Tijuana to Compton via Harvard Law

Good column in today's L.A. Daily Journal (by former editor Martin Berg) about a storefront law office on East Compton Boulevard run by Luz Herrera.

She's just your typical Tijuana-born, East L.A.-raised, Harvard Law School-educated Big Law refugee who decides to open a solo practice aimed at the working poor and entrepreneurial immigrants in southeastern Los Angeles County.

And then when she decides to launch a nonprofit, she gets decorating help on television from the "Queer Eye for the Straight Girl" reality show.

Herrera, who's 36, is part of the fledgling phenomenon known as "low bono" legal service groups. She started Community Lawyers Inc. to mentor students, offer a self-help center and hook up lawyers who pledge to offer low-cost legal services with those who don't qualify for Legal Aid but can't afford to pay market rates.

Herrera says she grew up doing her homework at the desks of big executives while her parents cleaned their offices at night. No free link in the Daily Journal.