Scholar Entries - Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund of Illinois

← Go back

EmailEmail hidden; Javascript is required.

Are you a past recipient of an Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund award?

Yes

Name

Edith Munoz

Current Mailing Address

28w670 Bolles Avenue
West Chicago, Illinois 60185
United States
Map It

Permanent Address (only if different from Current Mailing Address)

United States
Map It

Phone

(630) 639-1681

Connection to Illinois

Grew up in Illinois

In what city do you intend to practice law upon graduation?

Chicago

Name of Law School

University of Illinois Chicago School of Law

Class year

3rd year law student

Full Time or Part Time Student?

Part Time

Date you began attending THIS law school

08/23/2022

Anticipated Graduation Date

12/13/2025

Current GPA

3.55

Law School Class Rank (if known)

13/59

Law School Honors, Awards or Special Recognitions

Dean’s List Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Moot Court Honors Council

Name of Undergraduate Institution

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Degree (BA, BSE, etc.) and Concentration/Major

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Latina/o Studies; Minor in Spanish,

Undergraduate Graduation Date

05/04/2019

GPA

1.75

Undergraduate Honors, Awards, or Special Recognitions

Graduated with Honors

Dean’s List: Spring 2016, Fall 2018

Were you employed in 2025?

yes

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Acosta Law Offices, P.C.,

What was your immediate family’s (including you and your spouse or domestic partner, if applicable) estimated income from all sources for the 2025 Tax Year?

Mom- 50,000k , Dad 70,000 (Divorced)

Do you expect to be employed in 2026?

If yes, please identify your employer(s).

Post Grad unknown. Taking off to study for bar

Please estimate your immediate family’s (including you and your spouse or domestic partner, if applicable) income from all sources for the 2026 Tax year

Mom- 50,000k , Dad 70,000 (Divorced)

Please estimate your parent's average annual household income over the last five years

Mom- 50,000k , Dad 70,000 (Divorced)

Do your parents own or rent their home? Please describe, if necessary

Own

Describe your parents' health insurance situation. Do they have employer-sponsored health insurance, health insurance through the exchange, or no health insurance?

Employer Sponsored (Mom)

LIST below your total EXPENSES for attending law school for ONE YEAR (Please refer to example in FAQs)

Total Tuition Cost $

28.800

Books Cost $

700

Fees Cost $

500

Housing Cost $

14,000

Food Cost $

5,000

Other Costs $ (describe)

8,000

Total Expenses $ (add above entries)

58,000

LIST below your total FUNDING sources you plan to use to pay for these expenses (Please refer to example in FAQs)

Student Loans $

29,907.32

Scholarships and Grants $

21,815.68

Personal Contribution (Savings/Employment) $

7,000

Family Contribution $ (include parents, spouse, partner, etc.)

Total Funding $ (add above entries)

58,722

For 2Ls and 3Ls, what is your current TOTAL loan debt from the previous law school years?

130,000 (20k from undergraduate)

Please list any community service activities with which you have been involved in the last ten years, paying particular attention to activities in support of the Hispanic community. For each activity, please include the dates of your participation, a short description of the organization and the community they serve, and a description of the activity you performed to help them. (Please read FAQs before completing)

Restorative Justice , Boys and Girls Club Chicago, IL
Intern, August 2024 – December 2025
● Facilitate peace circles at the Boys and Girls Club to promote conflict resolution and community building.
● Conduct independent research on the continuation of the West Chicago project, focusing on a strike and related lawsuit.

People Church, Chicago, IL
Kids Team Volunteer, August 2023 – Present
● Help lead group lessons for kinder students and leading conversations about God.
● Biweekly volunteer

Instituto del Progresso Latino, Chicago, IL
Legal Volunteer, June 2025 – Present
● Helping with legal screening for N400 monthly workshops.

The YMCA Champaign, IL
Monthly Volunteer for Saturday Clinics, July 2019- Jan. 2020
● Support attorneys in the Saturday Legal Clinic translating during client meetings, researching, or taking notes during client
intake.
● Provide referrals to various resources such as healthcare, immigration, employment through La Linea: a phone line that
meets the need of the Spanish speaking community in the Champaign area.

●Hispanic National Bar Association, Avanza Intern, Deputy President of the Law Student Division, Region IX Representative, June 2024- September 2025

●Student Bar Association, Hispanic Lawyers of Illinois Bar Representative, September 2024– May 2025

●Latinx Law Student Association, Community Outreach & Evening Chair, May 2023 – May 2025

●Latinx Heritage Month Student Planning Committee, Fall 2023– December 2024

Please provide a statement describing your background and focus your statement on your reasons for pursuing a legal career and your legal career goals. This statement is important. Please give it appropriate attention. (min. 1000 characters) (Please read FAQs before completing)

I was about twelve years old when my mom called my sister and me into her room. She opened a heavy gray box and told us that inside were documents that would protect us if one day she had to return to Mexico or if she died. I didn’t fully understand at the time, but I know now she was talking about her life insurance. My mom was a single mother of four, juggling night shifts and housecleaning jobs, often in and out of the hospital with medical scares. As a child, I carried the quiet fear of losing her. My parents had just divorced, and I had already lost the idea of a family. How could I lose my mother too?

Those memories planted a seed. At first, I thought my path in law would be immigration, because it was always at the center of my family’s conversations. But when I entered law school, I discovered a love for property and estate planning. The summer of 2024, during my first trusts and estates class, I was struck by how few Latinx attorneys I knew in this field and how much our communities could benefit from it. Estate planning wasn’t just law on paper. It was about security, legacy, and dignity. It was about preventing families from ever feeling the kind of fear I felt at twelve.

My journey in law school has been far from traditional. Like many first-generation students, instability was my norm: my parents’ divorce, being kicked out at 17, working to survive, and even experiencing homelessness my first year of law school. But those challenges only deepened my faith and resilience. They confirmed what I now know to be true: estate planning is the field where I am called to serve.

My involvement inside and outside school reflects my commitment to uplifting the Latinx community. At UIC Law, I’ve strengthened Latinx networks through the Latinx Law Student Association (LLSA), the Restorative Justice Clinic and the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), launching annual mixers and helping organize the first Regional Law Student Leadership Summit in January 2025. These roles have allowed me to create the mentorship and connections I once lacked. Outside of school, I volunteer on the Kid’s Team at People Church and with Instituto del Progreso Latino’s citizenship workshops. These experiences deepen my dedication to service and mentorship. Now, I was selected as part of the Chicago Estate Planning Council’s Emerging Leaders Program, and I continue to expand Latinx representation in estate planning. This work naturally carried over into my legal experience, where clerking at Acosta Law Offices, P.C., I’ve helped Spanish-speaking clients draft wills and trusts. This past summer I also had the honor of externing with Presiding Judge Daniel B. Malone in the Probate Division, further deepening my courtroom and legal writing skills. I'ves seen how estate planning transforms lives by protecting property, passing on generational wealth, and giving families peace of mind. I began to see estate planning as a tool of liberation for the Latinx community.

I come from a working-class background and am entering a profession where wealth is often assumed. The irony is clear: I want to help build generational wealth while starting with none of my own. But I believe that’s exactly why I belong here. People like me need to be in these spaces; not just to diversify the profession, but to make sure families like mine have access to lawyers who were once in their places.

My long-term goal is to return to West Chicago and open my own practice and provide legal services to communities that are often left behind by the estate planning process, particularly first-and-second generation and immigrant families who don’t have the tools or knowledge to protect what they’ve worked so hard for. Through estate planning, I hope to give families the protection and tools I once wished my own family had. My law degree is not just for me; it is for the communities I aim to empower and the legacies I hope to help expand.

Please upload a copy of your financial award letter labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.FinAwardLtr*

Warning: Trying to access array offset on false in /srv/users/serverpilot/apps/hlsf2023/public/wp-content/plugins/syncs3-gravity-forms/includes/integrations/gravityview/integration.php on line 37

Warning: Trying to access array offset on null in /srv/users/serverpilot/apps/hlsf2023/public/wp-content/plugins/syncs3-gravity-forms/includes/integrations/gravityview/integration.php on line 37
Munoz.-Edith.-FinAwardLtr.pdf

Please upload a copy of your resume labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.Resume*

Please upload a copy of your law school transcript labeled as follows: LastName.FirstName.LSTranscript*