When her diabetic son’s elementary school told her it could not help him monitor his glucose or even give him juice when needed, Kari Cox ’26 knew she needed to be available for him during the day.

But after having worked nearly two decades alongside attorneys at the Irvine Company and an independent hotel group, Cox had determined to become a lawyer, too. The challenge for the South Orange County executive and mother of two: How to do both?

The solution for her was LMU Loyola Law School’s Hybrid JD Evening Program, which has consistently been ranked the top part-time program in the West by U.S. News & World Report. Because classes are held in the evening, she is available to help when her son needs assistance at school. And because of its hybrid structure, she only needs to commute one night a week (Mondays) to the law school’s Frank Gehry-designed campus in downtown L.A. She participates in classes online one additional evening each week.

“I was very blessed to get into Loyola Law School,” Cox said. “The hybrid program was very appealing to me because it meant that I would be able to minimize the amount of driving I would have to do but also be able to get a great education.”

Another aspect of the program she values is that many of the students are like her, people with established careers. “They’re there with purpose and goals in mind,” she said.

After earning her undergraduate degree in Orange County in 2005, Cox went to work for the Irvine Company managing its high-rise office buildings, where she collaborated with company attorneys on contracts, evictions and other matters. After several years there, she moved to the hotel company, eventually rising to be its director of finance, again working closely with in-house counsel.

As her career was blossoming, she discovered “the injustice of how people are not willing to take care of someone in society.” Later, she discovered the power of a law degree.

Her older son, now 9, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was just 1. After school officials denied her request to assist him with basic needs like orange juice, she approached them again with an attorney.

“My attorney looks at them and says, ‘What my client is trying to say is that he really needs juice in the event that he goes low,’ and then the school goes, ‘Oh, well, that’s OK. We can give him that,’” she said. “Just the presence of an attorney being there apparently seems to make a big difference.”

Cox hopes that after she graduates in two years, she can advocate for disabled children in schools. “I am blessed to be able to have an attorney able to represent us to make sure my son is as safe as possible.”

Many other parents of disabled kids don’t have attorneys, she said. “There’s a void. I want to be able to help them because there are too many people whose kids have been put in dangerous situations” at school.

To help her achieve that goal, Loyola Law School is home to The Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy and Innovation, which offers fellowships and other programs to advance the lives of people with disabilities.

Cox said she also loves real estate transactions. “If I can figure out a way to do both of those, that would be my dream scenario,” she said. “Right now, I’m just going for the law degree with the intention to advocate for people … whose kids deserve an education.”

In the meantime, thanks to Loyola’s Hybrid JD Evening Program, she can be in school with her son when he needs her.

For many years, Sarah Swensen ’26 was focused on caring for herself and her family. Now, she’s pursuing law school as well to fulfill her calling to advocate for victims of discrimination and systemic racism.

Swensen is finishing up her second year in the Hybrid JD Evening Program at LMU Loyola Law School (LLS), which allows students to earn a top-ranked JD in four years with a regular on-campus commitment of one night a week. No stranger to alternative schedules, she received her GED after dealing with health issues that required more than 10 surgeries from age 16 to 26. She then worked in finance for 10 years so she could pay her medical bills and also support her elderly parents, who are both cancer survivors. In 2017, she donated a kidney to her father. The living donor transplant process felt like a full-time job at times, she said.

“I’m fortunate enough to have the privilege of taking care of my parents after they took such good care of me,” Swensen said. She continues to care for them today.

After several years of taking night classes at Orange Coast College, Swensen transferred to Cal State Fullerton and graduated with a degree in sociology while working as chief operating officer of Redwood Lending Services, a boutique finance company.

She had always wanted to be a lawyer, Swensen said, but thought it was out of reach. She’s appreciated the role of advocates since her teen years, when her medical conditions were often ignored because she was a young woman, and during her career in finance, where she experienced sexism.

However, the 2016 presidential election and events in the years that followed, such as the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements and the antisemitic rallies in Charlottesville, inspired her to do more than go to protests on weekends and talk about the issues with friends.

“If you have the calling to be an advocate, you owe it to yourself and to others to answer that calling,” she said.

Drawn to Loyola’s hybrid program, which allows her to commute to campus from Irvine just once a week and continue working full-time to support her family, and Loyola’s social justice programs, prestigious faculty, and reputation for developing successful attorneys, Swensen says she has never been more challenged – or more fulfilled.

“From the faculty, who are incredibly supportive and encouraging, to my colleagues who are now some of my closest friends, the people are the best part of the program, hands down,” she said.

Swensen urges others who are joining the legal field as a second career or are juggling work, family, and other responsibilities to take the leap and pursue their JD at Loyola Law School. She’s seen how all students receive the tools they need to succeed – which, for Swensen, may be as a civil rights litigator or policymaker. “Whatever I decide to do, I know LLS will get me there.”