First-Generation Salvadoran American, Building a Career in Law: Franklin Muñoz
Holland & Knight's Diversity Council and Hispanic Affinity Group are proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and honor the generations of Hispanics who have enriched America's history and continue to shape its future. We are pleased to present the 2025 video series, featuring meaningful conversations from across our community. We hope the stories shared in these episodes inspire those exploring their roots and shine a light on the contributions Hispanics bring to the legal profession and beyond.
West Coast Land Use and Environment attorney Franklin Muñoz discusses his journey from childhood to law and offers inspirational words to future generations of lawyers. He grew up in Pico Union, a small immigrant community in Los Angeles, where he was surrounded by different cultures and people who understood his family's story. When he went to college, his mother and neighbors faced a difficult situation when their building's subsidized mortgage matured, meaning their rent increased. At just 19, Mr. Muñoz learned about the city's Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO) and worked with tenants' rights organizers to help in any way he could. As he explained, this was his origin story in law.
Franklin Muñoz: I'm a first-generation Salvadoran American, which means that basically everyone in my family was born in El Salvador and I'm the first born here in the states. I grew up in a very lively immigrant community in LA called Pico Union. My parents were always very fascinated and embraced our neighbors. They taught me to take pride in the fact that our story was connected to our neighbors.
So I grew up in public housing in an apartment building that was part of the project-based Section 8 program, which is a federal program that's no longer funded. When I was a freshman in college, it just so happened that our building's subsidized mortgage was maturing. And so my mom called me and she's like, "A lot of our neighbors are being essentially kicked out from our building."
I learned more about LA's Rent Stabilization Ordinance, the RSO, and was filing administrative complaints with the city of LA, with LA's housing authority. And, you know, I didn't know it then, right? But that was sort of like my origin story in the law.
So what we do at Holland & Knight's West Coast land use group is we assist developers navigate the state's housing statutes. And if I can point to anything that has made it possible for me to build a career where I'm now advising people about affordable housing regulations and housing regulations generally, is that throughout my journey, there were people of color, Latinos who mentored me and saw potential that I couldn't, right? I'm thinking about the Latino tenants' rights organizers who helped my mom and me navigate housing insecurity. I'm thinking about the legal aid pro bono attorneys that worked with me to file complaints with the city and encouraged me to pursue this as a career.
The thing that I'd say to any young person that's interested in pursuing a career in the law and that doesn't feel represented: You are enough. Success and accomplishment doesn't have like one look. It can look like you.