HISPANIC LAWYERS ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS NEWSLETTER November/ December 2013

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1 HISPANIC LAWYERS ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS NEWSLETTER November/ December 2013 NOTICIAS President s Message One of our main focuses in the recent past is to figure out a way to get better access to the courts for the Hispanic community. We have been involved in a number of activities to achieve that goal. One activity is in connection with the HLAI Judicial Evaluation Committee headed by Federico Rodriguez. The HLAI Judicial Evaluation Committee is currently the co-chair of the Alliance that evaluates judicial candidates. As part of the Alliance, HLAI lends its presence to the process of selecting and retaining judges. HLAI s involvement in the Alliance gives us credibility when we support HLAI members and others for judicial positions. HLAI supports qualified Hispanic judicial candidates, which will result in a more diverse bench. Another HLAI activity is its activity in connection with greater access to the courts for Spanish-speaking litigants. HLAI has met with the Clerk of Lake County to discuss changes that might be implemented to enable Spanishspeaking litigants to better navigate the courthouse. HLAI and the Lake County Clerk s Office will work together to compile resources directed to Spanish-speaking litigants so that they may access the court s resources. Once we have compiled these resources and implemented them in Lake County, we will make them available to other counties. HLAI will work with a number of other groups on this project; the following groups have expressed their interest to be part of this endeavor: Illinois Latino Family Commission; Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts; and Arden Shore Child and Family Services in Waukegan. The HLAI Legislative Committee is involved in other activities. Members of the Illinois Legislature have proposed ideas directed to appointment and election of judges. HLAI s Legislative Committee is part of those discussions and provides input to achieve a more diverse judiciary. See our Featured Committee segment on page 2. Finally, HLAI supports and encourages its members to support HLAI members running for a judicial seat or seeking judicial appointments. Currently, four of our members are in this position and we encourage you to support them. See their member profiles below. INSIDE THIS ISSUE President s Message Featured Committee Featured Members Announcements and Events Job Offerings What We ve Been Up To Membership Form The Board Alejandro Menchaca, President Litza Mavrothalasitis, President-Elect Federico Rodriguez, Immediate Past President Luana Montoya Communications Secretary Alfredo Maldonado Secretary Celia Meza Treasurer Elizabeth Ribbeck Membership Secretary Directors Claudia Castro Iris Chavira Martha Victoria Diaz Steve Hernandez Damian Ortiz Ernesto Palomo HLAI Website

2 HISPANIC LAWYERS ASSOCIATION OF ILLINOIS NEWSLETTER November/ December 2013 Featured Committee: Legislative Committee The Legislative Committee (LC) is chaired by Claudia Castro and Efrain Vega. The committee was started this summer to help facilitate legislative efforts for issues affecting HLAI, its members, and the communities it serves. The Legislative Committee hit the ground running by working with the LGBTQ Committee in its efforts to address immigration issues affecting the LGBTQ community. The LC met with Senator Dick Durbin s staff to speak on these issues. Currently, the LC is working on two constitutional amendments affecting the judiciary. One constitutional amendment is to address the retention of sitting judges and the other constitutional amendment would create special commissions in each judicial circuit to evaluate the qualifications of judges seeking retention. Having Efrain Vega in Chicago and Claudia Castro in Springfield enables the LC to better achieve its policy goals. Featured Members: The following HLAI members are running for judicial positions: Al Maldonado - For over fifteen years as an assistant Cook County Public Defender, Al Maldonado has fought to defend the rights of indigent people. He has tried almost 60 felony jury trials and hundreds of bench trials. Because of his litigation experience and abilities, Al serves in the Public Defender s Murder Task Force where he defends persons accused of committing murder. Al graduated from the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts in 1993 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in History and Political Science and graduated with distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law in Committed to community service, Al serves as the Recording Secretary for the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois (HLAI) and works to promote HLAI s mission of community involvement. Al has worked as a volunteer lawyer helping people with housing and financial problems. He is one of the founding members of an after school tutoring program for an inner city elementary school. Additionally, Al is a coach in the Phillip H. Corboy Fellowship Program in Trial Advocacy at Loyola University of Chicago Law School, and his teams have won national mock trial competitions. He also teaches courses in History and Political Science as an adjunct professor at Benedictine University. Al, his wife Michelle, and their three daughters live in Oak Park.

3 Maritza Martinez is a well-rounded trial attorney of 24 years who is experienced in both criminal and civil law matters, as well as in federal and state court. She is a Commissioner at the Illinois Court of Claims, presiding over claims brought against the State of Illinois. Maritza volunteers her time to public service, both personally and professionally. She serves, by appointment of the Illinois Supreme Court, as an Inquiry Board Panel Chair and as a Member of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. A graduate of Loyola University Chicago and its Law School, Maritza regularly speaks at public and parochial schools, volunteers as a judge at law school competitions, and serves as a mentor to law students at Loyola, DePaul and John Marshall. She is the proud mother of two college students. To learn more about Maritza, see her more extensive biography and review her positive bar association ratings, please visit: Joanne Rosado has served the public as an Assistant Cook County Public Defender since For the past 10 years, she has practiced at the criminal courthouse at 26th Street and California, the largest centralized criminal courthouse in the country. Her daily activities require a high level of litigation and negotiation skills. Joanne has extensive litigation and courtroom experience. She has defended indigent clients in over 40 felony jury trials, including several first degree murder cases, and over 100 felony bench trials. Joanne has given back to the community as a mentor through the Chicago Coalition for Law-Related Education by coaching a Mock Trial team in the Chicago Public Schools. For a number of years, she has been involved with mentor/mentee programs, assisting minority students in law school. She is a regular presenter for the Lawyers in the Classroom program, where attorneys go into Chicago Public Schools and present Mock Trials for students. As a board member of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, she has been on the committee for the Adopt a family program where under-privileged families are provided with food and gifts for the holiday season. Joanne is a graduate of John Marshall Law School where she was on the Dean s list throughout the years. She is an alumna of DePaul University and Resurrection High School. She is a life-long resident of Cook County.

4 Diana Rosario received her B.A. from Loyola University and her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. Diana has a distinguished career as an attorney with over 24 years of legal experience in diverse areas of the law. She is currently the in-house Counsel for the City of Chicago Department of Family and Support Services where she advises the department on legal issues related to civil rights, federal, state and local laws, litigation management and represents the interest of Chicago residents in need of social supportive services. She is a former Assistant State s Attorney with the Cook County State s Attorney s Office where she litigated in civil court and managed a large caseload. Her 20 years of community service include providing volunteer legal services for After School Matters, Inc, conducting speaking engagements with Spanish Coalition for Jobs and mentoring youth. Diana has been found Qualified by the Chicago Bar Association for Judge of the Circuit Court and is endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party. She was born and raised in Chicago and currently resides in the Edgewater neighborhood with her husband. To learn more about Diana Rosario and her campaign for Cook County Judge, please visit her website at

5 Announcements and Events:

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9 Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois' Latina Lawyers HOLIDAY PARTY 2013: Save the Date! You are cordially invited to a holiday reception hosted by the CBA's Alliance for Women, Black Women Lawyers' Association, Coalition of Women s Initiatives in Law, Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois' Latina Lawyers, ISBA Diversity Leadership Council and Standing Committee on Women and the Law, Women s Bar Association of Illinois and the YLS Women in the Law Committee Chicago Bar Association 321 S. Plymouth Court, Chicago, IL Tuesday, December 17, :00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. On behalf of the AFW s Domestic Violence and Advocacy Committee, we will also be collecting small denomination gift cards (for stores like Target, CVS, etc.) to donate to survivors of domestic violence who are receiving shelter this season through Connections for Abused Women and Their Children. Please RSVP to: afw@chicagobar.org By Tuesday, December 10, 2013

10 Job Announcements: Assorted job offerings from legal recruiter Haesun Yi, Recruiting Manager, Robert Half Legal, Permanent Placement Division, 205 N. Michigan Avenue 33rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60601, T F haesun.yi@roberthalflegal.com Law firm located in downtown Chicago is looking for a litigation legal assistant/sect. Midlevel Spanish speaking Law firm located in downtown Chicago is looking for a litigation paralegal 5-10yrs - Spanish speaking Immigration boutique is looking for an attorney -fluent in Spanish 3+yrs solid immigration exp. DePaul is hiring a Staff Attorney: They are looking for Bilingual Spanish speaking attorneys! Please apply here: Job was posted Nov. 5th. The Staff Attorney - Associate will develop, administer and coordinate partnerships with communitybased organizations (CBOs) that provide legal assistance to low-income immigrants and refugees to encourage community-based service learning for students and technical assistance for those CBOs. This position will report to the Asylum and Immigration Law Clinic Coordinator. The Staff Attorney in coordination with the Asylum and Immigration Clinic Attorneys will teach classes in the DePaul College of Law Legal Clinic (Clinic). In conjunction with the staff of the Clinic, the Staff Attorney will plan and develop programs to meet the goals of the project. Trustwave Holdings, Inc., a privately held information security and compliance services company seeks a bilingual (English / Spanish) Legal Associate in Trustwave's Chicago office, with the opportunity to work on commercial transactions of multiple varieties under the supervision of Trustwave's in-house attorneys. For more information visit the following website.

11 What We ve Been Up To: Kevin Gallardo and Matt Alva at the JD Mentors event. Kevin and Matt put together a fabulous opening event for what looks to be another successful year of mentoring. HLAI President Alejandro Menchaca visited the Lake County Circuit Court to discuss with Judge Jorge Ortiz and Lake County Clerk of the Court Keith Brin ways to make the court friendlier for Spanishspeaking constituents. HLAI at the Unity Dinner with invited guests Judge Margaret Mullen, Lake County Law Division Presiding Judge, Keith Brin, Lake County Clerk of Court, and Quintin Sepulveda, Lake County Courts New Initiatives Director.

12 Justice Jesse Reyes, Judge Leida Gonzalez Santiago, HLAI and PRBA chatted with students visiting the Daley Center during the Annual Hispanic Latino Courthouse Tours. HLAI celebrating the beginning of ILFC as a staffed Commission. ILFC (Illinois Latino Family Commission) is a non-partisan, independent state commission established to improve the opportunities and resources available to Latino families throughout the state. HLAI celebrating with Judge Mark Lopez at a NIU Law reception where Judge Lopez was awarded the Outstanding Service Award.

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