Latinas in the Law
This panel of influential Latina lawyers will address their challenges and successes in traditionally male-dominated legal fields such as legal academia, legal consulting, federal litigation, and federal Executive policy-making. The authors of a recent HNBA report* on Latinas in the legal profession, titled “La Voz de la Abogada Latina: Challenges and Rewards in Serving the Public Interest," will share highlights, while co-panelists offer individual experiences of overcoming stereotypes of race and gender. We will take an in-depth look at Latinas in public interest law, and how Latina lawyers work in areas of law that significantly impact Latino communities, including immigration and civil rights. The panelists include Latina law professors, White House immigration policy-makers, and litigators of critical cases, such as challenging SB 1070 in Arizona.
*This report is an extension of the HNBA’s 2009 seminal study, Few and Far Between: The Reality of Latina Lawyers also co-authored by three panelists.
Moderator:
Jenny Rivera is a Professor of Law at City University of New York School of Law and the Founder and Director of the CUNY School of Law’s Center on Latino and Latina Rights and Equality (CLORE). She presently serves on the ABA Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities and the HNBA Commission on the Status of Latinas in the Legal Profession. She previously served as the Special Deputy Attorney General for Civil Rights for the New York State Attorney General’s Office, was a lawyer for The Legal Aid Society's Homeless Family Rights Project, and served as Associate Counsel at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (presently known as LatinoJustice). In 1993 she clerked for then District Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Professor Rivera graduated from Princeton University, earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law and received her LLM from Columbia University School of Law.
Professor Melinda S. Molina is an assistant professor at Capital University Law School. Her scholarship focuses on how the law impacts subordinate and marginalized groups in the United States. She co-authored the only nationwide study exploring and analyzing the underrepresentation of Latinas in the legal profession: National Study on the Status of Latinas in the Legal Profession, Few and Far Between, The Reality of Latina Lawyers 37 Pepp. L. Rev. 971 (2010), as well as La Voz de la Abogada Latina: Challenges and Rewards in Serving the Public Interest Sector, 14 N.Y. City L. Rev. _ (forthcoming 2011). She was a fellow of the Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development at St. John’s University School of Law. Before joining academia, she was an associate in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.
Jill Lynch Cruz is president of JLC Consulting, LLC, a strategic human resource management and diversity consulting firm that serves clients in the legal industry. She is actively involved in research and writing on the experiences and barriers encountered by Latina attorneys in the law, including as the co-author of two recent landmark studies commissioned by the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Commission on Latinas in the Legal Profession, and also an academic book chapter (in press) that provides a theoretical discussion of the challenges and catalysts to Latina attorneys’ career success. Jill is a member of the Research Advisory Board for the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession and also a candidate for a PhD in Organization and Management from Capella University (Expected Summer 2011). She is SPHR certified and holds a master’s degree in Human Resource Management and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland.
Jenny Rivera is a Professor of Law at City University of New York School of Law and the Founder and Director of the CUNY School of Law’s Center on Latino and Latina Rights and Equality (CLORE). She presently serves on the ABA Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities and the HNBA Commission on the Status of Latinas in the Legal Profession. She previously served as the Special Deputy Attorney General for Civil Rights for the New York State Attorney General’s Office, was a lawyer for The Legal Aid Society's Homeless Family Rights Project, and served as Associate Counsel at the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (presently known as LatinoJustice). In 1993 she clerked for then District Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Professor Rivera graduated from Princeton University, earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law and received her LLM from Columbia University School of Law.
PANELISTS:
Mónica M. Ramírez joined the Obama Administration in 2009 as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. Ms. Ramírez serves as primary legal and policy advisor to Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez on issues related to immigration, racial and ethnic profiling, non-citizen workers’ rights and other areas of civil rights enforcement. Prior to joining the Department of Justice, Ms. Ramírez was a Staff Attorney with the Immigrants’ Rights Project of the national ACLU, where she litigated cases in federal court for several years to enforce the constitutional and civil rights of immigrants and non-citizens and also engaged in advocacy and organizing. She previously served as a law clerk to Judge Warren J. Ferguson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A Los Angeles native and daughter of Mexican immigrants, Ms. Ramírez received her B.A. from Harvard University in 2001 and J.D. from Stanford Law School in 2004.
Felicia Escobar is the White House Senior Policy Advisor for Immigration Policy. She previously served on U.S. Senator Ken Salazar’s legislative team, working with him to develop his legislative agenda on a host of issues, including labor, civil rights, judicial nominations, and immigration. She advised Senator Salazar during the comprehensive immigration reform debates of 2006 and 2007 in which the Senator was key member of the bipartisan group pressing for reform. Prior to this, she was Associate Director of the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee. In this role, she helped cultivate relationships between Democratic Leader Tom Daschle and key stakeholder groups, including Latino, immigration, and education advocacy organizations. She started her career as a State Policy Analyst working for the National Council of La Raza. She represented NCLR and its network of affiliates in the Texas State Legislature, testifying before legislative committees to advocate for education, immigrant access to benefits, and hate crimes legislation. She is a native of San Antonio, TX. Ms. Escobar received an undergraduate degree from Yale University, a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and her J.D. from UCLA School of Law.
Professor Melinda S. Molina is an assistant professor at Capital University Law School. Her scholarship focuses on how the law impacts subordinate and marginalized groups in the United States. She co-authored the only nationwide study exploring and analyzing the underrepresentation of Latinas in the legal profession: National Study on the Status of Latinas in the Legal Profession, Few and Far Between, The Reality of Latina Lawyers 37 Pepp. L. Rev. 971 (2010), as well as La Voz de la Abogada Latina: Challenges and Rewards in Serving the Public Interest Sector, 14 N.Y. City L. Rev. _ (forthcoming 2011). She was a fellow of the Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development at St. John’s University School of Law. Before joining academia, she was an associate in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. 
Jill Lynch Cruz is president of JLC Consulting, LLC, a strategic human resource management and diversity consulting firm that serves clients in the legal industry. She is actively involved in research and writing on the experiences and barriers encountered by Latina attorneys in the law, including as the co-author of two recent landmark studies commissioned by the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Commission on Latinas in the Legal Profession, and also an academic book chapter (in press) that provides a theoretical discussion of the challenges and catalysts to Latina attorneys’ career success. Jill is a member of the Research Advisory Board for the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession and also a candidate for a PhD in Organization and Management from Capella University (Expected Summer 2011). She is SPHR certified and holds a master’s degree in Human Resource Management and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland.