When South Texas 3L student Jose Pablo Salas — who will graduate summa cum laude May 21 — applied for a coveted internship position with Apple’s Products and Services Legal Group, he knew he was competing with other top-tier law students from across North America.
“I got my first iPod when I was young and remember thinking what a huge, grand company Apple was,” Salas said. “I always imagined people in California getting to experience work at a company like that. I never imagined a kid from Matamoros, Mexico, could do it.”
But hard work and a penchant for leaning into challenges are par for the course for Salas. Through an extensive vetting process, his application stood out, he aced the interviews, and he got the job.
Getting a peek behind the curtain at Apple provided Salas with greater confidence about his future work. “I was dealing with everyone from business teams to engineering teams to marketing departments,” he said. “Having that knowledge of how to work with different internal stakeholders will be crucial to my success as an attorney.”
Now with two major internships under his belt — at Baker McKenzie in Houston and Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. — Salas’ resume is impressive, and he is on track to achieve his lifelong dream.
From the South Texas border to South Texas College of Law Houston
Though he was born in Brownsville, Salas grew up in Matamoros, Mexico, where he lived for 12 years with his grandparents.
From a young age, he was a dedicated student. Salas crossed the border every day to attend school in Texas. He woke up as early as 5:30 a.m. to get to his elementary and middle schools, at times waiting for up to two hours to cross the border.
When Salas turned 12, he moved back to Brownsville. That’s where he first became interested in government, citing his step- father as a major influence. “He’s a lawyer in Brownsville who first studied political science, so I thought it would be useful to follow his path,” Salas said.
That path eventually led him to The University of Texas at Austin. As a government major, Salas gravitated to working at the Texas Capitol, where he met lawyers and lobbyists who helped shape his aspirations.
These early mentors would inspire Salas to make law school the next step in his educational and professional journey. Initially drawn to STCL Houston because of the many successes of its advocacy program, he eventually used the program as a spring- board to launch his career.
Gaining experience
Salas quickly took to moot court and became an integral part of the South Texas College of Law Houston competitions team, helping lead the charge to the national finals last year. He also won awards for writing the best brief in two national moot court competitions.
Acknowledging the law school’s long history of dominance in advocacy, Salas attributes his successes to absorbing as much as he could from his professors. He credits his membership in the South Texas Law Review, Professor Rob Galloway, vice president for advocacy, and Professor Amanda Peters’ Legal Research and Writing class with impacting the trajectory of his career by pushing him to hone his skills.
In his second year at South Texas, Salas took his skills to the courts as an intern for U.S. District Judge David Hittner. That experience taught him about the inner workings of a courtroom.
But it was ultimately his time at a private law firm as part of a secondment, a type of job rotation in another area, that led to Salas becoming a legal intern with Apple.
Big companies, big law
That Apple internship solidified Salas’ desire to go into “Big Law” after graduating from South Texas. “It’s not stressful if you love what you do and the people you work with,” Salas said.
The exact details of the Apple position cannot be disclosed because Salas is bound by confidentiality, but he says he appreciated the in-house experience he gained.
“It was fascinating to get a look at how a giant company like Apple works,” he said. “I got to see what the legal needs are for a company of that size.” All his experience-based learning has proven to have direct value on his future. The 3L recently accepted an offer from Paul Hastings as an associate attorney in the corporate practice group post-graduation.
“South Texas pushed me to become the best lawyer I could be, and I believe I will start my career with a huge advantage,” Salas said. “I am grateful and excited to take the next step.”
