Hot Bench: Nicole Agama '21
Nicole Agama ’21
Hey Nicole, thanks for coming to Hot Bench! We heard you were born in Canada. What’s your favorite thing about Canada?
Their public transportation is on rubber wheels and so you can’t speak when you’re on it because your voice is shaking the entire time. I had uncontrollable giggles the first time I went on the train.
What did you do this summer?
I interned for Judge Paula Xinis on the Federal District Court for the District of Maryland.
What was your favorite thing you did that you can tell us about?
I think my favorite thing I worked on was this wrongful detainer case that had to do with this complicated statute where the only case law available was from around the early 1900’s. We had to do a lot of statutory interpretation, and so I got to work a lot with my judge’s clerk and my Judge to try and figure out why it was written the way it was. We had to dive deep into the legislative history, which was really cool.
What are you doing next summer?
I will be working at a firm in D.C. I was actually a paralegal at this same firm and now I get to go back as an attorney, which will be kind of cool and kind of weird!
What are you involved in around the law school?
I am the Social Programming chair for BLSA, a Lexis Nexis Rep, a PA for Section G (go Section G, best section of the 1L class),[1] a part of the Virginia Innocence Project student group, an Executive Editor for the Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law, and I am also an executive board member of Women of Color, and I just recently joined the SBA Diversity Advisory Council.[2]
Wow, that’s a lot! Do you have a favorite one of those commitments (besides being a PA, of course)?
That’s a really hard question, but I think BLSA is extremely, extremely important to me. I think they’re (a) a great organization and (b) one of those groups that is so important to the legal field and the Law School. But I also love my W.O.C. board members and I think my Journal puts out really great literature and so it’s really hard to pick! But I have to rep BLSA.
Now to some fun questions!
What is your favorite word?
Pragmatic. I think I’m a pragmatic person and also, I just like the way it rolls off the tongue!
What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?
Dim sum in San Francisco or my mom’s crab cakes.
If you could meet one celebrity, who would it be and why?
Michelle and Barack Obama. It would be so cool to meet them because they’re such icons, especially as black lawyers.
What’s your favorite hobby to avoid the stress of law school?
Aerial yoga[3] at Fly Dog!
Where is your favorite place to vacation?
I love London. If I were to move anywhere else, it would be London.
What’s something you wish you’d known about law school before coming to UVA Law?
I wish that I knew not to care so much about what other people are doing, to not compare myself to others. I also wish I knew that everyone feels the same way I do. Once you start to talk to people, you realize that even your smartest and most secure friends feel insecure about their own stuff.
Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC?
Backstreet Boys—I used to have concerts where I would sing Backstreet Boys songs for my parents.
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?
I got a karaoke machine, which I used to sing the aforementioned Backstreet Boys.
What’s your favorite thing to do in Charlottesville?
I love to go to dinner with friends at different restaurants. And the wineries—especially Barboursville Vineyards.
Where is a place you haven’t been but want to visit?
Tahiti, but I hate flying. 🙁
What are your seven wonders of the Law School?
(1) Danielle Gibbons’ Dog, Max
(2) The BLSA Office
(3) The Lexis Lab[4]
(4) Section C last year (shout out to them)
(5) Section G this year
(6) Studying in the Garden
(7) Mandy
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nha4zd@virginia.edu
[1] The interviewer would like to voice his disagreement with Agama on this point. Section B is by far the best 1L section.
[2] Agama is so involved that she uses a note on her phone to keep track, a fact that embarrasses her and highly entertains me.
[3] Shout out to Law Weekly’s Lena Welch ‘20, who teaches there!
[4] If you walk into the library, it’s to the right next to a classroom.