About Carragan Huerta

About Carragan:

Carragan was born and raised in Clovis, California. Her mother was a teacher for Clovis Unified School District and her father was a sheriff with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department. Growing up, Carragan was fascinated by her father’s career. He cultivated her interest in criminology, even buying her true crime novels throughout high school. Later, her father encouraged her to pursue a degree in criminology, and advocated for her to attend Fresno State, where he was the Chief of the Campus Police Department. She took his advice to heart and did just that.

After Carragan graduated from Fresno State, her father fell ill, eventually requiring a double lung transplant. During his year-long hospitalization at UC San Francisco, Carragan became active with the Central California Blood Center and Donate Life. She helped organize the “Champions for Chief Huerta Blood Drive,” which is now an annual event. It was also during this time that Carragan decided to apply for law school. Although she had opportunities to leave the Central Valley, she chose to stay local so she could continue to serve her community.

Her father passed away during her first week of law school; yet she remained determined to achieve her dream of becoming an attorney. She chose to continue her legal education in honor of her father’s memory. Her father’s favorite quote became the motto she lives by: “The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created. Created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating.”

Education:

After graduating as Salutatorian from Clovis High School, Carragan went on to attend the Smittcamp Family Honors College at California State University, Fresno on the President’s Honors Scholarship, a full academic scholarship. While at Fresno State, she pursued two degrees, a Bachelor of Science in Criminology, Law Enforcement and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Pre-Law. She was also accepted into the College of Social Sciences Honors Department, where she conducted research on domestic violence statistics in Fresno County for an entire academic year. Carragan was accepted into the Criminology Honors Society, the National Leadership and Honors Organization, and the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. In May 2018, Carragan graduated Magna Cum Laude from Fresno State with high honors, two degrees, and a 3.75 GPA.

In 2019, Carragan accepted the Dean’s scholarship, a full academic scholarship, to San Joaquin College of Law. While at SJCL, she received additional scholarships, including the Jennifer Lynn Oleksa Scholarship, George J. Vasquez Memorial Scholarship, and Central California Bankruptcy Association Scholarship. Carragan earned twelve Witkin Academic Achievement Awards in Legal Methods (Fall 2019 & Spring 2020), Appellate Advocacy (Fall 2020), Criminal Law (Spring 2021), Moot Court (Spring 2021), Business Organizations (Fall 2021), Constitutional Law (Fall 2021 & Spring 2022), Human Trafficking (Spring 2022), Professional Responsibility (Summer 2022), Advanced Research and Writing (Fall 2022), and Remedies (Spring 2023). In May 2023, Carragan graduated from San Joaquin College of Law as Valedictorian, with high honors.

Background & Interests:

Carragan spent the majority of her undergraduate education volunteering, interning, and working for the Marjaree Mason Center. She was certified as a sexual assault victim advocate in 2016 and certified as a domestic violence victim advocate in 2017. The most impactful experience she had at the Marjaree Mason Center was during her internship with the Legal Services Department. It was through this experience that she began to understand the meaning of victimization and injustice. She understood that if she truly wanted to make a difference in her community, she needed to become an attorney. Her desire to mend and protect those who have been broken by violence pushed Carragan to apply for law school.

While in law school, Carragan was nominated to compete in the Roger J. Traynor California Appellate Moot Court Competition, where Carragan earned an individual merit award for oral advocacy. However, Carragan’s experience in oral argument did not begin in law school; She has over five years of experience competing in mock trial and moot court. She competed for the Clovis High School Mock Trial Team from 2012 to 2014, during which she awarded the ranking of third best prosecuting attorney at the Northern California Regional Mock Trial Competition. She then went on to compete at the collegiate level for the Fresno State Mock Trial Team from 2014 to 2016. These experiences only further fueled her desire to become an attorney.

Experience:

Carragan worked full time as a certified law clerk during law school. She began working at a civil litigation firm in August 2019 until February 2021. She then worked at a firm, where her focus was criminal defense and employment law until April 2023. During her last year of law school, she was the teacher’s assistant for the Business Organizations professor. Although her initial goal was to practice criminal defense after law school, this experience changed her perspective. She realized she wanted to explore opportunities in business law and set her sights on Proper Defense. She joined the team after graduating law school and feels honored to be working with fellow San Joaquin College of Law alumnus.

Fun Fact:

Carragan’s favorite past time is to listen to true crime podcasts. Her favorite one to date is “In Your Own Backyard,” with “Serial” as a close second.

Christmas is her favorite holiday, and during periods of high stress, you will often find her listening to Christmas music to relieve some anxiety.