Written by: WSCL Marketing Team
A New Direction Rooted in A Passion for Service
Before Kevin Torres applied to Western State College of Law, he kept asking himself a question that would eventually change his life: “What would actually make me happy?” At the time, he was working a regular office job and wondered whether that was all he was meant to do. “I was in like a really low point in my life,” he recalled, “and I kind of sat with it, and I told myself, I need to do something else.” The answer to his question kept coming back to service. “I want to help people,” he says. “I really do think that I am the most fulfilled spiritually when I can help someone in their life and make an impact.”
He didn’t always believe law school was in the cards for him. As a first-generation college and law school graduate, Kevin says he grew up focused on one goal: “just get your degree.” Law school felt out of reach. “I thought you have to have money to go to law school, you have to have really good grades to go to law school. I didn’t have either.” Still, he took it step by step: take the test, apply, try one semester. “Eventually, I kept going,” he says. And today, Kevin is a Western State graduate. He graduated Magna Cum Laude and took the bar exam in July, marking another major milestone in his journey toward a career in law.
A Dream Made Possible at Western State
Kevin first learned about Western State College of Law through someone his mother knew, a student who was also working full-time and attending law school part-time. Hearing that story made law school feel possible. For Kevin, Western State’s part-time program was a major reason he chose the school. Having a full-time job, the part-time option was non-negotiable. Offering merit-based scholarships was also very important to Kevin. “They offer me merit-based scholarships, and not a lot of places do that,” he explains.
Western State College of Law, located in Tustin, California, is the oldest law school in Orange County and is among the most affordable law schools in California. For Kevin, that accessibility mattered. “Western State has allowed me to pursue my dream, pursue my legal career,” he says. It also came with a lesson he carried through law school: “Western State really is a place where you get what you put in.”
Building Community Through LLSA
Campus leadership was another way Kevin found purpose. During his time as Vice President of the Latinx Law Student Association (LLSA), he helped build community and create opportunities to help students see themselves in the legal profession.
One initiative he was especially excited about was a Latinos in the Law panel. “I think that will help show people like myself and other fellow classmates, first-generation students, that we can do it,” he says. “We’re here, and we’re just as capable as everybody else.”
Representation was a core part of his work with LLSA. Kevin noted that seeing members of his community in higher positions helped him feel like law school was a real option for him. This can also inspire students like him who question whether they belong in the legal field. LLSA, he says, also gives students a place to feel supported and heard. “I think LLSA provides that space and opportunity for community and connection,” he explains. “Everybody’s really welcoming.” For first-generation students especially, that matters. “It can be really daunting when you don’t really have anybody else to rely on or seek advice from,” he says. Through LLSA, Kevin helped ensure students always had someone to guide them on their journey.
Learning to Belong
Kevin’s Western State experience was also a story of learning to trust his own abilities. Entering law school, he was unsure whether he would succeed. Then, the grades came back. “I was like, wow, I got it. And I can do this,” he recalls. That realization became even more meaningful as his academic accomplishments grew. During his time at Western State, Kevin earned CALI Awards in Criminal Law and Estates, and after graduation, he received an additional CALI Award in Remedies. To top it off, he graduated magna cum laude.
For Kevin, those moments are why he believed in himself. “I knew I belonged here, that I could do this,” he says. He also served as a Dean’s Fellow, another sign of how far he had come from the person who once wondered whether law school was possible. But for him, that growth didn’t stop there. “I am always trying to improve myself,” he says. “I hope to maintain that student mentality and never stop learning.”
For graduates and students who have felt the weight of imposter syndrome, especially first-generation students, Kevin’s story offers a powerful reminder: belonging can be built, one step at a time.
Learning Through the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic
Kevin’s commitment to service deepened through the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic, an experiential learning opportunity that helped him connect classroom preparation with real-world legal work. “I am part of the Immigration and Deportation Defense Clinic,” he said during his final year. “That has been such an amazing experience.”
Kevin credits Professor Rivera and Professor Camacho (Class of 2019) with helping prepare him for his legal career. “They really pushed me to be a better attorney and a better future attorney,” he says. “They really push you to be the best self you can be.”
The clinic also shaped the way he thinks about clients and their stories. Working with his client and his clinic partner, Jason Ruiz, reinforced his desire to give back through immigration work and pro bono service. “More often than not, there’s more to the story,” Kevin says. “If you sit with these people, you sit with any person, you’ll realize that there’s really a lot more to them than what’s on the outside.” That lesson has stayed with him. “People just want to share their story and know that someone cares,” he explains.
What Makes Western State Stand Out
For Kevin, Western State stands out for the personal, supportive culture students experience throughout the law school. “Western State is such an amazing school because everybody is really willing to help each other,” he says. “It’s not really cutthroat.” He describes a community where students, faculty, alumni, and organizations support one another. “Help is there if you need it,” he says. “All you gotta do is ask.”
That support began in the classroom. Kevin says Western State’s smaller class sizes helped him build closer connections with faculty. “You get to know your professors,” he explains. “The professors are more than happy to guide you and help you be the best student that you can.”
That sense of community did not end when he graduated. For Kevin, the Western State connection is something alumni carry with them and continue to extend to one another. With an alumni network more than 12,000 strong, that support is part of a legacy that reaches well beyond campus. “Everybody looks out for each other,” he says. “No matter where you’re at, everybody wants to help.”
His advice to incoming students is simple and direct: “Take the risk. Make that leap and put yourself out there,” he says. “The community is there.”
The Advocate He Set Out to Become
After graduating from Western State College of Law in May 2026 and taking the bar exam in July, Kevin Torres reached another milestone and secured a post-bar clerkship with Fontes Law Group. He is interested in personal injury, plaintiff-side practice, criminal defense, and immigration law. One day, he hopes to open his own firm, giving him the ability to take cases that are close to his heart and serve people who may not otherwise have access to legal services.
“I still want to do pro bono work,” he says, especially in immigration. He also hopes to remain connected to Western State as an alumnus, whether through LLSA, mentorship, or future opportunities for students. “I hope, God willing, one day I have my own firm,” he says, “to be able to provide internships or opportunities to Western State students.”
For Kevin, law school was not about becoming a different person, but rather, about growing into the strongest version of who he already is. “It’s more about just evolving,” he says, “and enhancing who you already are.”
That is the story Kevin carries forward as a Western State College of Law graduate: one of persistence, service, community, and the belief that when students are supported, they can become the advocates they dream of becoming.
