Litigation Associate
Maria joins ODU Law Firm after gaining several years of experience at a nationally recognized labor and employment practice based out of Boston, Massachusetts. She has advocated on behalf of workers who have been wrongfully denied proper wages, tips, and overtime, or who were wrongfully misclassified as independent contractors. Maria will be critical to further developing our firm's Wage & Hour and Litigation matters, including but not limited to collective actions, which are multiple plaintiff lawsuits initiated in Federal Court. She also has experience representing victims of unlawful employment discrimination and retaliation.
Maria earned her law degree at New England Law | Boston where she took classes at night after working full-time as a paralegal during the day. Prior to that, she completed her Paralegal Studies Certificate at Hofstra University and undergraduate degree in Politics at New York University (NYU). Maria holds two master's degrees in Mediation and Conflict Resolution and International Law and Business. She also interned at the United Nations Commission for International Trade Law in Vienna, Austria, where she gained first-hand experience and training on its areas of operations.
Maria is fluent in Spanish. She was born and raised in Ecuador before moving to the United States. There, she was her high school's salutatorian, studied law and worked at several prestigious law firms, and even became a candidate in the Ecuadorian Congress Elections.
Maria is loyal, hard-working, and empathic, which will serve her well as she continues to dedicate her work to plaintiffs in the labor and employment space. She currently resides in Massachusetts with her husband and young daughter, and she has plans to relocate to Rhode Island to be closer to family.
Education
New York University, B.A. Politics
New England Law | Boston, J.D.
Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts
- New York (application pending)
- Rhode Island (application pending)
