Sofia Liban Abdullaahi Dirie decided early on that she wanted to be a lawyer. A heart-wrenching moment would prove to her that she chose the right path.
When Sofia was in high school, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detained her father. He was due to be deported when a family member stepped in with a powerful attorney who got the decision reversed.
“I thought, if the law never changed, and the only thing that changed was the representation, a lawyer can have a huge impact on someone’s life and their family,” Sofia said. “I thought if I could have that impact on another family, or even have the opportunity to help someone, even if it’s not what was done for my family, I would really love that chance.”
Sofia kept her promise to herself. Now she is a third year The University of Baltimore Law student. She’s been taking every opportunity to learn about the various pathways she can take to help make a difference for families who need legal help.
Sofia interned with the International Refugee Assistance Project. She contributed research to help an east African family in a similar position as her own, which has roots in Somala.
“That was something that was really important to me, even if I don’t go into immigration law.”
Sofia also held an internship with the NAACP legal counsel, focusing on civil rights works, and most recently is interning with a law firm specializing in small businesses and nonprofits in Baltimore.
She pointed to her summer spent with South Korea’s constitutional court as her most memorable experience. She did constitutional comparative research investigating medical aid in dying and how case law differs between South Korea and the United States.
“I really love constitutional law, and I think the fact that I got to have a hand in creating a document that the court’s going to take up, that my contributions are being considered for developing constitutional law for another country, I think that’s so exciting,” she said.
Applying Lessons in Real Time
Sofia has also become involved in several opportunities outside the classroom.
She’s served as a member of the Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Team and diversity council director for the Student Bar Association. She is a student representative for UBalt Law’s DEIB committee, a fellow for the Center for International Comparative Law, a teaching assistant for Constitutional Law II, and events coordinator for UBalt Students for Public Interest.
In her fellowship, she is working on a project related to international disability law. She’s getting to investigate how another country—she selected the United Kingdom—supports individuals affected by female genital mutilation. With family in the UK and mutilation being a prevalent issue in Somalia, Sofia dove into the opportunity to better understand what support services are offered where.
Following a veterans law course, Sofia became a research assistant for the same professor. She felt honored to write, with her professor’s supervision, a discharge upgrade for a former service member as part of her veterans law course. She then submitted it to the Board for the Correction of Naval Records for review.
“That was just really an awesome experience, to know that I took that class, I could apply what I learned and actually write a discharge upgrade for a service member,” Sofia said. … “I think you can say thank you for your service, but I think to actually work to help a lot of veterans that have been impacted by PTSD or other things that may have led to their discharge being other than honorable, that’s a great way for me to honor those service members.”
‘An Incredible Privilege'
Sofia is a scholar of the Fannie Angelos Program for Academic Excellence. She credits the program for making law school affordable. It freed her from choosing a law path based on salary rather than service.
“When I applied for the Fannie Angelos scholarship program, something that was really important to me is that I wanted this scholarship in order to pursue public interest and not have to worry about loans,” she said.
Being selected as a scholar also put Sofia in a cohort of fellow law students who, even three years into her program, she considers close friends.
“It’s an incredible privilege to have people from similar backgrounds as me going through the same exact process with me at the same exact time.”
Sofia is particularly proud of how much she’s done in just over two years. Her internships stacked her against students from Ivy League and international schools and feels her work ethic has helped her rise above.
“I just want to stress that, if you work hard and you do a great job, this community really supports you and you can achieve amazing things,” she said. “Never, in my wildest dreams that I think I would be able to go to Korea as a law student. My goal is to always just try to outperform myself. I know life has pits and peaks, but my goal is always to out peak myself, and I hope I can only go up from here.”