Episode #11: Ilya Lerma in The Heart of Law

Written By Caryl Veloso

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 taking the helm in the industry of 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 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.”

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LINKS FROM THE SHOW

Caryl Veloso
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Episode #2.1: Paul Farrell in The Heart of Law
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Episode #10: Mike Papantonio in The Heart of Law