Today we’d like to introduce you to Cherika Edwards.
Hi Cherika , can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My “why” started in grade school. My cousin, who I’ve always called my brother, was sentenced to prison, and I remember my family saying it was because he didn’t have a good lawyer to tell his story. I didn’t fully understand it then, but it planted something in me. Years later, he was released just in time to watch me get sworn in as an attorney. Full circle.
I graduated from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in May 2018, passed the Texas bar on my first try that July, and was sworn in on my birthday that November — one of the best gifts I’ve ever given myself. I started out at a nonprofit, but I quickly experienced the kind of microaggressions I’d only read about in books. I told myself, this is not why I went to law school, and in June 2019 I took a leap of faith and opened The Law Office of Cherika Edwards. I always knew I wanted to do personal injury, but I also knew it would take time to build, so I started in family law to grow the money to support the PI side. Today, my PI caseload has surpassed my family law caseload and I still can’t believe it some days.
Outside of the firm, I’m a single mom to my son Aiden, who turns 16 this May. He’s my motivation, my reason, and my everything. Being his mom has made me intentional with every minute because he can’t miss a beat, and neither can I. Only about 2% of attorneys in this country are Black women, and I carry that with me every day. My firm represents what’s possible when you put your mind to something and refuse to let anyone else write your story for you.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not, nothing about building a firm is smooth, and I think anyone who tells you otherwise is leaving something out.
My toughest challenge has been building a team. You want people who genuinely care, and you can see it in their work but that’s hard to find right now. People don’t view work the way they used to, and as a firm owner, that shift has forced me to reimagine what I’m building. My focus now isn’t just hiring people for a job; it’s creating an environment where my team wants to make this their career. That’s a much bigger lift, but it’s the only way to build something that lasts.
The other ongoing challenge is the juggle. Being a business owner, a practicing attorney, and a great mom to Aiden all at the same time it’s a lot. Every day I’m choosing where to pour my energy, and some days I get it right and some days I don’t. But that’s the honest truth of building something from the ground up: you don’t get balance, you get tradeoffs. And you keep showing up anyway.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m the owner and Managing Attorney of The Law Office of Cherika Edwards, a Texas based firm practicing family law and personal injury. On the family law side, I’ve built my name representing fathers and giving them a voice in a system that too often overlooks them. On the PI side, I fight insurance companies who are used to bullying people out of what they’re owed. Both sides of my practice come down to the same thing: making sure my clients walk away with someone who actually fought for them.
I’m known for one phrase, “Let Me Fix It.” Clients come to me and say it before I even ask what’s wrong, because they’ve heard it from someone I’ve already helped. That’s the thing I’m most proud of: the dads who got custody when everyone told them they wouldn’t, and the name I’ve built in this community by showing up for the people other attorneys overlook.
What sets me apart is my authenticity. I’m not afraid to take the “perfect attorney” hat off and be real online and in person. The law can feel cold and intimidating, and my clients don’t need another suit talking over their head they need someone who’ll be honest with them, fight like hell for them, and treat them like a whole person while doing it. That’s the firm I built, and that’s the lawyer I’ll keep being.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
What I love most about Houston is the food, the diversity, and the Black legal community. We have some of the best food in the country, period, and the cultural mix here means you’re never bored and never boxed in. And the Black attorneys in this city? We show up for each other in a way that’s rare. That community has poured into me, and I try to pour right back.
What I like least is easy: the traffic and the humidity. There’s no graceful way to walk into a courthouse looking polished after sitting on 610 for an hour in August. If I could fix two things about this city tomorrow, it’d be those.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://yourfavoriteattorney.com/
- Instagram: yourfavorite_attorney
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/yourfavoriteattorney
