By Nicole Troy

Local immigration attorney and alumna Nicole Mullikin (Modern Languages and Literatures, ’15) is the 2023 recipient of the Women Lawyers Association of San Luis Obispo County’s “Rising Star” award, honoring her work as a lawyer with fewer than seven years of experience.  

Mullikin, who is bilingual in Spanish, opened her practice, the Law Office of Nicole G. Mullikin, in 2022 with a focus on family and humanitarian immigration cases, including, but not limited to, adjustment of status, consular processing, citizenship, military parole in place, and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewal. 

“I feel incredibly honored and humbled to be the recipient of this award and I am thrilled to be receiving it alongside my friend, San Luis Obispo College of Law professor and San Luis Obispo Legal Assistance Foundation Director of Family Law Services Melodie Rivas, who won the Outstanding Woman Lawyer Award,” Mullikin said. “This is the product of all of the people in my life who have helped me to rise — my husband, family, friends, mentors, professors, teachers, clients, and this wonderful community of attorneys. I hope to continue to make them proud in my work supporting immigrants.” 

A San Luis Obispo native, Mullikin attended both Pacheco Elementary school, a dual-immersion program where students acquire literacy in both English and Spanish, and Cal Poly, majoring in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese and minoring in Asian studies. 

“One of the things that is so important about my Cal Poly education is that I am able to connect with my clients on a deeper level, because I can speak their language,” Mullikin said. “If someone’s talking to me about how they've been the victim of a crime or domestic violence, and they can tell me in their own language and I can understand without a third person in the room to interpret, it's a lot less stressful for them.”