Meet NAWJ Research Intern Natalia Heguaburo

Natalia Heguaburo is a student at the University of Virginia School of Law. She received her BA in American Studies with highest distinction in 2019 from the University of Virginia, where she co-founded the Latinx Leadership Institute, an organization focusing on providing support and valuable career skills to first and second year Hispanic and Latinx students. She also dedicated her efforts to conducting archival research in order to understand the history of Hispanic and Latinx students at the University of Virginia between 1819 and 1973. Her research, which was presented to University board members, ultimately culminated in the University hiring a student researcher that focuses on properly recording and uncovering the history of minority students.

Between undergrad and law school, Ms. Heguaburo worked as the Pre-Law Fellow at the Office of the Virginia Solicitor General. There, she mooted attorneys preparing for oral arguments at the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Fourth Circuit, and SCOTUS. As a law student, Ms. Heguaburo won best advocate and best team at UVA Law’s Trial Advocacy tournament. She is a member of the Virginia Innocence Project Clinic, American Constitution Society, and serves as Vice President for UVA Law’s Mock Trial program. Ms. Heguaburo is the first in her family to attain a graduate degree, and she will be interning with the Honorable Judge Lehrburger for the Southern District of New York this summer. She hopes to use her law degree to continue advocating on behalf of members of the community who have been discriminated against, and she is very excited to serve in this new role as a research intern for the NAWJ!