Hidden Gems: Meet Bria Colón of BC Legal Assistance, PLLC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bria Colón

Hi Bria, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Ever since I was 12 years old I knew I wanted to become an attorney. Throughout high school and college, the goal of being an attorney was astronomical compared to anything else. However, I was not completely sure of the law that I wanted to practice until my freshman year in college at East Carolina University. I majored in Applied Sociology with a concentration in Law and Society and I quickly took notice of the oppression taken place in vulnerable communities – especially communities of color. From that point on, I knew I wanted to mesh my love for community and law. When I was admitted in Campbell Law School here in Raleigh, I was pretty sure that I wanted to practice immigration law. Ironically, my first year in law school, immigration courses had just started being offered to us at Campbell and I was extremely excited to see if immigration law was really something I wanted to practice – and it definitely was!

My last year in law school I was extremely torn about where I wanted to work and I only knew that I wanted to practice immigration. With my last year of law school happening in the midst of COVID, I started to seriously think about working remote completely. At that time, jobs were hybrid or remote until restrictions were relieved from COVID, but I knew that was not what I wanted. While studying for the bar, I was thinking about how I could earn income while waiting for my results. I thought, “Wow, maybe I should become a virtual legal assistant for law firms while I wait!”, then it dawned on me (after hours of research) that I could do this with my law degree as an attorney! From that point on, I never looked back. It was pretty tough starting out because I was fresh out of law school and I was creating a non-traditional law firm that I had never seen before. I honestly felt so alone until I realized that I had to be intentional about finding community and finding other’s who aligned with my goals. Most importantly, I had to genuinely believe in myself. Now after 2 years of my freelance practice, I have learned so much about myself and I have met some of the most inspirational people!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Opening my freelance practice has been far from a smooth road. Firstly, law school does NOT prepare you to become a business owner at all! I had to approach the learning curve of becoming a business owner while being a new attorney at the same and it was really tough. When I first started practicing, I took almost any project I could get my hands on: document review, personal injury, medical malpractice, and family law. I was so unhappy because I knew I wanted to practice immigration full-time. I had to take huge leap and be extremely intentional about identifying as an immigration attorney and only searching for immigration opportunities moving forward. That was one of the toughest and best decisions I made in my practice because now I feel like I am truly fulfilling my purpose as a freelance attorney and now I can teach others how to do the same!

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
BC Legal Assistance, PLLC, is my immigration law freelance practice. I am the owner and only practicing attorney on the team as of now. BC Legal Assistance, PLLC is a non-traditional law firm because we assist other attorneys and law firm owners as clients instead of individuals seeking legal assistance. We provide legal services to other immigration attorneys and law firm owners who need assistance with their immigration law case overload. I also assist other attorneys who want take the leap and start their own freelance practice whether it is full time, part time, or seasonal. I am very proud of how much BC Legal Assistance has grown over the past few years.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory fluctuates so much as I get older, but as of now, my favorite childhood memory is when my mother used to take me to the public library and we would each get a few books to read for the month and I would always be so excited to go back to get more. Now as an adult, my love for going to the library has resurfaced and I am always reminded of those times with my mother as a child.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.bclegalassistance.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/bclegalassistance?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088046413096&__tn__=C-R
• Other: https://linktr.ee/attorneybclegal?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=856afaa2-30bd-41f9-abe6-cf1760ffd65f