In this testimonial video, Lorena Rivas, Esq., founder of Rivas & Associates, recounts how the firm transformed during the COVID‑19 pandemic by shifting to social‑media platforms (Facebook Live, Instagram, TikTok) to reach clients who could no longer meet in person. A viral TikTok video sparked a surge of inquiries from across the United States, accelerating the firm’s growth beyond its original eight‑person team. Rivas emphasizes a fiercely competitive and curious culture that prioritizes innovative, client‑first legal strategies over risk‑averse practices, positioning the firm as a leading advocate for the Latino immigrant community. The firm’s hiring philosophy values passion, creativity, and a willingness to “find the yes” for clients, even without prior immigration law experience, and it boasts a young, international, tech‑savvy staff. Employee perks include unlimited paid time off, flexible hybrid or remote work options, and a family‑oriented onboarding process. Throughout, staff share emotionally charged stories of granting work authorizations, green cards, and life‑changing outcomes, underscoring the deep personal impact of their work on individuals, families, and broader communities.
Chapters
In 2020, in the midst of COVID I realized I can't be doing the same thing. Yes, we were a good law firm. We were helping people, but we were working in a way that wasn't efficient. And so that kind of forced me to say, you know what? Okay, if the clients can't come to me, if I can't go to the clients and we can't meet in person, then the next best thing is this wonderful technology we have. So I got on Facebook, Facebook Lives, Instagram, TikTok, and we got to do things differently. We have to innovate. We have to be able to reach them. We have to provide that excellent and above service. We're going to keep on growing and growing, and we're not going to stop, and we're going to be known as the best company to help our clients. And so we did that.
Lorena Rivas, Esq. Esq. is an amazing law firm. In my opinion, they're doing more for the Latino community than really anybody else in the state.
So we started with 8 girls, and then I think the growth happened when Lorena went viral on TikTok. She went viral, and out of the blue one day, we just got a lot of random calls, and we did not know why. The phones just kept ringing, so we asked Lorena, I was like, do you know why the phones are ringing? And then she's like, oh, I went viral on TikTok. And with that, like, clients kept coming in and not just from like Oklahoma, but from surrounding states and then from like New York and then California and then Minnesota. So we were like, oh my goodness, like, what is going on? And that's when we started to grow.
I mean, I kind of joke around with Lorena, but I'm like, you know, I think Rivas and Associates is going to be Putting more people on a pathway to citizenship than so-called comprehensive immigration reform that we've been waiting for for 20 years.
I'm a very competitive person. I am a very curious person. And so that's the kind of culture I've put here, that we want to be number one. We want to be the best team for our community. We want to be the best company for our clients. We want to keep on serving more and more and more because we want to change more and more lives., but we're not only going to get that by taking easy cases. A lot of lawyers also are very much like, we are not going to take any risk. Not here. We're going to work for our clients in the way they deserve. We're going to try different strategies. We're going to be innovative. We're going to push the limits. I work for the clients. I don't work for the government. I don't work for immigration, for USCIS or Department of Homeland Security. I work for the client. We work for the clients. So we're just continuing with the mission of just We're not just serving our clients in their legal services, but we're trying to change their life completely.
I didn't realize how international the staff is. I thought that was very appealing. It's a very young firm. You know, most of the people here are, you know, under 35. So it's a young group of people and they're very tech savvy.
We do get unlimited time off, which is amazing. Working virtually is also an option. You also have the option of working hybrid or, you know, choosing to work in office if that's what you want as well. Here it's like, you know, we'll work with your schedule, work with with you. So that's, I feel like that's a big perk.
Habilidades correctas, bienvenida al team. To be a part of this team, we need passion. Somebody that's not going to take no for an answer. So I don't require them to have prior experience in law firms and immigration law because that's okay. We can teach them that. But the other stuff, we change lives of people who've been told previously that maybe they don't have an option, but not here. We are all about finding the yes for our clients. And so that's the kind of staff we need. Staff that is going to be creative, be innovative, and is not afraid to roll up their sleeves and maybe get their, their hands a little bit dirty and not necessarily take no for an answer too as well.
We take this job very seriously. I mean, it's It's somebody— I mean, I get emotional thinking about it. There's something, I would say, just really moving to give people their work authorization, to get people a green card. We had a man just kind of just come in here and buy everybody lunch, you know, because he is just so appreciative. There was a man who came from Minnesota. He drove to personally meet Lorena and to personally thank her her after he got his work permit of just sheer gratitude, you know, for having helped him. You know, it's that, that kind of transformation that's happening in people's lives.
It is challenging just because the work that we do is challenging and you're working with serious things. Like, it's a person's life, it's a person's future, it's their family's future as well. But it's also very rewarding because when you're a part of a a whole family comes in and they see you and they're just crying and everyone's excited and you're like, "Oh, I don't— I want to hug you," you know? That's the rewarding part that comes after the challenge.
As an immigrant myself, like, I know that struggle. I remember seeing my mom taking me to places and me being her translator when I was little because she didn't know the language. And I feel like it's so important whether we're doing the immigration stuff or even helping these people become business owners and get everything right. Part of that American dream.
When you come to work here, you are changing someone's life. Not just going to be typing away on the computer. They're not just going to be filling out paperwork or drafting documents. You are going to be building a person, an immigrant's amazing dream that will impact not only themselves, but generations and generations of their community. Many times, I'm sure you have heard that the sky's the limit. Well, here I'm telling you, there is no sky. Nothing is going to limit us. There's more communities that have needs that we want to serve and we want to reach. So companies start small, but that doesn't mean they have to stay small. So there is no sky.
