Hispanic Bar Discusses Latinas In Legal Profession
WASHINGTON -- Diana S. Sen, President of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), has appointed Josefina Fernandez McEvoy and Sylvia Torres-Guillen as co-chairs of the HNBA Commission on the Status of Latinas in the Legal Profession.
Josefina Fernandez McEvoy is a managing director at InTrust Global Investments, LLC, where she works with clients to expand their access to the international financial markets and diversify their funding sources to develop infrastructure, renewable energy and real estate projects. Ms. McEvoy also advises governments on restructuring issues and insolvency legislation reform. Previously, Ms. McEvoy was a partner in the Financial Restructuring & Bankruptcy Practice groups of the law firms Fox Rothschild LLP and K&L Gates LLP, where she led major representations of investor and creditor groups in bankruptcy cases. She served as a member of the World Bank's 2008 Task Force on Insolvency of Non-Bank Financial Institutions, and is a director and a former member of the executive committee of the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Sylvia Torres-Guillen has been a Deputy Federal Public Defender at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Los Angeles, California for almost 18 years. She has tried nearly 40 federal criminal cases, including complex white collar crimes, mail and wire fraud, bank fraud, public corruption and attempted murder cases. Ms. Torres-Guillen has successfully litigated and tried high profile federal cases, including the first internet hate crime case prosecuted by the United States government. She also serves as the President of the Latina Lawyers Bar Association, as Vice-President of the Mexican American Bar Foundation, and is a member of the State Bar of California's Council on Access and Fairness.
"I am honored to work side by side with Josefina and Sylvia, two exceptionally talented and successful women who are committed to service and to leading this important Commission," commented President Diana Sen. Ms. Sen also appointed the following women to the Commission:
Ramona Romero, Corporate Counsel, DuPont and President Obama's appointee as General Counsel of the United States Department of Agriculture;
Mari Carmen Aponte, United States Ambassador to El Salvador;
Alice Velazquez Aponte, Counsel, Puerto Rico Public Service Commission;
Dolores Atencio, Partner, GCR, LLP;
Lillian Apodaca, Partner, Bingham, Hurst & Apodaca, PC;
Mary T. Hernandez, Partner, GCR, LLP;
Monica MacGregor, Director, Alvarez & Marsal Dispute Analysis & Forensic Services, LLC;
Adrienne Dominguez, Senior Attorney, Thompson & Knight LLP;
Ltc. Carrie Ricci, Associate General Counsel, Department of Defense Education Activity;
Eneida Roman, Shareholder, Roman Law Offices;
Prof. Jenny Rivera, Professor of Law, City University of New York School of Law;
Mercedes M. Sellek, Senior Associate, Adorno & Yoss;
Rosa Maria Gonzalez, Shareholder, Law Office of Rosa Maria Gonzalez;
Karina Ayala-Bermejo, First Deputy Commissioner, City of Chicago, Dept. of Human Resources;
Prof. Melinda Sommers Molina, Professor of Law, Capital University School of Law;
Silvia Argueta, Executive Director, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles; and
Nitza Agrait Vila, Senior Attorney, Microsoft.
"I look forward to supporting the Commission's work this year, which includes the HNBA and the Association of Corporate Counsel's legal executive training pilot program – 'Equipping the Next Generation of Latina Corporate Practice Leaders,' and a strong public interest agenda. I am confident that the leadership of the entire Commission will continue to play a vital role in the advancement of Latina lawyers in the nation," Ms. Sen concluded.
The HNBA is an incorporated, not-for-profit, non-partisan, national membership organization that represents the interests of the more than 100,000 attorneys, judges, law professors, legal professionals, and law students of Hispanic descent in the United States, its territories and Puerto Rico.
