LLBA Newsletter Summer 09

Cover Story
Mujeres Who Lead

By Erika J. Diaz

 It is fitting that the Latina Lawyers Bar Association dedicates a section of this newsletter to acknowledge a Latina lawyer who is making history:  Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.  Justice Sotomayor’s story is a powerful testament to the strength and capabilities of Latinas.  She is only the third woman and, importantly, the first person of Latino descent to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court.  Given her background and extensive experience, Justice Sotomayor brings a rich and diverse perspective to the High Court.  We hope her story inspires all of us to continue contributing towards the development of other Latinas, who, like Justice Sotomayor, will surely impact our communities in positive and meaningful ways.
    Justice Sotomayor’s humble beginnings resonate with many of our own histories.  She was born in the Bronx in New York City and grew up in the Bronxdale public housing project.  Her father, like many of our parents, spoke only Spanish.  As a result, she grew up in a bilingual household and did not become fluent in English until a few years into elementary school.  After her father’s death at age nine, her mother raised her and her brother alone.  Justice Sotomayor’s mother, who greatly valued her children’s education, sacrificed to buy them an encyclopedia set, the only set in the neighborhood.
    Justice Sotomayor graduated with the highest honors from Princeton University, but her journey was not an easy one.  As one of only twenty Latino students, Justice Sotomayor initially felt out of place at the university, a feeling with which many of us are all too familiar.  She was too intimidated to ask questions, her writing and vocabulary skills needed work, and she lacked knowledge of the classics.  But through hard work and determination, she overcame these obstacles, graduating summa cum laude. 
After leaving Princeton, Justice Sotomayor attended Yale Law School and received her Juris Doctor in 1979.   Thereafter, she went to work as an Assistant District Attorney for the city of New York.  In 1984, she left the District Attorney’s Office and joined Pavia & Harcourt, a business litigation firm.  In 1992, Justice Sotomayor was appointed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by President George H. W. Bush.  She was elevated in 1998 to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit by President Bill Clinton. 
    Throughout her career, Justice Sotomayor has demonstrated that she is proud of her heritage and committed to the Latino community.  While at Yale, Justice Sotomayor co-chaired the Latin American and Native American Students Association. She became a student activist and co-chair of Acción Puertorriqueña, an organization that sought out more opportunities for Puerto Rican students and served as a social and political center for them. She also worked in the admissions office, traveling to different high schools and lobbying on behalf of Latino students.  Justice Sotomayor made efforts to increase Latino faculty, as well as courses about Latin America, at her campus.  Later, Justice Sotomayor played an active role in the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund .  She also taught at a program that gave inner city children the opportunity to experience the law and the courtroom, by prosecuting a wayward Goldilocks, of Goldilocks and the Three Bears fame.
    Justice Sotomayor’s appointment to the highest court of the land is nothing short of historic.  We are proud of her achievements and hopeful that her core values will be reflected during her tenure on the Court.  John Siffert, a New York lawyer, mentor and friend of Justice Sotomayor, perhaps best described her when he said, “For someone who’s this smart, intellectual[,] disciplined and hard working, she still gets it.”  It is precisely this powerful combination of intellect, strong work ethic and awareness that makes Justice Sotomayor so remarkable.  Justice Sotomayor, thank you being a wonderful trailblazer and for all that you do in service of our community.

President's Message

By Judy Perez

What a Year!
    It is hard to believe that yet another year has come to an end for LLBA.  It’s difficult to begin wrapping up what was truly a memorable year, not just for LLBA, but the legal community and country as well.  In the span of eight short months, we have seen the first African American presidential candidate win a primary, the first African American sworn in as President, and the first African American Attorney General.  Another first that is near and dear to LLBA’s heart, is the first ever LATINA United States Supreme Court Justice.  It is an exciting time to be alive and really, to practice law.  These positions are occupied by brilliant attorneys who overcame many of the same historical struggles and obstacles that our members must overcome.  It seems that for the first time in history we will truly have a voice within the administration and thereby be able to weigh in on the issues that affect and are important to our Latino community.
    I want to start this farewell message by publicly thanking the Board and our entire membership for allowing me the opportunity to assist in leading such a unique and influential organization.  Since the founders began this journey in 1997, it has been the goal of each successive board to make LLBA an organization that affects change within the legal and Latino communities.  I applaud this year’s board in helping to achieve this goal. 
    To ensure that our board did not lose sight of LLBA’s mission and goals, we began our year by meeting with our founders at what has now become our Annual Founders Brunch.  Through the years we have relied on these powerful and trail blazing women to guide us along the way and we are truly grateful for their support.
    One of our many highlights this year was honoring Latina attorney, Maribel Medina at our Celebrating Latinas City Hall Rotunda event.  Maribel’s career and community accomplishments undoubtedly serve as an example to other Latina lawyers and we thank her for joining us in this celebration. 
    LLBA’s  Board and its members also reached out to law school students in the local area by participating in LLBA’s Speed Mentoring Event.  LLBA has been hosting this event for many years now.  Thanks to the efforts of our participating membership, who range from new to senior attorneys, we have routinely received very positive feedback from students who attend. 
    For yet another year, LLBA helped to spearhead the Lanterns Luncheon, along with MOSTE, WLALA and BWLA.  The Lanterns Luncheon is put on each year to garner funds to mentor inner city elementary, middle and high school girls.  We plan to continue working with MOSTE next year to help put on this great event.   
    In addition, LLBA’s leadership was able to reach out to the youth in our community by participating in the L.A. County Court’s Teen Court Program.  LLBA board members helped facilitate a race relations workshop for participating conference teens.  The workshop enabled students to have an open and honest dialogue about the ongoing turmoil between black and brown students in their schools and communities.
    Similarly, LLBA’s leadership was invited
to address incoming law students from across the country at the yearly Council On Legal Education  (CLEO) Convention in Los Angeles.  Minority students had the opportunity to hear encouraging words about what adventures were to come in their legal careers.
    In July we hosted our MCLE on Immigration and Criminal Law Updates.  Our panelists, Firdaus Dordi, Graciela Martinez and Brigit Alvarez, shared valuable information about recent Supreme Court decisions.  Finally, we rounded out the year with our Annual Judges Night where we had Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Teresa Sanchez-Gordon, Patricia Nieto, and Graciela Freixes share their experiences and career advice with LLBA membership.
    As this economic downturn continues, next year will pose continued challenges for LLBA and our fundraising efforts.  Since its inception, LLBA has tried to maintain a low overhead in order to accumulate a sizable treasure chest that we award as Scholarships at our Annual Awards dinner.  This year we were fortunate to count on the early support of sponsors like DLA Piper, Union Bank, Law Offices of Muñoz & Guizar, and Law Offices of Vicky Sarmiento to help get our fundraising efforts off the ground. 
    As we start this new year, we hope you will keep in mind all the good work that Latina Lawyers Bar Association does, on a very limited budget.  LLBA is the only Latina Bar Association in California and quite possibly in the nation.  We serve a sector that too often is faced with a combination of career and cultural discrimination specific to Latinas.  We hope you will help us in our efforts to continue opening doors for deserving Latinas.  That said, I thank all of you who have supported LLBA throughout the years and those sponsors and guests who helped make our 2009 Awards and Scholarship Dinner a success.  Muchas Gracias y Hasta Pronto.

Judy Perez
2008-2009 LLBA President