Liddy Patterson ’26 didn't have to look far for inspiration when it came to choosing a career in law. The Tulsa, Oklahoma, native recalls being in a challenging family situation as a child, and a family lawyer’s guidance helped keep her family safe and set them back on the right track. “If it wasn’t for Cathy and her using the law as a tool to keep us safe, I know for a fact I would not be where I am today,” says Patterson about the family lawyer. “She did amazing, incredible work, and I think of her every single day.”
Patterson, a third-year law student, is committed to putting “more good into this world than I take out,” and she’s been doing just that through her externship with Anishinabe Legal Services and as student director of Minnesota Law’s Racial Justice Clinic, president of the Native Law Student Association, and co-president of the student chapter of the Minnesota Justice Foundation at Minnesota Law, which recently honored her with an outstanding service award for her volunteer work.
A commitment to racial justice
As a psychology and sociology major at Oklahoma State University, much of Patterson’s work was centered on racial justice. She remembers being particularly angered with how public schools in the state were changing the way they taught about the Tulsa Race Massacre. In the tragic 1921 event, a white mob decimated a prominent Black neighborhood of Tulsa in one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history.
“In my junior and senior years of college, the Oklahoma Department of Education promulgated new rules that created a chilling effect on teaching about the racist motivations behind the Tulsa Race Massacre,” says Patterson, who is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. “That was really a huge moment for me. If we’re not talking about Black history, about the horrible way so many racial minorities have been treated in America, then what are we doing?”
Patterson was drawn to Minnesota Law because of the opportunities offered by the Racial Justice Law Clinic. She credits the clinic’s director, Professor Liliana Zaragoza, for creating a supportive community and teaching client-centered practices.
“Being part of the Racial Justice Law Clinic has been one of the most meaningful parts of my law school experience,” she says. “It allows me another avenue to do the work that matters and stand alongside communities in the fight for justice.”
During her recent externship with Anishinabe Legal Services (ALS), Patterson worked on a range of cases, including family law and federal Indian law, and helped gain a settlement for a tribal member whose property was improperly seized.
“The Racial Justice Law Clinic and my work with ALS tie in together because treaty rights are racial justice for Native populations,” she says. “It’s a political designation, yes, but it is also a racialized group. It’s understanding both of those things are true at the same time, then figuring out how to hold the United States government to their promises through these treaties.”
A family focus on law
Ultimately, Patterson’s goal is to be there for clients like her family lawyer was back when she was growing up. That, along with her mother’s support and watching her mother prioritize her family, inspires Patterson to keep going even when things get hard.
“There are some days when I’m working really late into the night, and I’d rather be doing anything else,” she says. “But then I think about giving someone else back their entire life, and that means absolutely everything to me. It feels amazing that I’m in this position, and it feels like such a privilege.”
During her time at Minnesota Law, she’s discovered what type of lawyer she wants to be.
“I’ve learned my limits go further than I ever would have thought possible,” she says. “I've also learned that my compassion and my empathy are at the heart of how I want to be as a practitioner, the type of lawyer I want to be. That is how I want to give back.”
This story is adapted from Minnesota Law
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