Personal Statement

My name is Arnaldo J. Sierra. I am an attorney and the founder of the Law Offices of Arnaldo J. Sierra, LLC, in Hartford, Connecticut. I believe every person deserves to be heard, treated fairly, and represented by someone willing to stand up for them. I believe in fighting for the little guy.

I earned my Juris Doctor with honors from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, completing my legal education in approximately two and a half years. I am admitted to practice in Connecticut and federal court. Through my practice, I represent people facing criminal charges, family disputes, personal injuries, workers’ compensation claims, probate matters, civil litigation, and landlord–tenant conflicts.

People come to my office with problems that affect their freedom, their children, their health, their homes, and their livelihoods. These matters deserve careful preparation and serious attention. My responsibility is to understand what happened, know the law, and advocate for the person who has placed their trust in me.

I have also served as a Hartford Redevelopment Agency Commissioner and a Hartford Ethics Commissioner. Those experiences reinforced my belief that institutions must be accountable to the people they serve. Having authority does not give anyone the right to disregard another person’s rights or dignity.

The history of my law school connects directly to that belief. People often remember Thurgood Marshall for Brown v. Board of Education, but Sweatt v. Painter holds particular meaning for me.

Heman Sweatt was qualified to attend the University of Texas Law School, but Texas rejected him solely because he was Black. Rather than admit him, the state offered him a dump—makeshift basement quarters—and called it an equal law school. The initial school lacked accreditation, an independent faculty, and an adequate library. Texas wanted to keep him out while pretending it had fulfilled its constitutional obligations.

Marshall challenged that injustice. He fought for an individual standing against the power of the state and refused to accept that someone could be pushed aside, given inferior opportunities, and told that he had been treated equally. He won. The Supreme Court required Texas to admit Sweatt.

During that lawsuit, Texas established the separate school that continued at Texas Southern University and eventually became Thurgood Marshall School of Law, where I earned my degree. The school grew out of an attempt to preserve segregation and became an institution that opened doors to the legal profession. That history matters to me.

It reminds me that you cannot shove a person aside, give them less, and call it equality. Someone has to be willing to stand beside that person and challenge what is happening.

That is the responsibility I carry into my work as an attorney. A person without money, connections, or influence still has rights. Their case deserves attention. Their voice deserves to be heard. I believe in doing the work, confronting unfair treatment, and fighting for the people who need an advocate.

That is why I practice law, and that is the attorney I strive to be.