ABOUT CELINA
Celina is a lawyer, wife, and mom. She was born in Nueces County and happy to be raising four amazing kids in her beautiful hometown of Corpus Christi.
Celina attended elementary school at Arlington Heights Christian School and Tuloso Midway until the 6th grade, when her family was moved to Friendswood, Texas, where she graduated high school in 2001.
Being the granddaughter of a cotton picker and a first generation college student when she went to school, Celina was determined to make her family proud. She attended Texas Tech University where she excelled academically as well as in numerous extracurricular activities. She graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelors of Music, serving as president of her music service sorority for two years as well section leader in the Goin’ Band from Raiderland. Celina was also selected as a new student orientation leader (Double T Crew) for four years, where she had the opportunity to welcome thousands of incoming students to Texas Tech. She then went on to obtain a Masters Degree from Tech in higher education administration. Celina was also heavily involved in her college church, where she was part of the Raider Awakening ministry and participated in the music ministry on Sunday masses.
Celina next attended law school at the University of Missouri as a Thurgood Marshall scholarship recipient. In law school she assumed multiple leadership positions for a number of student organizations. Most notably, Celina founded the Hispanic Law Student Association and was elected as the Central Regional Director for the National Latino/a Law Student Association at the national convention. Celina also worked extensively with the innocence project clinic and
family violence clinic. She studied abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, where she was recognized for achieving the highest grade in comparative criminal justice. The summer before her third year of school, Celina was selected as one of five nationwide applicants to clerk for the ACLU Capital Punishment Project in Durham, North Carolina, while also clerking remotely for the Life Legal Defense Foundation.
Once back in her native town, Celina hit the ground running to advocate for the people of our community. She has taken on numerous pro bono cases for individuals that could not afford representation, simply because it was the right thing to do. Celina has also spends significant time serving on non-profit boards in our community and volunteering her time.
Celina is most proud of working in her dream profession while raising four beautiful children. She hopes to instill in her children the importance of helping others, spreading kindness, and that with hard work (and faith), you can achieve anything!
Memberships:
Corpus Christi Bar Association
Corpus Christi Criminal Defense Bar Association
Coastal Bend Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
Coastal Bend Women Lawyers Association - Board Member
Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
HNBA Latina Executive Leadership Program Graduate*
Texas Bar Foundation Fellow*
Corpus Christi Under 40 Honoree*
The Pink Connection - Secretary
Esperanza de Tejas - Board Member
London Education Foundation - Secretary
London Business Association - Board Member
Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas - Corpus Christi
Circle of Red
United Chamber of Commerce
Better Business Bureau
*Nominated and/or Selected for these positions as part of a prestigious selection process