Taylor Park

Taylor Park is a Fellow at Arias Sanguinetti Trial Lawyers in the firm’s Southern California office. A recent college graduate exploring a future career in law, Taylor brings a background in psychology, social work, human rights, and community-based service to her fellowship. She is particularly interested in understanding the people behind legal matters — what shapes their circumstances, how they experience institutions, and how thoughtful advocacy can respond to more than the immediate problem in front of them.

Her interest in law developed gradually through experiences that exposed her to people navigating difficult and often deeply personal circumstances. While working in healthcare settings in South Korea, she encountered matters involving sexual assault and domestic violence that challenged her assumptions about what abuse can look like from the outside. The experience reinforced for her that people’s circumstances are rarely as simple as they initially appear and sparked a deeper interest in understanding the systems and choices that shape how survivors seek help.

That interest continued through her work in affordable housing, where Taylor helped support residents navigating Section 8 housing and the administrative processes surrounding their homes. Listening to residents explain how they arrived at their circumstances exposed her to the ways housing, income, access to resources, discrimination, and personal history can overlap. The experience expanded her interests into housing rights, immigration, and broader advocacy for people trying to navigate systems they may not fully understand.

Taylor later explored advocacy from an international perspective through her work with the Institute for Global Engagement in Washington, D.C., where she researched human rights and religious freedom issues. Along with earlier research in psychology, these experiences strengthened her curiosity about why people behave the way they do and how institutions respond to individual circumstances.

Her psychology background remains central to how Taylor thinks about a future in law. Rather than moving immediately toward a solution, she is interested in first understanding where someone is coming from, what experiences may have shaped the situation, and what the person actually needs. Taylor believes that sometimes being heard is itself an important part of helping someone move forward. Curiosity about people and her desire to understand before judging continues to shape the way she approaches advocacy.

Taylor was drawn to Arias Sanguinetti in part because the fellowship offers exposure to a wide range of plaintiff-side practice areas. She is still exploring where her interests may ultimately lead and values the opportunity to learn about different forms of litigation rather than committing prematurely to one path. Sexual assault litigation particularly connects with her earlier experiences, while the firm’s wildfire work also holds personal significance: Taylor is from Hawaii, and wildfire litigation involving Maui and fires that affected her undergraduate community helped her see how environmental disasters can also become legal and community advocacy issues.

Through her time at Arias Sanguinetti, Taylor is focused on observing experienced attorneys and legal professionals, gaining exposure to different forms of plaintiff advocacy, and learning how psychology, social work, and trauma-informed principles can complement legal practice. Rather than viewing the fellowship as confirmation of a predetermined career path, she sees it as an opportunity to explore, ask questions, and better understand what kind of advocate she ultimately wants to become.

Taylor graduated from Pepperdine University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and double minors in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and Social Work. A Regents Scholar, she was also recognized as the Outstanding Graduate for Pepperdine’s Social Science Division.

Outside of work, Taylor has a lifelong interest in sports and has participated in athletics from childhood through college, including intramural sports. She is also a first-degree black belt in Taekwondo.