Holley was a single parent working as a clerical assistant at CSUF when she started college. She dove into law school four years after obtaining her undergraduate degree while employed by State Compensation Insurance Fund as a sales representative. While waiting for Bar results, she worked as a legal assistant for the Fresno County Counsel “tackling” piles of probate files that no one wanted to handle. She was hired as a Deputy County Counsel immediately upon receiving Bar results. She handled probate and employment discrimination defense cases, as well as creating and presenting sexual harassment and discrimination trainings. In 1998 after promoting through the ranks, she was promoted to Chief Deputy County Counsel supervising 11 attorneys and several support staff servicing multiple county departments. In December 2002, Holley was recruited to work at Cal State San Marcos reporting directly to the University President and the Vice President for Finance and Administration. As Assistant Vice President for Human Resources and Legal Compliance and Interim Director of Human Resources, Holley was responsible for all employment issues, developing policies and employee training. After retiring Holley returned to Fresno in May 2004 and briefly continued working for the CSU before joining the Perez firm. She handles the firm’s Probate matters. She also writes briefs and motions. Additionally, Holley has been a real estate broker since the 1980’s.
Alumni Success
Explore the diversity of our Alumni careers, to learn what a Juris Doctor degree can provide. One Degree. A World of Option.
Holley Perez - Class of 1988 - Perez, Williams, Medina & Rodriguez, LLC
Extensive and Diverse Alumni Network
Our success can be seen in the extraordinary achievements of our graduates in bar passage rates and dynamic careers. San Joaquin College of Law graduates serve as District Attorneys, Superior Court judges, court commissioners, administrative law judges, general counsel of large corporations, in-house counsel to agricultural enterprises, and much more. Alumni have benefitted from launching their careers in a region where the population is growing and the prospect of getting into a prominent position quickly is proven higher. If a graduate desires to leave the Valley, he or she is in a strategic position to make a lateral move to a city of their choice or obtain a leadership position nationally or internationally.
More than 30% of the practicing lawyers in the Fresno-Clovis area are SJCL graduates. Of the women lawyers in the area, nearly 44% are SJCL graduates. More than 37% of the minority lawyers are graduates.
Careers of SJCL Alumni in the Area Include
- Administrative Law Judge
- Baker, Manock & Jensen
- Bankruptcy Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
- California State Assistant Attorney General
- Centex Homes In-House Counsel
- Children’s Hospital of Central California Counsel
- City Attorney
- County Counsel
- District Attorney
- Dowling Aaron
- Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters
- McCormick, Barstow, Sheppard, Wayte & Carruth
- Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
- Member, Fresno County Board of Supervisors
- Pappas Telecasting, Special Counsel & Vice President
- Private Practitioners in every area of practice
- Public Defender
- Saint Agnes Medical Center Counsel
- Superior Court Commissioner
- Superior Court Judge
- Research Attorney, Fifth District Court of Appeal
- Research Attorney, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
- Trinity Fruit In-House Counsel
Careers of SJCL Alumni Outside the Area Include
- California Environmental Protection Agency, Deputy Director
- California Secretary of Health & Human Services
- California State Water Resources Control Board, Member & Chair
- Chevron Human Resource Manager, Asia south Business Unit, Thailand
- Chief of Staff for California State Assemblyman
- Contra Costa County Court Commissioner
- Delta Dental, In-House Counsel, San Francisco
- Glenn County Superior Court Judge
- Honeywell Corporation, Phoenix, Arizona
- Monterey County Superior Court Judge
- Nevada Care Counsel & CEO
- Point Loma Nazarene University, Fermanian Business Center Director
- San Francisco Assistant City Attorney
- San Luis Obispo County Court Commissioner
- Santa Barbara County Counsel
- TelePacific Communications Corp, Assistant General Counsel, Nevada
- U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Washington, D.C.
- Wells Fargo Bank, Trust Counsel, North Carolina