Andrew was born and raised in Houston, Texas to a Mexican immigrant mother and a Tejano father. He went on to graduate from Baylor University from the Baylor Interdisciplinary Honors Program with a B.A. in History and a minor in Rhetoric & Argumentation. During college, Andrew developed an interest in the law after competing in, and later becoming president of, the regional Eugene Scassa Model Organization of American States and the international Washington Model Organization of American States. He also served as a university Student Senator and as a Baylor Ambassador, where he lobbied Texas State representatives to support state funding of Pell Grants.
After college Andrew served his hometown of Houston by simultaneously working for a U.S. Congressional Representative and at a local educational non-profit through the national Americorps program. Andrew traveled around the Houston area on behalf of his Congress Member engaging with Houstonians on local issues. In particular, Andrew enjoyed assisting constituents with the immigration process, writing on their behalf to U.S. immigration agencies in order to ensure a speedy resolution to their delayed processing times. As an Americorps member, Andrew also managed a mentoring program for first-generation college students with local professionals and advocated for a local educational non-profit in various community events. The experience imparted the importance of civic engagement and of using one’s education for the betterment of the community.
Deciding to branch out of Texas, Andrew then attended the Washington and Lee School of Law in Virginia, where he actively competed and coached in several national moot court competitions. He had the pleasure of serving as a law clerk for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, a civil rights organization, in Washington, D.C., as a legal intern for the most respected non-profit immigration legal aid organization in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region, Ayuda, and as a Summer Fellow at the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. While in the Immigrant Rights Clinic in law school, Andrew and a fellow student attorney fought for their client to be granted asylum in an uphill battle case – and won (learn more) . He also got a taste for federal appellate work when his team filed an appeal before the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals for a Stateless client who had been fighting to remain in the U.S. for 20 years. In addition to being an editor for the Washington and Lee Journal for Civil Rights and Social Justice, he also proudly formed the leadership board of the Latin American Law Students’ Association, serving as Moot Court Director and Vice President.
Upon graduating from law school, Andrew took the opportunity to live in New York where he served as an Assistant District Attorney at the Kings County District Attorney's Office. Andrew then worked for a boutique law firm specializing in Personal Injury lawsuits. Andrew also took the opportunity to open up an Immigration Department within said firm as a managing attorney. Additionally, Andrew was a member of the Dominican Bar Association, the Puerto Rican Bar Association, the New York City Bar Association, and the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association. As a member of the Dominican Bar Association and an immigration attorney generally, Andrew had the opportunity to attend various Know Your Rights talks in Brooklyn and Harlem where he educated the immigrant community on their constitutional and other legal rights. As a member of the prestigious Moot Court Board Committee with the New York City Bar Association, Andrew was one of the few attorneys charged with reviewing and scoring every legal brief submitted by law students for a national competition.
After nearly 5 years away, Andrew finally returned to home to Texas determined to use what he had learned out-of-state to serve his fellow Texans.
Bar Admissions & Affiliations
- Admitted in Texas and New York
Professional Experience
- Peek Law Group, Austin & Houston, Texas, Criminal Defense Attorney
- Boutique Personal Injury and Immigration Law Firm, Brooklyn, New York
- Kings County District Attorney’s Office, Brooklyn, New York
Languages
