Meet The Hurricane Survivor Who Overcame All Odds To Open Her Own Law Office.

Real estate lawyer Laneyscha Echevarría hasn’t had it easy, but her story is proof that persistence eventually pays off! After finishing law school in Puerto Rico, this hopeful grad was getting ready to take the bar exam. Unfortunately, Hurricane Maria swept through her hometown, causing so much damage that she had to travel all the way to San Juan just to access the internet. There, she connected with an old friend who was able to lend her a helping hand.

By chance, Laneyscha had met sailor/contractor Scott Gaston from Lewes, Delaware, in 2016. She and her friends had shown him around while he was visiting Puerto Rico. Now, he was reaching out to her to offer her a place to stay. The law student was touched.

“That little gesture we made to him, he has paid back 10 times or more,” said Laneyscha, according to Cape Gazette. She also took him up on his offer. “I figured I could get a job and send my family money. I could help them from here.”

Eventually, Laneyscha returned to Puerto Rico and passed the bar exam, but her career in Lewes had barely begun. When she returned to the town, she noticed a terrible deficit in Spanish-speaking real estate lawyers. It became her goal to pass the Delaware Bar so that she could serve the community.

Unfortunately, taking the test in English wasn’t that easy. It wasn’t until her fourth time in 2022 that she finally passed. This gave her the green light to start working on the next step of her plan: create her own real estate law office.

“Now I’m building my business,” said Laneyscha. “I have a niche as the only real estate lawyer speaking fluent Spanish, and I also understand the culture.”

L. Echevarría Attorneys at Law is making a difference in the Lewes Hispanic community, and so is its owner. Laneyscha not only makes her services more accessible to Spanish-speakers, but she also works with non-profit La Plaza Delaware, which offers free courses to Hispanic business owners.

“I’m extremely proud of this community and I want to advocate for them,” she said. “I will work with everyone, but Hispanics are close to my heart, and I think I can have the biggest impact there.”

You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.