Tulane grad overcomes challenges to set his course in maritime law

When Eduardo J. Rondon Ramones, who is graduating from Tulane School of Law at just 23, was a young boy growing up in Venezuela, he didn’t want to be a lawyer; he just wanted to fix problems. The easiest way to do that, he thought, would be to become president of his country.  

But in 2014, his family moved to Gainesville, Florida, to escape violent political persecution in Venezuela, and his life changed course. Moving to Florida brought freedom but also saw his family plunge into poverty. His parents’ tireless efforts to ensure that he had a safe and stable environment was a wake-up call to young Ramones.

“I put myself in other people’s shoes and understood that making someone else’s life better is valuable, and I needed to do that,” he said.

Placed in an elementary school without support for non-native English speakers, Ramones went from using gestures and facial expressions to understand lessons to becoming fluent in the language and excelling in his studies.

Shortly before graduating from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, just two years after he completed high school, Ramones babysat for a woman who served as general counsel for a company. She suggested practicing law may be a way for him to make his mark.  

After college, Ramones devoted himself to securing hands-on experience in the law field.  

“I emailed like 15 law firms in Gainesville, and I just said, ‘I will iron the clothes, I will make copies, I will deliver the mail, just get me in the door,” he said.  

Ramones’s persistence paid off. A local firm hired him to be their receptionist, and he worked his way up to be a legal assistant, then a paralegal. The experience strengthened his inclination for attending law school.

Out of all the law schools Ramones applied to, Tulane spoke to him the most.

“I have a firm theory that New Orleans and Tulane choose you way before you ever choose them,” he said.

As he and his father returned to their car after visiting Tulane’s campus, they noticed a sign on a lamp post emblazoned with Tulane’s motto: not for oneself but for one’s own.  

“I thought, ‘That's a really cool way to look at the world, and that's a place I want to be,’” he said.  

Tulane’s emphasis on service learning helped convince Ramones to take the leap and attend the School of Law. Once on campus he carried out the university’s motto, volunteering with a program to provide free tax services to disadvantaged members of the community.

“I think that the school’s service requirement helps either foster the desire you already have to help people, or it makes you realize how enriching and rewarding it can be,” Ramones said.

He determined the path he wanted to take in law when a friend suggested he try out a maritime law class in Greece.

The promise of learning in classrooms overlooking the Aegean Sea was reason enough for him to go. But once there, Ramones discovered more than seascape views; he discovered a passion for the field.

“People don't think about maritime law, but when your Amazon package doesn't get to your home on time, there are 1,500 things that happened across the globe that affected that,” he said.

Thanks to his focus on maritime law, Ramones will stay in New Orleans, a ripe environment for the field, and work for the law firm Wilson Elser after graduation. More than the job prospects New Orleans offered, Ramones was drawn to the city itself.  

“The mornings when I don't wake up in New Orleans, I realize how much this feels like home,” he said.