Joanna de la Vega

"Come on, Laurel. We're lawyers, not miracle workers."

- Joanna to Laurel Lance

Joanna "Jo" de la Vega is a legal aid attorney at Wethersby & Stone LLP. She is the daughter of an unnamed woman, the sister of the late Danny de la Vega and the best friend and former co-worker of the late Laurel Lance at the CNRI. She is also one of The Arrow's supporters.

Early Life
At some point in law school, Joanna met and befriended Laurel Lance. After graduation, the two of them went on to work together at City Necessary Resources Initiative (CNRI), a legal aid office in The Glades.

Working at the CNRI
At CNRI, Joanna was discussing a case against Adam Hunt with Laurel, concerned about their odds, when a breaking news report about Oliver Queen being found was broadcasted. It also mentioned Sara Lance's supposed fate, which caused Laurel to angrily turn off the TV, leaving Joanna concerned for her friend. The next day, Joanna informed Laurel that Hunt's lawyers arranged for them to appear in front of Judge Grell, who was in his back pocket, though Laurel remained optimistic. After The Hood distributed the money Hunt stole back to its owners, Joanna and Laurel were ecstatic, with Joanna proudly declaring the unknown individual to be Starling City's "guardian angel". She then told Laurel that Tommy Merlyn arrived to see her.

Joanna helped Laurel with her case against Martin Somers on behalf of Emily Nocenti, who was suing Somers over the murder of her father, Victor Nocenti. At the courthouse, the trio had an awkward encounter with Tommy and Oliver, which Joanna unsuccessfully tried to defuse. The next day at CNRI, Joanna and Laurel warned Emily of the potential repercussions of taking Somers to court. Laurel's father, Sergeant Quentin Lance, then arrived to put them under police protection until the situation with Somers and the Triad calmed down. Joanna took Emily out for coffee while Laurel and Quentin talked. Later, after the Hood forced Somers to confess to ordering Victor's murder, Joanna, Laurel and Emily watched from CNRI as the news reported his arrest. Joanna and Laurel happily assured Emily that the DA will be prosecuting Somers for all his crimes.

At CNRI, Joanna came to ask Laurel for the deposition on the Jurgens case when she caught the latter reading an article on Oliver, much to her exasperation. Pointing out how their relationship imploded, Joanna urged Laurel to move on from the past and decided they should go out tonight to party and loosen up. That night, Joanna and Laurel went to Max Fuller's club, Poison. Joanna danced and enjoyed herself while Laurel watched in amusement.

When her friend declined an offer to grab a drink after work, Joanna joked that Laurel would have a better chance of getting a date if she went out more. Later, Joanna was skeptical of Laurel trying to get Peter Declan out of his life sentence at Iron Heights after being framed for his wife's murder and wondered why the case caught her interest. Laurel revealed she was working with the vigilante, much to Joanna's shock. She expressed wariness over The Hood's methods, but Laurel assured Joanna he wouldn't hurt her.

After CNRI's largest donor, Stagg Industries, pulled out, Joanna and Laurel were concerned about how much longer the office could keep their doors open. The next day when Tommy detailed to Joanna his plan of Merlyn Global Group sponsoring a benefit for CNRI, she convinced a suspicious Laurel to take up Tommy's offer, pointing out that they needed the money. At the benefit, Joanna and Laurel thanked Tommy for his help. Laurel admitted Joanna was right, much to the latter's satisfaction.

Around Christmas, Joanna visited Laurel to bring her some case files.

In January 2013, Joanna learned from Quentin and Fire Chief Raynes that her brother, Danny, was killed on duty while putting out a fire, much to her devastation. Calling in a favor from the clerk at the SCPD coronary office, Joanna obtained a copy of her brother's incident report and realized his death wasn't an accident; Danny's turnout suit could withstand temperatures up to 500 °F and the fire he was putting out didn't exceed 250 °F. Upon finding out that his turnout was doused in turpentine, which wasn't present in the factory, Joanna believed her brother had been murdered and brought her suspicions to Laurel, requesting that she investigate this.

During her investigation, Laurel urged Joanna to take some time off to properly grieve over her brother's death, but the latter initially refused, citing how Laurel buried herself in her studies to cope with Sara's death.

After the death of Garfield Lynns, revealed to have been Danny's killer, Joanna took a sabbatical from work and moved back in with her mother for the time being. While clearing out her desk at CNRI, Joanna requested that Laurel find a way to give Danny's fire badge to the Hood as thanks for solving his murder, expressing once more how the vigilante was a guardian angel. Laurel promised to do so and the two hugged goodbye.

Several months later in May, Joanna returned to work. That week after the Undertaking was announced, she and her coworkers headed to CNRI during the evacuation of The Glades to retrieve all their files and evidences from various cases for their clients. When the earthquake started, Joanna managed to escape CNRI while Laurel was trapped. After Tommy died saving Laurel from the collapsing building, Joanna, Quentin and Laurel sadly watched the destruction.

Joana presumably attended Tommy's funeral.

Helping a friend
At some point after the Undertaking, Joanna became a legal aid attorney at a corporate law firm, Wethersby & Stone LLP.

In early 2014 after Laurel was fired from the DA's office, Joanna arranged for her to get a job interview at Wethersby & Stone. However, upon sending in Laurel's résumé, Joanna was informed by one of her firm's partners that the bar association disciplinary committee was going to open proceedings regarding Laurel's fitness to practice law due to her recent substance abuse. Joanna explained the situation to Laurel, revealing that Wethersby & Stone won't hire her due to this, and offered to help her friend fight the potential disbarment.

It can be assumed that Joanna attended Laurel's funeral, where the latter's identity as Black Canary was revealed.

Personality
Joanna is described as "more cynical" and "less idealistic" than Laurel Lance. Stemming from this, she convinced Laurel to allow Tommy Merlyn to throw a fundraiser for their law firm.

Abilities

 * High-level intellect/Expert lawyer/Expert investigator: Joanna proved to be a capable attorney, having successfully prosecuted a number of criminals and conducted high-profile trials. She was able to gather enough compelling information to deduce that her brother Danny's death was planned and not an accident.
 * Network: As a legal aid attorney at CNRI and then Wethersby & Stone LLP, Joanna has multiple contacts; she used a favor from the SCPD coronary office to gain access to her brother's incident report.

Arrow
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Season 2
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