a great experience; but I realized that I’m meant for a private life not a public one,” Martinez said about working at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego. 
In 2003, while still working as a consulate official, Martinez took the California bar exam after having only seven months to prepare. 
“I didn’t have the means to study a master’s and a lawyer gave me his books. For a seven month period, I was working at the Consulate during the day and studying at nights,” Martinez recalled. 
“Anyone that can practice law in a different jurisdiction than California, or that has a law career accredited by the American Bar Association, can take the bar exam in California,” Martinez explained. “In general, I like a challenge. I like stepping outside my comfort zone in all my professional work and I also wanted to fulfill my dream to be able to practice law in the United States.” 
“At the time, I’ve been married for a year and my wife completed her masters degree in the United States so she who helped me and drove me to be more confident, and to try to pass the exam so I could improve my professional and economical life,” Martinez continued. 
On his first attempt, Martinez passed the bar exam and soon after got a job at the Branton & Wilson law firm, where he handled cross-border lawsuits. 
“We didn’t have a computer at home. I had to get a loan to be able to pay to take the bar exam and we were a little limited on the financial side at the time. We went to Mission Valley’s public library to check the bar exam results,” Martinez recalled. “I remember that I thought it was an error and I even reset the computer to see the results. We cried of happiness because all of our sacrifices were worth it.” 
Martinez now works at Procopio, a San Diego corporate and international law firm. He started first as an associate lawyer and is now a senior counsel. 
Martinez’s work at Procopio focuses on advising and representing clients in matters including family law disputes and civil cases, all with an emphasis in cross-border litigation. 
In family disputes, Martinez represents clients for termination of marital status, custody, support, and enforcement of foreign custody orders. Because of his background as an attorney schooled and licensed in Mexico, he represents clients in disputes related to the enforcement of the separate property regime. He also represents clients in negotiating and entering into prenuptial agreements. 
Federal government offices, as well as private practitioners, have retained him to serve as an expert witness on issues pertaining to Mexican civil law. Martinez regularly collaborates with counsel in other states and countries to prepare for and engage in cross-border and multi-jurisdictional controversies. 
Adrian Martinez is also a legal consultant for the Mexican Consulates in San Diego and Calexico since 2008. 
In addition to all this, Martinez also teaches at California Western School of Law, where he offers a masters of foreign law in Spanish. At first, there were 34 students in his program. Now, there are more than 120 students from 11 different countries in Latin America enrolled in his master’s program. 
“I also constantly give cross-border law lectures in different places like Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Mexicali and Ensenada,” Martinez added. “My goal is to keep improving as a lawyer and I also see myself teaching at more law schools.”