Aug 12, 2021
Punctuating the first season of
The Heart of Law, Mirena invites the perfectly sanguine and
finely enlightened guest, Ilya Lerma, into the show. Our riveting anchor calls Ilya
the New Age
Lawyer, and the
title fits her well.
Ilya gives us a backdrop of a picturesque
childhood entrenched with philosophy and a keen awareness of
others. Nurtured by accomplished and astute parents who lovingly
raised her to have a sentient worldview beyond her youth, she
saw life through the eyes of Kant, Jung, Hume, among other
empiricists and rationalists who later influenced her adult life.
Deeply transformed by
CC Zane’s Spiritual
Alchemy, Ilya considers the “material
universe [as] a manifestation of the metaphysical
universe,” perceiving everyday pressures as mere
tools of refinement “into spirit and
transcendence.” She views the personal and professional
pressure of the daily grind as the “alchemical
furnace,” effectively
used by the universe to refine her intuition, her consciousness,
her humanity. While she acknowledges her law practice as
“a little unorthodox,” we know Ilya is as endearing as they
come—regularly earthing (removing shoes for one’s soles to commune
with the earth), faithfully meditating, and gently pursuing vivid
connections with everyone. With the soul of a seeker, she
understands the intrinsic value of showing trustworthiness,
perceiving that authenticity makes for meaningful work,
relationships, and existence.
Into the deep dive, Ilya leads us through the
fascinating world of Trial
Structure, a
scientifically systematized method of taking, streamlining, and
organizing information from plaintive cases, so lawyers know how to
efficiently "recognize predictable patterns of …
attack [and] anticipate them." Ilya runs
this company alongside
her mentor and friend, Alejandro
Blanco. With a
prolific team of seasoned trial lawyers, they prepare inexperienced
colleagues to handle the complexities of a case and more.
As the conversation continues,
Mirena and Ilya discuss the impact women have in the law industry.
With Ilya as the current president of the Arizona Trial Lawyers
Association—the first
woman to hold office in 20 years—she stays at the forefront
representing women who influence the “changing
landscape” of
their profession. They touch on organic feminine allegiances,
unique client advocacy, versatile plaintiff representations, all
driven by the capable female id. WIth minds in perfect sync, the
two indomitable women consider a promising future for themselves
and their contemporaries.
Ilya bewitches us
completely. She loves life. She loves others. She loves
herself—inviting us all to do the same. Fearless love
“ … it’s always there, and there's
never any fear that you're going to [fall] short.”
That’s one transcendent edict
bringing
The Heart of Law’s first season to a sublime
close.
EPISODE
SURVEY
[00:18:54] - Taking ownership of your
life
[00:32:53] - Improving family
life
[00:41:15] - Ilya’s unorthodox approach to practicing
law
[00:44:02] - Introducing trial
structures
[01:00:05] - Ilya’s future career
endeavors
[01:12:46] - Importance of women being ambitious in
law
[01:24:57] - Benefits of self-discovery in the
professional world
QUOTABLE
QUOTES
“You can blame [people] all you want, or you can
figure out what it is you need to do to fix yourself to get on a
path that's going to give you some meaning so that you don't keep
repeating these unhealthy patterns.”
“Surrendering your choices to somebody else to
dictate your life only means that you then have someone to blame
when your life doesn't turn out the way you want it
to.”
“If your life doesn't look like [how] you
want it to, own it a hundred percent. It's your
responsibility.”
“Talk to
yourself as you would a friend.”
“You don't have to do it all
today.”
“Just get up. You just got to
beat it one more time.”
“My journey to
becoming more self-aware and much more of a conscious being has
shown itself more and my parenting than anything
else.”
“Communicating is communing. And we forget that
… not only do I commune with people [and] with my children, but I
have a communion within myself. And it's deeply
gratifying.”
“ When you are
able to love [yourself], you truly love
everybody.”
“We’re going to have to
rethink the business of law “
“In order to be a great
lawyer, you have to be adventurous. You have to try a lot. You have
to be open to everything, because the people that you're going to
encounter in your practice [and represent], are people that have
had… a very colorful life. And unless you understand who they are,
you can't possibly represent them correctly.”
ABOUT OUR GUEST
LINKS FROM THE SHOW