In El Paso, “familia” isn’t just the Spanish word for family; it’s a way of life. From neighbors looking out for one another to businesses being carried by genuine support, that same spirit has inspired the partners at Mendez Isaac Joudi Law Firm.

Although the firm opened in 2022, the partners have over 50 years of combined experience. The firm is composed of 25 employees and six lawyers. Among them are partners Oscar Mendez Jr. and siblings Joseph G. Isaac and Tiffany N. Joudi who all aim at helping the border area.

Along with winning The City Magazine’s Best of the City award for the third consecutive year, the firm has also been recognized by Super Lawyers, with all three partners receiving recognition for the years 2024 and 2025 for personal injury, wrongful death, and employment law.

“The first thing anyone that comes to El Paso says is how friendly we are here, and we try to take that same El Paso mentality and send that message to our clients,” Mendez said.

Mendez didn’t always know he’d become a lawyer but found interest in the field after receiving life-altering news at 20 years old.

“My family was involved in a serious car accident that took the life of my mother,” he said. “While we were going through the legal process, I got to see how lawyers can affect injured parties. As a young naive kid, I really didn’t know what to do or what was going on around me. I had to take care of my brother and sister who were 15 and five at the time, so I became an instant parent. Because of those lawyers, I ended up going to law school and I fulfilled a dream I never had in becoming a lawyer. It fed my potential for being a better person.”

Isaac, on the other hand, says he always knew he was going to be in the law field, but didn’t expect to fall in love with a different area of practice.

“I was always interested in politics and history,” Isaac said. “I originally wanted to be a criminal lawyer to help defend people that needed counsel. However, I saw friends and family who the justice system didn’t really treat fairly, and I wanted to do something to help fix that system.

After clerking for a local law firm that focused on personal injury and civil law, Isaac realized criminal law may not be for him.

“I fell in love with the idea of taking on the biggest corporations and insurance companies who like to squash clients who have been hurt, discriminated against or in some way wronged,” he said. “I found it very similar in the sense that you’re taking on a world where you’re going up against everything and all the resources that those kinds of corporations have for people that, without a good lawyer, wouldn’t be able to have because of that disparity.”

Joudi, who practiced law for seven years in Houston on the defense side for large companies, said becoming a lawyer was a childhood dream.

“My childhood best friend’s dad was a lawyer,” she said. “I remember watching Law & Order and although it’s not the same as real life, I loved the idea of being in the courtroom and representing somebody. I learned a lot, but it was always about the numbers and minimizing damages for companies. There was one particular victim who was burned really badly, and I felt like he didn’t get everything that he deserved. I remember thinking, ‘I really want to help people rather than minimizing their damages.’”

While the three partners worked together at different times, they decided to branch off on their own, aiming toward getting clients the best possible outcome while helping the community they grew up in. “We’re willing to take a case from the inception where we meet the client through building, investigating, to prosecuting the case in a courtroom ourselves,” Isaac said.

For partners Mendez, Isaac, and Joudi, helping the community doesn’t only mean fighting for them in the courtroom, but also making sure they are aware of their rights. Their stories also highlighted a reality they see in their work, with many people entering the legal system, unsure of the process or their rights.

“I think it’s important to remember that everyone that gets injured in the United States has the same rights as a U.S. citizen,” Mendez said. “It’s unfortunate, but a lot of employers try to feed into the mindset of others in that they don’t have rights because they’re not U.S. citizens.”

Mendez said he’s no stranger to getting phone calls about clients being dropped off at the border so companies can avoid paying for their injuries.

“I had a client whose employer made him feed his animals on his farm, and as he was getting ready to put the bales of hay on the excavator, he ended up slipping, falling, and hitting his knee,” he said. “The employer instructed another employee to get him, put him in his station wagon, rather than calling the ambulance, and wanted to drop him off at the border. Afterward, the employer never paid any of his medical bills. When we filed suit, the employer denied the employee ever worked there. It still resonates today because believe it or not, I’m still getting phone calls like that, especially in these times, where employees are being dropped off at the border like that.”

In addition to fighting for clients, the firm’s goal is to also give back to the community that raised them.

“One of the things we wanted to do was to use our success and our resources to give back,” Isaac said. “Although we do that sort of indirectly with each individual client, we wanted to do it on a much broader scale. We’ve been so blessed to have a loving, warm community and family, and friends in El Paso. We couldn’t think of a better way to honor this community other than helping those that are hurt and wronged, than to help build it in ways that involve charities and nonprofits.”

The firm gives back to the community through donations to nonprofits such as El Paso Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center and more than a dozen other organizations. Among them is Kemarah’s Chasing Rainbows, an organization founded in memory of Kemarah Cager who passed away in 2014. Joudi serves as the chair for fundraising and events for the organization.

The organization has two apartments in Houston, where families whose children are receiving treatment can stay, helping relieve some of the financial and relocation pressures that come with receiving treatment out of town.

“Her mom started this organization in her memory,” Joudi said. “Families can stay completely free while they’re getting that treatment. It’s not just for El Paso families, but we definitely cater to El Paso families. Unfortunately, there is a lot of care that you can’t get here that children can receive in Houston, so our goal is to keep providing until El Paso gets the care they need.”

When it comes to building up the community and involvement in side ventures, the partners don’t stop there. Mendez and his wife Erica own the speakeasy Lotus Social Club, Joudi is involved in Leyla Arak, a spirit company co-owned by her husband Chris, and Isaac co-owns Serve, a pickleball hub on the West Side that opened in 2025.

“My business partner and I realized El Paso didn’t have a lot of venues like Serve,” Isaac said. “We see young kids to senior citizens come. People can come play or sit out on the patio and watch a sports game … We’re just trying to bring the community together.”

The firm hopes to be viewed not only as legal advocates, but as people deeply connected to the community.

“A lot of people are intimidated to talk to an attorney,” Mendez said. “We try to give everybody a little glimpse of who we are and what we are about so when you come walking through those doors, you feel like you already know us a bit.”

“We want to educate people so they can have a better time through the legal process,” Joudi said. “Like if a lawyer calls you, that’s your first red flag. Lawyers aren’t supposed to call you, because that’s seen as them taking advantage of peoples’ situations. Ask a potential lawyer questions like ‘When is the last time you’ve been in a courtroom?’ or ‘Do you settle cases or do you just file lawsuits?’ It’s important to educate yourself and look around and meet different attorneys to see what they’re about before you sign up.”

For the partners, that sense of support reflects a “familia” work ethic, one rooted in understanding that behind every case, coworker, and client, is a person first.