At the start of her legal career, someone told Elsa Ascencio that lawyering is like being on a boat in the open ocean. If you lose your sails, the rough waters will eventually sink you. To keep afloat, you have to keep your sails up and let them guide you in the right direction. Elsa has three sails on her boat as a lawyer- her clients’ goals, her ethical obligations and the self-care she finds through her creative pursuits. Since setting these values and keeping them in mind in all that she does, Elsa has been able to chart her course with confidence.
Elsa is a Workers’ Rights Lawyer with the Mobile Legal & Social Justice Initiative at Hamilton Community Legal Clinic by day*. By night, she also designs and sells jewellery through her passion project, Elsa the Crafty Lawyer.
Elsa’s creativity does not end with jewellery-making. She also sketches and paints and loves exploring new-to-her forms of artistic expression. People may not think of law as a creative career, but Elsa sees a lot of overlap between her two pursuits. Lawyers and jewellery designers are in the service industry. Elsa is not sure whether her customer service skills developed more as a lawyer or as an artist, but either way, both professions are rooted in working with people.
Elsa uses an iceberg metaphor to describe creating art and working with legal clients. When painting, for example, you often have to take a step back and look at the full piece to fully understand what is missing. Something looks off? Maybe add blue. If blue it is not the fix, add green. A painting that at first glance seemed to need one easy change can actually require a lot of work and creativity to complete. Legal clients may come to you with a housing problem. But if you take a step back and look under the surface, you might find that the client is in a housing crisis overlays a deeper employment or social benefits issue.
There is another “ice” metaphor that applies to Elsa and her work. She finds that being a jewellery designer is a great icebreaker. Clients really appreciate knowing that their lawyer is a well-rounded person. Many of Elsa’s clients are nervous coming to see her, given the personal nature of their issues, and she takes pride in being able to put them at ease. As a clinic lawyer, it is really important that Elsa’s clients feel comfortable opening up to her.
Elsa loves practicing law. She feels lucky that her days at the clinic are balanced and allow her to do art in the evenings. Elsa also feels lucky, as the proud daughter of Salvadoran refugees and factory workers, to work in the area she is most passionate about.
Aside from helping people, Elsa’s favourite thing about her practice is her colleagues. The clinic team, allows each other to be vulnerable, which is something that is extremely important in lawyering and in art. Elsa is open about her mental health struggles and her strive to avoid burning out again after a difficult time in law school. She embraces failure and promotes the value of asking for feedback in order to grow. When Elsa started painting portraits, her friends pointed out that everyone she painted looked like a portrait of Julius Caesar. Elsa kept asking her friends and family for feedback and kept improving her painting techniques.
Elsa’s advice for other lawyers is to not be afraid to try new things. You might be really bad at your new hobby or job, whether it is legal or creative, but for every failure you will get closer to finding your strengths. Elsa also stresses the importance of finding your “sails” and letting them guide you. Whatever the thing you need to keep afloat is, always make time for it. Elsa often gets asked how she finds the time to make art while working as a lawyer. Her answer? The same way she finds time to eat, drink water and sleep. Self-care is a need and indulging in it better equips you to take on other problems in the world, including those of your clients.
If you are looking for a new set of beautifully designed and uniquely crafted earrings, checkout Elsa’s Instagram page. Elsa also started the Demand Inclusion project, a grassroots collective committed to informing the legal community of the historical barriers faced by racialized lawyers. Visit demandinclusion.ca to learn more.
*Update 06-15-2022: At the time of writing this profile, Elsa worked at the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic. She now works at the Community Legal Clinic of York Region.
*Update 06-15-2022: At the time of writing this profile, Elsa worked at the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic. She now works at the Community Legal Clinic of York Region.