HBAM will be hosting its Annual Party for members and friends on January 14 at 5 PM. Judge Zainab Baydoun will be speaking at this virtual event about becoming an Administrative Law Judge and her nonprofit organization, the EmpowerME Project. The event will also feature a trivia contest hosted by a Sporcle trivia MC.
To RSVP for the event, please send email marva@dearmaslawoffice.com.
What is your name?
Lawrence T. Garcia
Where do you work, and what is your position there?
City of Detroit, Corporation Counsel
Where did you attend law school, and when did you graduate?
University of Michigan Law School, 1995
When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A park ranger
Who is your biggest role model and why?
My father, Dr. Julio H. Garcia. He was always dignified and full of positive energy. He was smart and kind, but did not take himself too serious. He was a great man – never selfish or petty.
What has been the biggest accomplishment/victory in your legal career?
My first no cause verdict, nearly 20 years ago.
What is your idea of a great day?
Any day you find Caselaw on point and finish a brief you know will win is a great day.
What are two things about you many people might not know?
I have mild dyslexia, and I love working in the yard.
What organization or cause are you passionate about?
The Michigan Hispanic Collaborative – We have to get more young Latinos into elite society.
What career advice would you give to your younger self?
Be patient. It takes long time for opportunity to knock on some doors, but if you wait patiently, you will be in the right frame of mind when it does.
The Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan (“HBAM”) is partnering with Latin Americans for Social Economic and Development, Inc. (“LA SED”) to help with their annual Operation Joy! LA SED will be delivering food baskets, jackets, and small toys to approximately 200 families in the area to spread warmth and hope to those in need.
In 1987 LA SED began a holiday program called Operation Joy to provide a little holiday cheer to families experiencing financial difficulty due to the closing of the Fleetwood plant, among others. That first year, Operation Joy provided modest food baskets to approximately 50 families. Today, LA SED will provide food, coats and small toys to approximately 200 families.
HBAM is looking for toy donations, specifically for babies, toddlers, and young teens. If you would like to donate a toy, De Armas and De Armas Law will have a donation drop off box from December 1 – December 18. You may either drop the toys off or have them delivered (e.g., via Amazon). Please see the flyer for more information.
What is your name?
Jim Feinberg
What legal practice areas do you primarily focus on?
Criminal Defense, State and Federal
Where did you attend law school, and when did you graduate?
Wayne State University Law School. Graduated in 1968.
Describe the biggest challenge you’ve had to face in your legal career.
Being a sole practitioner. While most attorneys work for a law firm, major corporations or Government, being a sole practitioner is very challenging, both practice and financial wise.
What has been the biggest accomplishment/victory in your legal career?
Graduating and passing the bar exam the first time taking it. I worked full time in law school and while studying for the bar.
When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a professional athlete, when that was not possible, I wanted to be a criminal defense attorney.
What word would you use to describe yourself?
Loving.
What is your favorite quote?
Do unto others as you would have done unto you.
What’s a great book you read recently?
Clarence Darrow for the Defense, by Irving Stone. I first read this book when I was 15 years old. As soon as I read the book, all I wanted to do was be a criminal defense lawyers representing the accused.
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
Don’t take any shit from judges or prosecutors.
If you could time travel, where would you go?
Wow, that’s a tough question. I would like to go to Germany in 1933-34 and assassinate Adolf Hitler.
Join us for a Lunch and Learn, where Veronica Rivas-Molloy, a Houston-based attorney and judicial candidate, and our own Luis E. Gomez, President of the Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan, will discuss the history and significance of Hispanic Heritage Month.
About the Speakers:
Veronica Rivas-Molloy is special counsel in the Litigation Practice Group at Jones Walker in Houston, Texas. She provides legal counsel to domestic and international clients in a wide variety of arbitration and civil litigation matters in both state and federal courts, focusing on matters involving complex business and commercial disputes in the energy industry, and employment law. Veronica graduated magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center. She is currently running for justice of the First Court of Appeals in Texas.
Luis E. Gomez is an associate at BSP Law. He focuses his practice on business and commercial litigation and has represented municipalities and private entities in state and federal court. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. Luis is currently the president of the Hispanic Bar Association of Michigan.
Please contact marketingteam@bsplaw.com for call-in information.
In the United States, we observe National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) by honoring the cultures and contributions of Latinx and Hispanic Americans. Like so many others, Latinx and Hispanic Americans, or their ancestors, were drawn to this great country by the promise of a better life—one attained through hard work and perseverance. And while the cultures and experiences of the U.S. Latinx and Hispanic population surely differ, we share an important commonality: the drive to make life better for each successive generation.
According to the Pew Research Center, almost a fifth of the total U.S. population is Latinx. As our numbers continue to grow and our contributions to this country become increasingly visible, it is important that we not forget the sacrifices of those Latinx and Hispanic Americans who paved the way for us.
What is your name?
Monica P. Navarro
What company/firm do you work for, and what is your position there?
I am Senior Counsel to the Freudenberg Group in North America. The Freudenberg Group is a German conglomerate in 65 countries; I am responsible for providing legal support to the Freudenberg companies in four of those countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica.
What legal practice areas do you primarily focus on?
My practice consists of commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory compliance, dispute/litigation management, and cross border transactions in the medical device, automotive, aerospace, oil and gas, chemical, alternative energy, and household consumer product manufacturing sectors.
Where did you attend law school, and when did you graduate?
I received my J.D. in 1993 from the University of Michigan Law School.
Describe the biggest challenge you’ve had to face in your legal career.
The biggest challenge I faced in my legal career was achieving work-life balance. As the mother of three now-adult children, having a successful legal career and a healthy family required a strong work ethic, but also clear priorities and boundaries, together with superior time management skills. Easier said than done.
What has been the biggest accomplishment/victory in your legal career?
Choosing a single accomplishment as my “biggest” accomplishment is difficult. Every single accomplishment, small and big, is a necessary stepping-stone to the next one. However, if success is to be defined in terms dollars and cents, my largest recovery was a case against ABSG, which settled for $885 million. Money aside, being selected as Crain’s Detroit 40 Under 40 and by Michigan Lawyers Weekly in the first class of Women in the Law opened many doors for me that settlement dollars alone would not have.
When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A Lawyer!
What word would you use to describe yourself?
Resilient.
What are two things about you many people might not know?
I was class action counsel in one of the Florida Election Recount cases following the 2000 Hanging Chad Gore-Bush Presidential Election.
I am a rehab addict (real estate).
If you could be an animal, what would you be?
Bear.
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
“Don’t get bitter; get BETTER” and
“When You Lose, Don’t Lose the Lesson.”