Few and Far Between: the Reality of Latina Lawyers
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FEW AND FAR BETWEEN: THE REALITY OF LATINA LAWYERS HISPANIC NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION Commission on Latinas in the Profession National Study and Report September 2009 NATIONAL STUDY ON THE STATUS OF LATINAS IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION FEW AND FAR BETWEEN:THE REALITY OF LATINA LAWYERS BY JILL L. CRUZ AND MELINDA S. MOLINA COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF LATINAS IN THE PROFESSION ©2009 Hispanic National Bar Association. All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without the express permission from the Hispanic National Bar Association. COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF LATINAS IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION COMMISSION CO-CHAIRS DOLORES S. ATENCIO CLARISSA CERDA HNBA BOARD OF GOVERNORS 2008-2009 PRESIDENT RAMONA E. ROMERO (2008-2009) PRESIDENT-ELECT ROMAN D. HERNANDEZ (2009-2010) IVETTE ALVAREZ MIGUEL ALEXANDER POZO LIZZETTE ALAMEDA ZUBEY National Vice President – Membership Regional President, Region III (NJ) Regional President, Region XIV (AZ, NV) PETER M. REYES, JR. RAFAEL ZAHRALDDIN-ARAVENA, CHRISTINA A. VIGIL National Vice President – Regions Regional President, Region IV (DE, PA) Regional President, Region XV (NM, UT) JUANITA C. HERNANDEZ JESSICA HERRERA-FLANIGAN JOAQUIN M. HERNANDEZ National Vice President – Programs Regional President, Region V (DC, MD, VA, Regional President Region XVI (AK ID MT WV) OR WA) LIZ LOPEZ HADA DE VARONA HAULSEE HELEN SANTANA, National Vice President – External Affairs Regional President, Region VI (NC, SC) Regional President, Region XVII (No. CA, HI) RICARDO APONTE PARSI ROLANDO E. BASCUMBE, GABRIEL SANDOVAL National Vice President – Committees Regional President, Region VII (AL, GA, MS) Regional President, Region XVIII (So. CA) SEAN ANDRADE RICHARD C. LORENZO JUDGE FRANCISCA COTA JUDGE National Secretary Regional President, Region VIII (FL) CATHERINE TORRES STAHL Judicial Council Co-Liaisons ARMANDO CASTRO ROBERT K. VILLA, National Treasurer Regional President, Region IX (I, IN, MI, WI) CHARLES V. GARCIA 2009 Convention Chair & Finance Chair IGNACIA MORENO LEONARDO CASTRO, General Counsel Regional President, Region XI (IA, MN, MO, MELISA LOPEZ FRANZEN ND SD) Delegate-ABA YLD Council VICTOR M. MARQUEZ Immediate Past President AARON RAMIREZ JIMMIE V. REYNA Regional President, Region XII (AR, LA, OK, Liaison, National Hispanic Leadership Agenda SALOMON CHIQUIAR-RABINOVICH, TX) Regional President, Region I (CT, ME, MA, NH, J.R. FUENTES RI, VT) AWILDA MARQUEZ Law Student Division President Regional President, Region XIII (CO, KS, NE, YVETTE VALDEZ WY) Regional President, Region II (NY) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS RESEARCH AND REPORT SUPPORTERS Adorno & Yoss, Henry F. Adorno, Founder and Chief This Study and Report would not have been possible with- Executive Officer and Teresita Pedrosa, Partner (Miami, out the invaluable support of the Institutional Research FL) and Academic Planning Office of St. John’s University and those who served as Editors. We are deeply grateful to the Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP and Adam following: Hoeflich, Partner (host of Commission’s Chicago, IL meet- ing on June 19 and June 20, 2009) Survey Administrators and Statisticians Clover Hall, Ed.D., St. John’s University, Vice Presi- Baute & Tidus LLP, Sean Andrade, (Los Angeles, CA) dent of Institutional Research and Academic Planning Bingham Hurst & Apodaca, P.C. & Lillian Apodaca, Piyaporn Nawart, Ed.D., St. John’s University, Assis- (Albuquerque, NM) tant Director of Institutional Research and Academic Crowell & Moring LLP and Monica Parham, Diversity Planning Counsel; Liz Lopez, HNBA National Vice President of Report Editors External Affairs (Washington, D.C.) Scott Fennel, Member, ICCS Partners, Content Editor Foley & Lardner LLP, Manfred A. Perera, Associate and Cindy L. Bishop, Assistant, (Los Angeles, CA) Cheryl Handel, Business Development Specialist, K&L Gates LLP, Line Editor Fox Rothschild LLP, Josefina Fernandez McEvoy, Partner (Los Angeles, CA); Jordan Roznowski, Lateral Recruitment Maria Pabon Lopez, Professor of Law and Dean’s Coordinator (Philadelphia, PA), Sarah L. Apelquist, Direc- Fellow at Indiana University School of Law, Content tor of Professional Recruitment (Philadelphia, PA), and Editor Jean A. Durling, Chief Recruitment and Professional Peter Petraro, J.D. Candidate, 2010, St. John’s Uni- Development Officer (Philadelphia, PA) versity School of Law, Legal Citation Editor Greenburg Traurig LLP (Chicago, IL) Jennifer Rivera, Professor of Law and Director of the Huron Consulting Group, Miriam Nieves, CPA (New York, Center on Latino and Latina Rights and Equality NY) (CLORE) at CUNY School of Law, Content Editor K & L Gates LLP, Paul W. Sweeney, Administrative Partner Pamela A. Tackett, M.ED, Proofreader (Los Angeles, CA), Cheryl Handel, Business Development Specialist (Los Angeles, CA), Rick Jones, Director of Library Support Diversity (New York) Arundhati Satkalmi, Senior Research Librarian, St. John’s University School of Law Lewis & Roca LLP, Phoenix, Lizzette Alameda Zubey, and Veronica Samaniego, Lawyer Recruitment Coordinator PRINTING (Phoenix, AZ) This Report would not have been possible without the gen- erous support of RR Donnelley Global Services Co., Morgan & Lewis and Bockius LLP, Francis Milone, Chair- which provided pro bono layout and printing services. man and Maria Gonzalez Calvet, Associate (Philadelphia, PA) FOCUS GROUP AND OTHER MEETING SUPPORTERS The success of the national focus groups was the result of St. Mary’s University School of Law, (San Antonio, TX) the many companies, law firms and individuals who pro- vided their guidance, pro bono assistance and con- Charles Cantu, Dean of the Law School tributions to this aspect of the National Study and to whom Reynaldo Anaya Valencia, Associate Dean for Admin- we are most thankful. istration and Finance and Professor of Law Garcia Calderon LLP, Founding Partners Bonifacio Garcia, Albert W. Hartman III, Assistant Dean and Alumni Yuri Calderon and Mary T. Hernandez who contributed Relations & Development countless hours of partner and support time to this proj- ect. Special acknowledgement to Yvonne Rico, GCR Legal Amanda Montemayor, Administrative Secretary Assistant/Paralegal who truly is responsible for orchestrat- ing the 11 focus groups. James Gomez, Director of Computer Administration Alderson Court Reporting, LLC, Trish Collins, Business The Honorable Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl (San Anto- Development Director for providing court reporting serv- nio, TX) ices for several focus groups. Qwest Communications International Inc. Alvarez & Marsal, Monica MacGregor, Director (New York, NY) University of New Mexico School of Law TABLE OF CONTENTS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE ............................................................. 1 FOREWORD ...................................................................... 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................. 7 Major Findings ............................................................. 7 Recommendations .......................................................... 9 Methodology .............................................................. 9 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 10 2. STUDY METHODOLOGY .......................................................... 12 StudyOverview............................................................ 12 Focus Group Methods ....................................................... 12 Survey Methods ............................................................ 14 Limitations ................................................................ 15 3. PROFILE OF LATINAS IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION ...................................... 16 LatinaAttorneyProfile....................................................... 17 LegalSectorProfile ......................................................... 25 Conclusion ................................................................ 30 4. STUDY FINDINGS ............................................................... 31 FormativeExperiences ...................................................... 31 Law School Experiences ..................................................... 34 Perceptions of Latina Attorneys ................................................ 35 WorkplaceExperiences’ImpactonCareerTrajectory.............................. 38 CriticalSuccessFactors ...................................................... 43 5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ..................................................... 46 Factors Influencing Educational Achievement and Career Choice .................... 46 Barriers to Law School ....................................................... 47 BarrierstoCareerRetentionandAdvancement................................... 48 Future Research ............................................................ 50 6. RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................ 51 7. APPENDICES ................................................................... 55 Appendix A: Hispanic National Bar Association Affiliate Bar Associations ............ 55 Appendix B: Focus Group Protocol .......................................... 56 Appendix C: Informed Consent for Focus Group Participants ..................... 57 Appendix D: Focus Group Demographic Form ................................. 58 Appendix E: Survey Questionnaire ........................................... 60 8. ENDNOTES .................................................................... 71 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................