School of Law to Host Panel on Hispanic Community in the Legal Profession

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Hispanic Student Bar Association of the University of Arkansas School of Law will host a panel discussion about the importance of the Hispanic community in the legal profession. The event will be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, in the E. J. Ball Courtroom at the law school building. The panel will feature guest speakers Victor Marquez, outgoing president of the Hispanic National Bar Association; Cynthia Carrasco, newly appointed executive director of the Hispanic National Bar Association; and Janine Friede, associate general counsel for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The discussion is open to the public and the university community. Refreshments will be served, and a question and answer session will take place immediately following the panel discussion.

Victor M. Marquez is the outgoing president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. He is the founder and principal of The Marquez Law Group, a boutique firm in downtown San Francisco, Calif. Marquez has expertise in assisting investor groups with developing commercial, residential and mixed-use properties. His practice works with municipalities and represents private, nonprofit and public interests in the finance and construction of mixed-use private/public joint venture development projects. He also is approved counsel for the community development banking departments of Bank of America, Citigroup Global Markets and Silicon Valley Bank.

Marquez earned his Bachelor of Arts in law and society from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1987 and his Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University School of Law in 1990. He was named “Top 100 Most Influential Latinos in the Country” by Hispanic Magazine and “Top 20 Most Influential Latinos in the San Francisco Bay Area” by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Earlier this year, he received the Santa Clara University Social Justice and Human Rights Award. An immigrant from a small mining town in Mexico, Marquez has served as executive director of the San Francisco La Raza Centro Legal, where he started a law program to assist seniors with consumer fraud, elder abuse, social security and other issues.

Cynthia N. Carrasco is the newly appointed executive director for the Hispanic National Bar Foundation. Carrasco has been involved with the organization for years through her work as program coordinator for the Future Latino Law Leaders Camp and as law camp counselor. Prior to her appointment, Carrasco served as model court liaison with the Permanency Planning for Children Department of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges to several jurisdictions across the country. Carrasco authored “Colorado’s Model Courts: Innovation in the Juvenile Court System” for The Colorado Lawyer, which highlights her work with juvenile and family courts handling child abuse and neglect cases.

Carrasco, the daughter of Ecuadorean immigrants, was born in Pasadena, Calif. She received her Bachelor of Arts in communication and political science in 2000 from Syracuse University. Carrasco then attended the Duke University School of Law Asia-America Institute in Transnational Law in 2004 and earned her Juris Doctor from the University of La Verne College of Law in 2005.

Janine Friede is associate general counsel for the health and wellness section in the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. legal department. Friede received her Bachelor of Science in business administration with a concentration in finance from Colorado State University. She went on to receive her Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1995. Friede practiced commercial litigation and health care in a law firm setting until 1999, when she became in-house counsel for an integrated health care delivery system in New Mexico. In 2007, she began working with Wal-Mart. Friede is a member of the New Mexico bar, American Bar Association and the American Health Lawyers Association.

The Hispanic Student Bar Association is honored to host these distinguished guests and invites everyone to attend. For more information, contact Hispanic Student Bar Association President Joe Bussell at jbussell@uark.edu.