By: Yolanda V. Torres, HBA President
Dear members and friends of the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association,
Summer is in full swing and summer activities are keeping us all busy, as we all enjoy the fun in the sun we must also remember to keep encouraging and supporting our future generations to join the Latinx legal community. The California State Bar has released a diversity report that reflects that diversity in the legal profession is still very low compared to the state's demographics. Although the report's results are not surprising, they should serve as a reminder to us all that we must continuously reach back into our communities, junior/high schools, law schools and encourage and help our younger generations to pursue higher education, especially in the legal profession.
Our duty as Latinx legal professionals is not only to zealously represent our clients but we must also zealously encourage and stand behind the future of our profession. Latinos have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go to achieve true representation and equality in our legal profession. The California State Bar report reveals that
"Diversity in California law schools is increasing, but available data shows that students of color leave law school before graduation at disproportionate rates." We must continue to work hard to fight against this statistic and one way to do this is to get involved. HBA offers the Wally Davis Scholarship to help law students stay in school, we encourage all members to donate. Mentoring is another great way to help fight against this statistic. Although, mentoring is an investment of your time, it is a very rewarding experience for the mentor as it is for the mentee as reflected by the words of mentee HBA Jessica Olivares:
Being a part of the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association's mentoring program has been an amazing experience for me. Not only have I been given the opportunity to network with attorneys in the field I want to pursue, but I have also navigated a complex system and have been able to rely on the emotional support necessary to survive and thrive in law school. As a daughter of immigrant parents who obtained a high school and middle school education, the road to get where I am today has not been easy, and ever more challenging because many times I have felt as if I don't belong in this niche. However, I have been blessed and fortunate enough to have my mentor Deborah Vasquez, who emotionally supports me and inspires me to pursue my passion. Deborah has shown me that it is okay to have my voice heard in a system that lacks Latinx presence and visibility. Deborah inspires me to continue to be ambitious, fierce, and more importantly, to continue to be resilient when faced with adversities.
Thank you Jessica for your kind words and thank you to our board member
Deborah M. Vasquez
for her commitment as a mentor! If you are interested in being a mentor, please contact us.
We would also like to congratulate the Elizabeth G. Macias Legal Studies Academy for a very successful year culminating in their end of year banquet. Future generation of legal professionals in action!
Our congratulations continue! Special congratulations to our fellow board member Sabrina Rivera on her new position with a great organization, CARECEN.
Sabrina Rivera is the Supervising Attorney at the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) for the California State University (CSU) Project. The Project, in partnership with the State of California and California State University, will provide immigration legal services to CSU students throughout Southern California. We are so proud of you!
In the spirit of giving, Immediate Past President, Darrell White and President, Yolanda V. Torres attended the VIP reception for the Orange County Bar Association Charitable
Fund Raise Your Glass charity awards benefit at the Aitken Beach House.
Raise Your Glass Charity Awards benefit will be held on Thursday, August 22, 2019, at the Newport Beach Country Club from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The benefit will raise funds to support law related organizations and programs in Orange County. Please visit
http://www.ocbacf.org/ryg/
for more information.
This past month we had our HBA board retreat. Thank you to all of our board members, we know serving on a board requires time away from our families and other activities, we thank you for your hard work!
Please feel free to reach out to our
Board of Directors
with any questions or suggestions regarding our organization.
Join us next week as we head on to watch the Angels v Orioles!
Please do not forget to sign up for the 31st Annual Red Mass of Orange County
which will be held on Monday, October 7, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. at the Christ Cathedral - Arboretum.
For more information please go to
https://www.stthomasmore.net/
Join us at the OC Hispanic Bar Association's Annual
JUDGE'S BBQ
Sunday September 8, 2019
2:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Honoring Judge Nathan Scott, Judge of the Year
Location will be disclosed to registered guests
Sponsored by:
We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events, remember to
renew your membership
today to receive member prices to all our events.
A very special thank you to our sponsors for their unwavering support!
Warm Regards,
Yolanda Victoria Torres
2019 OCHBA President
Yolanda Victoria Torres
Certified Family Law Specialist
601 N. Park Center Drive
Suite 109
Santa Ana, California 92705
Huntington Beach Location
7755 Center Avenue
Suite 1100
Huntington Beach, California 92647
Phone/Fax
(714) 541-5400 phone
(714) 242-7416 fax
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