I am honored to serve as President of the Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County this year. As the first Wally Davis Scholar to serve as President of the HBA, I am committed to continuing and honoring the work of my predecessors, which includes increasing opportunities for each of our members to grow their respective practices, increasing opportunities for our Latino law students to achieve financial freedom through scholarships, to represent the Latino legal community and community at large where appropriate and necessary, to work towards diversifying the legal community and the bench, and to create networking opportunities for our membership which in turn allows the HBA to grow in depth and numbers.

Please look for the following programs, among others, that the HBA will continue to provide and the new ones we will introduce in 2008:

• 25th Annual Memorial Day MCLE Trip in Puerto Vallarta -- with a special Mexican In-House Counsel Roundtable MCLE program;
• Monthly Bar Reviews (a model borrowed from my alma mater, USC, Gould School of Law);
• Roundtable with U.S. In-House Counsel;
• Immigration Law Panel;
• Immigration Law Clinics in Partnership with the Mexican Consulate in Orange County;
• Roundtable with Legislators; and
• Ensenada Delegation with Attorneys and Legislators.

I look forward to seeing you at many of our events this year.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or any of our Board Members with any suggestions, thoughts, or questions.

Very truly yours,

Norma Garcia Guillen

ngarciaguillen@sheppardmullin.com
(714) 513-5100