Alreen Haeggquist: Breaking Generational Trauma, One Case at a Time

Welcome to this episode of The Tori Nook Talk Show! In this episode, Tori sits down with Alreen Haeggquist, founding and managing partner of Haeggquist & Eck LLP, recognized as one of the best law firms in America. For more than 23 years, Alreen has dedicated her career to standing up for people who have experienced sexual assault, sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and other workplace injustices. She is also the author of Fired Up: Fueling Triumph from Trauma, and founder of the HAE Fired Up Foundation.

Alreen grew up in the San Fernando Valley in a household with an abusive father and a mother who stayed silent. She moved to San Diego for UCSD, then attended Cal Western School of Law, discovering in college that education could be her way out. After realizing criminal defense work only made her sad, she spent five years at a class action firm before launching her own firm in 2008 with just $5,000 and no clients, at a time when woman-owned law firms were rare. She and her co-founder worked out of their home, reinvesting every dollar back into the firm, and slowly built it into a 25-person team.

They discuss why she never marketed at first, believing good work alone would bring clients, until she realized survivors didn't know she existed as an option, the case against Trump University, having a survivor advocate on staff to help clients process trauma, the emotional toll of writing her book and reliving suppressed memories, why releasing the book meant exposing her family's secret, breaking generational trauma for her daughter, and why her advice to her younger self is simple: start sooner.

🎯 Topics covered:

• Growing up with an abusive father and a silent mother
• Discovering college as her escape and path to law school
• Realizing criminal defense work wasn't her calling
• Five years at a class action firm before striking out alone
• Starting her firm in 2008 with $5,000 and no clients
• Learning that clients can't find you if they don't know you exist
• The case against Trump University
• Having a survivor advocate on staff to support clients emotionally
• The emotional toll of writing and publishing Fired Up
• Why releasing her story meant exposing her family's secret
• Breaking generational trauma for her daughter
• Final advice: start sooner and take action