Maya Soerensen

Throughout Maya's education and career, her focus has been obtaining justice for people. As an undergraduate, Maya worked as an intern in both the public defender and the district attorney's offices in Santa Barbara, preferring to represent and assist clients rather than prosecuting them. After graduating with honors from UC Santa Barbara, Maya moved to San Francisco to attend law school at MUC Hastings where she also volunteered at the General Assistance Advocacy Program helping Tenderloin residents obtain public benefits. In Maya's last year of law school, she moved to Copenhagen Denmark to study international human rights law at the University of Copenhagen. After graduating law school, she began her work as a researcher for Amnesty International Denmark. There, she interviewed Afghan refugees seeking asylum in Denmark and drafted recommendations in partnership with the UNHCR to the minister of foreign affairs. After more than a year of living and working in Denmark, Maya moved back to California and began working at the California Appellate Project where she worked with California's death row population. Later that year, she obtained a position as a staff attorney at Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers where she worked for two years representing children and parents in the child welfare system. Wanting to move back to the Bay Area, she accepted a position as a staff attorney at Dependency Advocacy Center where she worked for six years and obtained her certification as a child welfare law specialist. In Los Angeles and San Jose Maya conducted well over 100 trials, cross examined scores of expert witnesses, and filed numerous motions and briefs on behalf of her clients. After working with children and families for eight years, Maya's career transitioned to civil litigation where she worked for five years representing victims of police violence and employment discrimination practicing in federal court and state court. During this time, she deposed dozens of witnesses, defendants, and experts; drafted and argued motions, propounded and responded to discovery, and prepared for jury trials. Her work during this time resulted in multi million dollar settlements for her clients and one jury verdict that awarded her client $1.1 million dollars in damages. 

Personal:
Maya lives with her husband and daughter in San Francisco. She enjoys traveling, reading, playing the piano, and stargazing. She stays active by running 10ks and half marathons, playing tennis, cycling, and swimming. Her personal heroes are Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren, Cesar Chavez, and Michael Faraday.