Local Law Firm Celebrates 20 Years

By Misty Cryer

The 575 Law Group has been the talk of the town this month as they handed out turkeys to express gratitude to the community in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the firm. The founder of the law firm, Roxanne Rodriguez Leach, better known as Rocky, is a native of Carlsbad.

“I was born and raised in Carlsbad; all of my family is here,” said Rocky. She said she graduated from Carlsbad High School in 1993. “I got my undergrad from New Mexico State, then I went to law school at Texas Tech.”

Rocky said she practiced with W. T. (Tom) Martin in Carlsbad prior to starting her firm. “Tom was solo when I joined him, and then we became Martin and Lara,” she said.

When going out on her own, Rocky said she opened a solo practice with her sister, Eileen Marrs, as office manager. “She’s still here today,” she said, adding, they have changed pretty substantially.

“We opened as Lara Law Firm on January 3, 2005,” said Rocky. “We rebranded in 2023 and expanded services and attorneys that year.”

For most of her career, Rocky said she practiced family law. “I was sort of one of the divorce lawyers for Carlsbad.” In her practice, she said she spent much time in the courtroom. “I like litigation. I like courtroom work.”

When revamping the firm’s brand, Rocky said, “I revisited my original love of civil litigation and started taking some more civil rights employment and personal injury type cases.”

Transitioning out of family law, Rocky said the firm now focuses almost exclusively on plaintiffs’ work, adding that they also do a lot of estate planning and probate.

“One of my deeply held beliefs is that people should always have a plan. I was pretty adamant that we kept the estate planning as part of the practice,” she said.

“Just last month, Eileen Riordan left our firm to go back on the District Court bench. We’re very excited for her to be a District Judge, but we miss her terribly in the law firm,” said Rocky.

The firm now has two full-time lawyers physically located at the firm, said Rocky, herself and Grey Robinson, with three attorneys “of counsel.” She explained that the attorneys of counsel are associated with the firm; they may handle cases together, but they have their own law firms.

“It’s been a very exciting transition for our law firm,” said Rocky. She said it is a “very powerful combination” to have both the local connections with the resources of other firms behind them in handling cases.

Rocky said she wanted to become a lawyer, probably since junior high. She said she found it fascinating how you could take the facts of almost any situation, apply law—regulation or statute—to interpret them, and reach a resolution.

“I was always fascinated with that, and so that was the route I chose, and it’s been good,” she said.

Rocky is the daughter of Adon and Pat Rodriguez. When asked who she found most inspiring or helpful to her, Rocky said, “It’s my mom and dad.”

When Rocky opened the firm with her sister as office manager, she said her mom was there to help out in the office in any way, shape, or form that she could. “To this day, if I needed her to come answer a phone or something, I know I could call her and she’d be right there,” she said.

Her dad, Rocky said, is exactly the same way. “We remodeled the building from top to bottom; he led the charge in that. He was amazing,” she said.

In celebration of the firm’s 20th anniversary, Rocky said, “We gave away 250 turkeys to the community.” With two trailer loads of fruits and turkeys from Albertsons, she said, they gave them on a first-come, first-served basis to thank the community for supporting her business for 20 years.

“My mom and dad were right there, climbing up on those trailers, handing out those turkeys and standing next to me with a smile from ear to ear, just supporting,” said Rocky. “The lessons I learned growing up with them about hard work and giving back to the community and what it takes to be a good citizen are the things I try to do every day,” she said.

Rocky is also a newlywed. She said she married Tim Leach earlier this year.

To learn more about the 575 Law Group, visit the firm’s website at www.575lawgroup.com.