Friday, September 4, 2009
Page 3
Bar Association to Honor Mayor’s Deputy Legal Counsel
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Hispanic National Bar Association is set to honor Gabriel Sandoval, deputy legal counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, at its 34th Annual Convention and First Judicial Summit tonight in Albuquerque, N.M.
Sandoval is a regional president of the organization and will receive the Regional President of the Year Award in recognition of his work developing and implementing innovative programs such as the HNBA of Southern California Speaker Series, the organization said.
The attorney also serves as the lead on the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and related initiatives focused on immigrant integration, naturalization acquisition and public policy development.
A graduate of Stanford University and Columbia Law School, Sandoval was admitted to the State Bar in 2000.
Additional honorees include Mari Carmen Aponte, the first Latina to serve as President of the Hispanic National Bar Association, and Cesar Perales, president and general counsel of Latino Justice/PRLDEF, who will receive the HNBA Lifetime Achievement Awards.
The HNBA Commission on the Status of Latinas in the Legal Profession will present its first annual award to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in absentia, in recognition of her professional excellence and pioneering achievement.
The Mexican government, through the Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior, will be presenting the Ohtli Award to former HNBA President Jimmie V. Reyna, who serves as Co-Editor of the HNBA Journal of Law & Policy and founded the ABA Mexican Law Committee and U.S.-Mexico Law Institute.
Seattle-area Superior Court Judge Steven C. Gonzalez is the recipient of the Latino Judge of the Year honor while Texas Court of Appeal Justice Eva M. Guzman is the Latina Judge of the Year.
Wisconsin attorney Cristina Hernandez Malaby will be named the Latina Attorney of the Year and Arturo Rodriguez of California Rural Legal Assistance Inc. is the Latino Attorney of the Year.
Mexican American Law Student Association at the University of New Mexico was also named the Law Student Organization of the Year.
In addition, Carlos Ortiz, general counsel of Goya Foods Inc, Robert Raben and Estuardo Rodriguez of The Raben Group LLC, CUNY School of Law Professor Jenny Rivera, and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP will be recognized with the 2009 HNBA Presidential Advocacy Awards.
The convention began Wednesday and will continue through Sunday.
Copyright 2009, Metropolitan News Company