Erica Buckley, CEO of Buckley & Associates, doesn’t shy away from challenges. To solve the growing pains of her neighborly hometown, she decided to run for the City Council last year and won.
A small rural town close to Tacoma, Edgewood has a population of 12,000. The city has grown since Buckley moved there from West Seattle in 2017. As the only person of color on the seven-member Edgewood City Council, Buckley said she likes the council and the people.
“The people are nice and more friendly than Seattleites. They don’t get angry about things.”
Someone had approached her to run, and Buckley, a mother of four kids, decided to get involved as she “wants safety and protection for my kids. I want them to stand up for what’s important in the local government and someone to represent them. I want good schools for them.”
Although Buckley’s oldest son is only 6 years old, her campaign was a family affair. They had encouraged her to run. Her husband helped to put up signs on houses, and her brother gave out flyers. Her kids gave out candy during a summer parade as part of her campaign event. Buckley said she’s still a novice to political office.
Although her father James didn’t say much about her decision to go into politics, he was excited when he found out that she won. James founded the Buckley law firm, which specializes in personal injury law. Its headquarters have been located in the Chinatown-International District (CID) since 1993.
Asked how she likes working in CID, Buckley said, “I really feel like Covid has hit the International District harder than some surrounding areas and I really would like to encourage city leadership to pay special attention to this area that is rich with history and good people.”
Buckley & Associates has also expanded recently. It acquired another law firm in Tacoma, and hired attorneys in Yakima and other parts of the country. Since the pandemic, attorneys no longer have to be confined in a particular location.
Practicing law since 2012, Buckley said she enjoys her work.
“My favorite thing about being a lawyer is that I have the ability to help others out of difficult situations and into a better future. I like that I can take part in taking the burden off of someone’s shoulders and use the experience and knowledge I have to make their lives better in some way.”
Buckley has also received several awards, including “trial lawyer of the year” as well as being a recipient of the Rising Star award for Women of Color Empowered.