LATINA LAWYERS BAR ASSOCIATION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Secretary
- Secretary of the Board of Directors
Anabel Martinez (she/her/hers/ella) is currently a Policy Associate with the Sunita Jain Anti-Trafficking Policy Initiative at Loyola Law School where she helps to develop local, state, and national anti-trafficking policy strategies, that promote survivor-informed and evidence-based public health and community-based alternatives to dominant carceral approach to human trafficking. Previously, Anabel worked at Law and Justice Legal Services and at the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic. In the past, Anabel worked as a Victims' Rights Staff Attorney for the Legal Advocacy Project for Survivors at the Los Angeles LGBT Center where she provided trauma informed, client-centered, and affirming holistic legal services to LGBTQI+ survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, hate violence, stalking, and other crimes. Anabel also worked as an attorney at the Los Angeles Dependency Lawyers, Inc, where she represented parents in juvenile dependency proceedings.
While in law school, Anabel was a clinical student with the Loyola Immigration Justice Clinic and the Loyola Juvenile Innocence and Fair Sentencing Clinic. For her clinical work at Loyola Law School, Anabel earned an Outstanding Clinical Law Student award in 2019. Anabel was also a law clerk at the Los Angeles Public Defender's Office and earned a 2019 Volunteer of the Year award from the Los Angeles Public Defender Office. Additionally, while in law school, Anabel was on the board of La Raza and Outlaw and was a research assistant for Professor Priscilla Ocen.
Anabel received her undergraduate degree, with a major in psychology and a minor in education, from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. Anabel earned a full tuition Posse Foundation Scholarship to attend Dickinson College. Anabel earned her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles where she graduated with a concentration in Public Interest Law.
Anabel is a proud Queer Lawtina attorney and was the first in her family to obtain a college and professional degree. Anabel immigrated to the United States from a small town in Michoacán, Mexico, grew up in the South East LA area, and currently resides in the Boyle Heights area.
Job Titles:
- President
- President of the Board of Directors
- Board Member With the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board
Cinthia Flores is a Board Member with the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board. Governor Newsom appointed her to this position in 2020. Cinthia formerly served as a Staff Attorney with the Coalition for Humane Immigration (CHIRLA) where she practiced immigration law with a focus on removal defense. Cinthia also has a background in labor law having represented private and public sector unions. Additionally, Cinthia serves on the board of the Latina Lead California, an organization dedicated to supporting Latinas in politics.
Cinthia earned her Juris Doctorate at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. During law school, Cinthia served as a Regent on the University of California Board of Regents. Cinthia earned her B.A. in Political Science at UCLA, where she served as the first Latina undergraduate student body president. Cinthia is an alumna of the Front Line Leaders Academy and the New American Leaders Project - electoral campaign leadership development programs focused on training progressive and immigrant communities to run for office. Cinthia was born, raised, and resides in Los Angeles, CA.
Job Titles:
- Associate General Counsel
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Trustee
- Associate General Counsel at Hanmi Financial Corporation / Hanmi Bank
Cristina Hwang is currently the Associate General Counsel at Hanmi Financial Corporation/Hanmi Bank, a publicly traded company with over $6 billion in assets. Formerly, she was a Legal Counsel, Commercial and Contracts Department Manager at Novonor S.A. (formerly Odebrecht S.A.), a multinational engineering and construction company headquartered in Brazil. At Novonor, she worked on major public and private energy and Infrastructure projects in Argentina, the U.S., and Africa. Earlier in her career, Cristina also worked at Dentons Rattagan Arocena in Argentina, advising local and multinational companies on general corporate matters.
Cristina is admitted to practice law in the State of California and in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has a Law LL.B. from the University of Buenos Aires, a Masters in Law and Economics from Torcuato Di Tella University, and an LL.M. in Business Law from UCLA School of Law, where she received a Dean's Tuition Fellowship award.
Cristina is the daughter of Korean immigrants to Argentina. While in Argentina, she explored her Korean heritage by serving in several boards of Korean Argentine non-profit organizations. Now in Los Angeles, she wants to serve the Latino community, and more specifically, focus on the advancement of Latinas in the legal field.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Treasurer
- Vice President of the Board of Directors
Cynthia Grande is the Founder and lead attorney with the Grande Law Firm, an immigration and bankruptcy law practice with offices in Torrance, CA and the Bay Area. Cynthia was inspired by her parents, who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador, to make a difference in the community. Today she works with families and business owners to help them find solutions to some of life's toughest legal challenges so that they can live life with more freedom and peace of mind.
Cynthia received a J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science and Social Science (Psychology) from the University of Southern California. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the El Camino College Foundation and as a committee member for the American Immigration Lawyers Association - Consumer Protection Rapid Response Team. Cynthia previously was involved as an executive council member with the Youth Policy Institute in Los Angeles and a fellow with the New Leaders Council in Sacramento, California. She has been nominated as a Rising Star with the National Latina Business Women Association - Los Angeles and for the Los Angeles Business Journal Latino Business Awards.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Trustee
Job Titles:
- Immediate past President
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Director of the Office of Immigrant
Lucero Chávez Basilio is the Director of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs for the county of San Diego. The focus of the Office is to build on existing refugee programs and establish a priority of devoting County resources to the immigrant population, regardless of immigration status. Prior to being hired to lead the inaugural office, Ms. Chavez Basilio was a Staff Attorney with the UC Immigrant Legal Services Center and based at UCI, working with students and their families on their immigration needs. Ms. Chávez Basilio was previously a senior staff attorney at Public Counsel in the Immigrant Rights Project, spending over five years representing unaccompanied children in immigration, asylum, family, delinquency, dependency, and probate proceedings, providing support to a robust pro bono program and and co-authoring a manual on seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile findings in state court. Prior to Public Counsel, Ms. Chávez Basilio was an Immigrants Rights attorney at the ACLU of Southern California where she focused on impact litigation around immigration enforcement.
Ms. Chávez Basilio received her J.D. from UC Berkeley Law School in 2010 and obtained a B.A. in American Literature & Culture and Chicana/o Studies from UCLA in 2007. She is the former President of the UC Student Association, worked on briefing for the Inter American Court with the Berkeley Law International Human Rights Clinic, and volunteered for over ten years with the statewide YMCA Model Legislature and Court Youth and Government program. Ms. Chávez Basilio is also a Rockwood Leadership Institute Fellow with the Fellowship for a New California and participated in the Shriver Racial Justice Institute. Ms. Chávez Basilio has also taught administrative law at Western State College of law, and Immigration Law & Policy at UCI. She is a proud native of Los Angeles from a working-class immigrant family who considers herself an OC transplant and an excellent multitasking wife and mommy.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Trustee
Maribel Medina is an education and public entity attorney, motivational speaker, and an advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion. Coming from an agricultural community where students did not receive the quality education offered in more affluent college prep high schools, Maribel excelled academically. She earned a bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley, and attended Boalt Hall School of Law and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government where she earned a JD and MPA, respectively.
Maribel was the first MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund), Fried Frank Fellow. This Fellowship entails a unique alliance between the nation's leading Latino civil rights and advocacy organization and a prominent international law firm. Her activities and work experience span the gamut from grass roots local organizing and education to policy and enforcement of the law on the national level, including: the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division enforcing federal labor laws; the U.S. Department of Justice enforcing the Voting Rights Act; Meyer Nave, where she chaired the Firm's Education Law practice group; Leal & Trejo, where she chaired the litigation practice group; General Counsel of the San Francisco Unified School District where she oversaw all legal matters; President of the Mexican-American Bar Association; Assistant City Attorney for Pasadena; and Special Counsel to the Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education. She is now the General Counsel for the Los Angeles Community College District, the largest community college district in the Country.
Maribel ranks among the top super lawyers, and was named the "Latina Lawyer of the Year" from the Hispanic National Bar Association and the "Benito Juarez Lawyer of the Year" from the Mexican American Bar Association.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- President - Elect
- Associate at the Law Firm of Sidley Austin LLP
Marisol Ramirez is an associate at the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP and is a member of the Complex Commercial Litigation practice. She has worked on various litigation matters in state and federal court as well as on internal and government investigations. She is also the associate deputy co-chair of the Los Angeles Diversity and Inclusion committee. Ms. Ramirez graduated from Harvard University with a B.A., cum laude, in Government in 2010. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2015, where she also served as an essays & reviews editor on the Columbia Law Review. While in law school, she served on the board of the Latina/o Law Students Association. She also participated in a year-long clinic providing assistance to imprisoned mothers and representing an individual in removal proceedings. Ms. Ramirez is also a board member of the Mexican American Bar Foundation. Ms. Ramirez, a daughter of two immigrants from Jalisco, Mexico, is a native of Southern California. She was the first in her family to graduate from college and is the only lawyer in the family.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Founder of the DIAZ LAW FIRM
Ms. Díaz is the founder of THE DIAZ LAW FIRM and serves as Of Counsel to the law firm of Allred, Maroko & Goldberg. Ms. Díaz has dedicated her legal career to representing workers in a range of employment matters including sexual harassment, discrimination, retaliation, defamation, and wrongful termination.
Ms. Díaz litigates in state court, federal court and arbitral forums. She has obtained millions for her clients in a multitude of matters against a wide range of private companies, public entities, and individuals.
Her last trial resulted in a jury verdict of $1.325 million in a wrongful termination case. Her client was a part-time worker earning minimum wage at a storage facility when she was unlawfully fired. Ms. Díaz further prevailed in opposing the employer's appeal of the verdict. The California Court of Appeal affirmed the verdict and the California Supreme Court denied review on February 21, 2018.
Ms. Díaz has received numerous awards for her legal work including being named a Super Lawyer in Northern and Southern California several times. She also has received, among others, the Wiley W. Manuel Award by the State Bar of California, an Outstanding Service Award from Senator Barbara Boxer, an Outstanding Legal Services Award from the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program and an award as a trailblazer from the Latina Lawyers Bar Association.
Ms. Díaz has published several articles in the California Labor & Employment Law Review, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and also appeared as a legal expert on The Cristina Show - the #1 rated Spanish talk show seen worldwide. She has served as a speaker for several legal organizations including the State Bar of California, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Latina Lawyers Bar Association of Los Angeles, the Mexican-American Bar Association, and the California Employment Lawyers Association. Ms. Díaz currently serves on the board of the California Employment Lawyers Association ("CELA") and previously served on the Editorial Board of the California Labor & Employment Law Review for several years.
Ms. Díaz holds a degree in Quantitative Economics from Stanford University, a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University, and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. She also studied at Princeton as a Woodrow Wilson National Fellow.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Trustee
- Associate at Buchalter
Melissa Lucar is an associate at Buchalter, APC and is a member of the firm's Corporate practice group. Ms. Lucar focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions, private placements of securities, compliance with securities laws, financial transactions, and general corporate matters. She has assisted clients in a wide range of industries including real estate financing, entertainment, private equity, and technology.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Principal
- Trustee
Michelle Fonseca-Kamana is the Founder and Principal Attorney at West Coast Lemons APC, a law firm specializing in California lemon law. After starting her law firm three weeks before the pandemic hit in 2020, Michelle has proven she is a force to be reckoned with. She is passionate about consumer advocacy, education, and an unparalleled client experience. By actively sharing her knowledge in both English and Spanish via informational videos with her followers on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok, she built a solid direct to consumer and direct to business referral network all using social media.
In her spare time, she mentors aspiring law firm owners across the country on how to start their own law firms and use social media as a marketing tool. She has been featured as a guest on Clio's Building a Successful Law Firm series, the popular Legal Talk Network podcast New Solo, as well as legal conferences like the Women In Trial Travel Summit and the Clio Cloud Conference, where she has discussed how to use social media to reach your target clientele, connect with potential referral sources, and stay top of mind.
Job Titles:
- Trustee
- Associate at Collins
Mildred Lima is an associate at Collins + Collins, LLP, where her practice focuses on public entity liability with an emphasis on constitutional rights violations, dangerous conditions of public property, and personal injury. Ms. Lima also handles matters of general business litigation, contract disputes, and professional liability.
Ms. Lima obtained her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles where she majored in American Literature & Culture and minored in Political Science. She went on to earn her J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. While at Loyola, Ms. Lima served as a judicial extern to Honorable Dolly M. Gee in the United States District Court in the Central District. During that time, she was also a staff writer for Loyola's International and Comparative Law Review, where she authored three detailed case summaries, all of which were published as part of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Project. Notably, Ms. Lima also competed in the Hispanic National Bar Association's Moot Court Competition, where she was the recipient of the 1st place brief award and ranked 3rd place overall in the national competition. As a law student, she was recognized as a Wally Davis Scholar, MALDEF Scholar, MABF Scholar, and HSF Scholar.
After graduating from Loyola Law School, she earned herself a coveted spot in the ABOTA Fellowship, where she served as a fellow to Honorable Michael L. Stern. She is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and is the second in her family to attend college and law school.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Attorney
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Trustee
- Education & Outreach Committee
Monique Alarcón is an associate attorney at Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman where she focuses her practice on the firm's medical device cases, pharmaceutical drug liability, consumer fraud, and civil rights litigation.
Prior to joining Baum Hedlund Aristei & Goldman, Monique was an associate attorney at the Law Office of Carol A. Sobel where she worked on civil rights impact litigation, focusing primarily on police accountability, homelessness, and First Amendment rights.
Monique earned her J.D. at Loyola Law School where she was a board member of the La Raza student organization. She also served as a Loyola Writing Tutor, a member of the Scott Moot Court Honors Board, a research assistant for the Civil Rights Litigation Practicum, and was involved with Loyola's Project for the Innocent.
Now, Monique serves as an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School and coaches the law school's Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) Moot Court Team.
Monique is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and the first in her family to attend college and law school.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Trustee
Nadia Segura Narvaez is Bet Tzedek's Directing Attorney of the Small Business Development Program. Through her role, Nadia leads a diverse and dynamic legal team that provides free legal services to low-to-moderate income small business owners and entrepreneurs, with a focus on women, disabled, Veteran, immigrant, limited English speaking, LGBTQ, and BIPOC business owners.
Nadia comes to Bet Tzedek with a wealth of experience. Most recently, Nadia served as a Legal Officer at TrustLaw, the legal pro bono program of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. In this role, she connected high-impact NGOs and social enterprises working to create social and environmental change with law firms and corporate legal teams to provide them with free legal assistance. She also led strategic legal research projects on regional and cross-border issues, with a focus on human trafficking. Prior to that role, Nadia served as a Supervising Attorney of the Survivors of Violence Unit at the Central American Resource Censer (CARECEN), a leading immigrant rights organization in the United States. Nadia represented survivors of human trafficking and violent crimes before law enforcement agencies and in immigration court. Nadia also worked in private practice as an international lawyer with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York and as an in-house counsel in a leading consumer company in Mexico.
Nadia received a Master of Laws from Columbia Law School, where she earned the Parker School Recognition of Achievement in International and Comparative Law. She is admitted to practice law in California, New York and Mexico.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Shareholder
- Trustee
- Member of the Board of Trustees of the Mexican American Bar Foundation
Rebecca Aragón is a shareholder at Littler Mendelson, P.C. where her practice focuses on leading complex litigation in federal and state courts, with particular emphasis on wage and hour class actions. Ms. Aragón has successfully litigated over 300 employment-related lawsuits to conclusion. She assists employers, particularly those with Spanish-speaking workforces, develops wage and hour compliance procedures, diversity programs, employment policies, and proactive measures designed to prevent sex, race, age and disability discrimination in the workplace. She is a widely published author and frequent lecturer on labor and employment issues affecting national and foreign sovereign employers. Ms. Aragón is recognized as one of the top 2.5% of Southern California lawyers by Southern California Super Lawyers. She was recently named one of The Best Lawyers in America© 2015 in Employment Law. Prior to joining Littler, Ms. Aragón was a partner and head of a national law firm's labor and employment practice in Los Angeles.
Ms. Aragón earned her B.A. from Yale University and her J.D. from Georgetown University, where she was on Dean's List and editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Immigration Law Journal. Following law school, she served for two years as a law clerk to the Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Ms. Aragón serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mexican American Bar Foundation, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Pasadena Educational Foundation, California's oldest educational foundation supporting K-12 public schools.
Ms. Aragón was born and raised in the MacArthur Park-Westlake area of Los Angeles. She is a first generation Mexican-American born to parents from Jalisco, México and the first in her extended family to complete elementary school. She is the proud mother of son, Charlie, and daughter, Laura.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- Treasurer of the Board of Directors
- Founder of Luna Legal Firm
Silvia E. Luna is the Founder of Luna Legal Firm, where she practices plaintiffs' side employment law, personal injury, and civil rights in state and federal court. Before opening her firm Ms. Luna defended corporations and small businesses from employment and personal injury claims. Prior to that, Ms. Luna practiced plaintiffs' side employment law and civil rights.
Ms. Luna earned a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from California State University Northridge and her Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School. While attending Loyola's part-time evening program, Ms. Luna worked as a paralegal at a labor union law firm in Los Angeles. She also served as a law clerk at several non-profit organizations, including Public Counsel, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and the Alliance for Children's Rights. Ms. Luna also participated in Loyola's Youth Justice Education Clinic advocating for students with special needs.
Ms. Luna was born in Northern California and raised in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants from Michoacán and Jalisco. As the first in her immediate family to graduate from college and the first attorney in her family, Ms. Luna has experienced first-hand the ample opportunities that an education affords, which has prompted her commitment to continue opening doors for other Latinas.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Trustee
- Tax Counsel at the California Department of Tax
Veronica Escobedo is a Tax Counsel at the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. As an attorney in the Appeals Bureau, Veronica reviews appeals filed by California taxpayers contesting business and special tax liabilities.
Veronica earned her J.D. from Loyola Law School, cum laude, where she competed in the Hispanic National Bar Association moot court competition. Following law school, Veronica earned her LLM in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Trustee
Xochilt Gama is a real estate attorney at Panda Restaurant Group, Inc. Her practice focuses on a variety of real estate transactions, with an emphasis on commercial leasing. Xochilt also has experience representing clients in civil litigation and general business matters.
Xochilt graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a double major in Political Science and Criminal Justice. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. While in law school, Xochilt served as the Executive Symposium Editor for the Hastings Journal on Gender and the Law, as the Co-Chair for the Hastings Women of Color Collective and was also an executive board member for the UC Hastings Latinx Law Student Association. During law school, Xochilt was a judicial extern for the Presiding Judge's Department and the Appellate Division at the San Francisco Superior Court.
Xochilt was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants.
Artist Yolanda Gonzalez, whose work beautifies our Annual Awards & Scholarship Dinner materials. www.yolandagonzalez.com
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
- Trustee
Yolanda is the managing attorney for CHIRLA's removal defense unit, where she practices immigration law. Ms. Martin represents both detained and non-detained individuals before the Immigration Court. She also represents children in family and probate court. Prior to joining CHIRLA, Ms. Martin worked in private practice. Yolanda also has a background in family and criminal law.
Ms. Martin received her law degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where she served as a board member for the Immigration Law Society. She attended the University of California San Diego where she earned a bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in economics. She is a volunteer with the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project and Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law.
Ms. Martin is a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and the first in her family to attend college and law school. She was born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Fernando Valley.