Member Spotlight: Sylvia Aceves

By Katie Wotherspoon*

Sylvia Aceves

“Work really hard on client relationships. I found that every relationship you make with a client is an opportunity for the next person who comes in to trust you, to want to work with you, and to give you the benefit of the doubt . . .especially as young women, because these clients will tell the next client that comes along, ‘she’s a good lawyer, she will work hard for you.’ That’s more golden than anything else.”

These words of wisdom have guided Sylvia Aceves throughout her sixteen-year career as a fierce litigator. Sylvia is a Senior Deputy County Counsel for the Office of County Counsel here in San Diego. Reflective of her dedication and commitment to her clients, Sylvia is currently a team leader, advising multiple senior level attorneys for various tort claims against the County. It has been a pleasure to learn more about Sylvia for this month’s FBA member spotlight.

Breaking the News to her Parents

Sylvia was born in Los Angeles but moved to San Diego at a very young age, where she has been pretty much ever since. Her mother was a professor of Arabic and French at the University of California, San Diego. Sylvia recalled viewing her as a busy “working mom,” mentioning she would take Sylvia and her sister to La Jolla High in the morning before work. Later in her mother’s career, she was the head of the linguistic department for Grossmont College. Sylvia’s father was one of the first hundred employees at Qualcomm and one of their first engineers. He retired in 2009, but shortly after began working as an expert witness in patent cases, where he regularly testifies about patent infringements.

Her family, however, did not always view the practice of law with fondness. In fact, Sylvia recalled the day she told her parents she was changing her major at University of California, Irvine, from biology to criminology to pursue a career in law. They were vacationing in Palm Springs when she broke the news, and she will never forget their reaction.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it. This is not good,” they said. The news cast a shadow over the weekend—not exactly the reaction a young person expects when they tell their parents they want to become a lawyer. Sylvia explained that both her parents were born and raised in Egypt. They met while attending California Institute of Technology; her mother had just finished her PhD, and her father was finalizing his dissertation.

In Egypt, Sylvia explained, the students who went to law school were the kids with the worst grades. Her parents wanted her to study biology so she would go to medical school and become a pharmacist, physician, or even a dentist. But certainly not a lawyer. “It was really hard, because I did want to make them happy, and do what they wanted me to do, it was just the cultural background—they didn’t have the same experience in their country. They were just so shocked.” For Sylvia, becoming an attorney was to totally break with tradition—she did not know of a single attorney on either side of her extended family.

Sylvia’s parents eventually came to value her work as an attorney, so much so that now whenever she discusses her work with them, they cheer her on and always hope her side wins.

Law School and Liberty Mutual

As a young person, Sylvia was interested in teaching, and she felt like she had a natural ability to talk to people. Both attributes are characteristics she saw in her mother. These inherent capabilities have helped Sylvia thrive throughout her career, beginning in law school and expanding to her influential presence in the courtroom.

Sylvia attended Chapman Law School in Orange County, where she started the Employment Law Society (ELS). She took it upon herself to network and find employment lawyers in the community to speak at ELS events. While in law school, Sylvia also served as the editor for the Criminal Law Journal. Additionally, she externed for a bankruptcy judge in Santa Ana, which she really enjoyed. She assisted in writing tentative rulings for the judge, which she described as an invaluable experience.

Shortly after law school, Sylvia began working for Liberty Mutual. She recalled awaiting her bar results and once she passed, she was hired full time as a staff attorney focusing on tort matters such as car accidents, dog bites, and slip and falls. Liberty Mutual quickly immersed her in trial work. “They just threw me in . . . they sent me to trial by myself. It was my first jury trial. I didn’t have a second chair. I didn’t have a paralegal, they just said, ‘Go go, go! Do it!’” While it was helpful that the cases were smaller in terms of potential recoverable damages, the pressure to succeed was nevertheless high.   

During her first trial, Sylvia recalled that her adversary was similar in age but more confident in her trial skills. It was a challenging experience, but she learned quickly and really enjoyed the intensity of trial. Though the jury came back for the plaintiffs, the damages awarded were lower than the original settlement offer, and Sylvia was able to seek costs from the plaintiffs. In the end, she explained, it felt more like a win since it was her first trial. Sylvia reiterated that being thrown into the mix and having to hit the ground running was an incredible way to learn—the “best way for any lawyer to learn,” in fact.

Transitioning to County Counsel

After her early successes, Liberty Mutual gave Sylvia bigger cases with bigger clients, such as cases involving complex brain injuries, and clients like the Hyatt Hotel. Sylvia spent nine and a half years at Liberty Mutual and conducted eight more jury trials. Although she enjoyed her time there, after nearly a decade she decided to seek a new challenge.

Sylvia applied to be County Counsel and interviewed for two different positions: one to defend social workers, and the other to defend law enforcement. Sylvia was drawn to the opportunity to defend law enforcement in part because when people interact with law enforcement they are usually going through a hard time—there has been an accident, maybe a speeding ticket, or something much more serious and harmful. Because Sylvia believes most people have strong feelings about law enforcement, she saw representing them as a challenge, but one she was willing to vigorously advocate for in the courtroom.

Sylvia’s diligence and her commitment to her clients through reassurance and rapport has paid off. She is now a prominent team leader for a tort litigation team for the County, supervising and mentoring four senior level attorneys. This position has allowed her to embrace her natural aptitudes: teaching and communicating with people. But what Sylvia enjoys most about her job is the client interaction. She underscored the importance of building a strong sense of trust with her clients. While most view the County as an amorphous entity, Sylvia recognizes the significant impact on her clients as individuals when faced with navigating the judicial system.

“The best part of the job is the client interaction, the connection, helping individual people who haven’t been through something like being sued before and they are scared about it.”

Private Life and Future Endeavors

Sylvia explained that she does her best to have work-life balance, but admits everything goes out the window when she is in trial. “It’s just all one thing, very one-track mind.” She explained that her family is very understanding of trial and the concentration it requires. Nevertheless, making time to be with her family is just as much a priority.

Sylvia’s husband of fifteen years coaches the flag football team for their two sons, who are eleven and eight. During our interview on Friday afternoon, Sylvia lit up talking about Friday night flag football games and how much she enjoys watching her boys play. “Both kids are super into sports, both play basketball . . . sports are always on in our house, like always, we love baseball, love the Padres . . . and I think that there are so many lessons from sports that can apply to the law.” Some of these lessons include perseverance, not giving up after a loss, preparedness, and practice, practice, practice. All of these have certainly been mastered by Sylvia.  

As for the future, Sylvia said she would enjoy being in a position that is trial adjacent, where she could continue to teach and learn from others. She highlighted the thrill she feels when helping lawyers prepare for trial. When asked about considering a judgeship one day, she said, “Maybe . . . it would be really cool to see a trial every day.”

Through her mentorship of colleagues and commitment to courtroom excellence, Sylvia continues to demonstrate that hard work and strong client relationships are foundational to a successful legal career.

*Katie Wotherspoon is a Deputy County Counsel with the County of San Diego where she serves as an advisory attorney for the Health & Human Services Agency. Prior to her current role, she spent ten years working as a legal assistant in various areas. Ms. Wotherspoon holds a J.D. from California Western, School of Law, an M.A. in Women’s Studies from San Diego State University, and a B.A. in Women’s Studies from Saint Mary’s College of California.