Podcast (texas-roundup): Play in new window
Subscribe: RSS | Texas RoundUP
In this episode, we sit down with power couple Omar Ochoa and wife Leah Wise. Both young lawyers hailing from Southern Texas and leading the nation in a growing group of Hispanic law firms. Both Graduates of UT Austin and from the Rio Grande Valley area.
View this profile on Instagram
Their Story:
On Nov. 4, 2023, Texas Law’s South Lawn was filled with live music, burnt orange balloons, and the smell of barbecue for the 25th annual Texas Law Tailgate Extravaganza. As The University of Texas at Austin’s football team prepared to take on Kansas State, law school alumni, professors, and staff enjoyed an afternoon of festivities and catching up with old friends.
Omar Ochoa ’11 and Leah Wise at the 2023 Texas Law Tailgate Extravaganza.
Amidst the activities, Omar Ochoa ’11 and his wife Leah Wise were embarking on a crucial mission: to find a cup of coffee. Both successful attorneys from the Rio Grande Valley, Ochoa—who also holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and business and a master’s in professional accounting from UT—and Wise—who earned a bachelor’s in political communication from UT—had traveled to Austin for the annual event and were looking for some caffeine before the big game’s 11 a.m. kickoff.
Ochoa and Wise’s coffee quest led them to the law school’s atrium, where they were approached by a young woman. She introduced herself as Alexis Saenz ’23 and explained that she was a current Texas Law student who would be graduating that December. Saenz expressed that she was highly interested in becoming an attorney in the Valley, and she asked the two lawyers if they could offer advice and references.
By January, that chance encounter in the atrium had turned into a full-time position for Saenz at Ochoa’s law firm in McAllen.
