Up for a Challenge

Deborah Gonzalez L’07 began her legal career on the cleaning staff.

Long before she stepped into Roger Williams University School of Law as a first-year evening student, Gonzalez was cleaning a law office at night to earn extra money. 

“I would go to the office, and I always found the work seemed like it was super interesting, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that,” recalls Gonzalez. “And I had asked my boss at the cleaning company, ‘Could I get a job there?’ and he told me about an opportunity, and I applied and was able to get the job as a receptionist.”

One thing led to another (more on that shortly) and since 2015 Gonzalez has been an RWU Law associate professor of law and director of the Immigration Clinic. In May, she added “judge” to her resume, becoming a municipal court judge of the City of Central Falls, Rhode Island.

“I’ve had every position, from the cleaning person, to the receptionist, to the secretary, to the paralegal, to the lawyer, to the partner, to the law professor, and now the judge,” Gonzalez says.

“A normal fit”

From her initial curiosity about the law office, Gonzalez began to slowly move up the ranks. She completed secretarial school and community college before earning an undergraduate degree in justice studies from Roger Williams University in 2003.

“Going to law school wasn’t far-fetched from what I had been studying all along,” Gonzalez remarks. “It was a normal fit, and plus, I hadn’t done anything else. … All of my studies had been around the law.”

Gonzalez continued to work throughout law school, balancing her job, studies, and raising an elementary school-aged daughter. She also participated in the Criminal Defense Clinic. 

The daughter of Brazilian immigrants, Gonzalez lived in Brazil for several years of her childhood. She was drawn to immigration law and began practicing in the field after graduation. She stayed active in RWU Law alumni activities and in the local immigration bar, where she met Mary Holper, who had founded the Immigration Clinic the year after Gonzalez graduated. When Holper went on maternity leave, Gonzalez temporarily filled in teaching the clinic. A few years later, Gonzalez was invited back as the full-time clinic director.

While she was a student in the Criminal Defense Clinic, the clinic’s director, Andrew Horwitz, gave her valuable career advice. Since she became the director of the Immigration Clinic, “Andy, obviously, is now my colleague. He and I work together,” says Gonzalez. “We’re in the same suite in Providence and I consider him a friend and a good mentor.”

 

New opportunities

When she originally took over the clinic mid-semester to cover for Holper, Gonzalez was working with students who already were in the middle of their clinical work. She says, “Taking a clinic is about learning how to be a lawyer, right? That’s basically what you’re learning and I knew how to be a lawyer. I had been a lawyer already five years by the time I got the position and I had worked in law just about my entire adult life. … That wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was connecting to the students.” As she grew into the role, she met frequently with her professor-turned-colleague Horwitz to discuss teaching methods and other challenges.

And Gonzalez loves a challenge. So when Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera approached her in the spring of 2025 about taking a municipal judge position, she said yes right away. Serving Central Falls is particularly meaningful because she grew up there until she was around eight years old, when her family moved to Brazil. 

“A lot of immigrants live in Central Falls, and so I’ve done tons of presentations at various churches. I’ve worked with families individually. I’ve done Know Your Rights presentations at various schools in Central Falls, and worked with members of the community to help immigrants in that city,” Gonzalez says. 

“You gotta want it.”

In the municipal judge position, which is part time, Gonzalez presides over hearings on issues like traffic violations. In addition to embracing a new challenge, Gonzalez wants to show people who appear before her to know they’re being treated fairly.

Gonzalez says, “I remember my first time going to traffic court, I had gotten a ticket – you know, I’m heavy on the pedal – and my whole body was shaking because I’d never been to court before, and it’s traffic court so you don’t really hire a lawyer. I went, and I remember being really nervous. … I’m not looking to be warm and fuzzy, but I want people to feel comfortable in my courtroom.” 

Gonzalez will continue in her role directing the Immigration Clinic. In addition to teaching students about immigration law and how to be advocates, she also imparts to her clinic students those same values of integrity, ambition, and curiosity that took her from the cleaning closet to the judge’s chambers: “I say this to my students, ‘All you gotta do is want it. Yeah, that’s it. You just gotta want it.’”