by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
It has been more than five years in the making but the Hispanic Bar Association of Northeast Florida is now officially in action.
More than 40 law students, lawyers and judges attended the group’s inaugural meeting last week at the Florida Coastal School of Law where U.S. Attorney Paul Perez was the keynote speaker.
With the first quarterly meeting finally completed, HBANF president Paola Parra Harris said she couldn’t be happier and is looking forward to the future of the organization.
“This organization will let us get together to share information and to help the needs of our growing Hispanic population in Florida,” the Cuban-born Harris said.
While she has been trying to form a local Hispanic legal society since 1999, Harris said the group didn’t become formally created with by-laws and board members until September 2005.
Now that the organization’s program schedule is underway, Harris said the HBANF is preparing several events for the near future.
The group’s next quarterly luncheon is scheduled for June and might feature U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez as a guest speaker. Harris said she has talked with the senator and “he is definitely interested.”
Besides the June luncheon, the group is also preparing for “Law Week” in April where members will offer “Law School for the Public” lectures at several local libraries. Harris said members will conduct free lectures regarding different areas of the law like family or elder law.
Event planning aside, the group has also formed several different committees, one of which is working to create a scholarship program for Hispanic law students.
Currently, the HBANF has about 30 members but Harris said she is looking forward to adding many more in the coming months and years.
“I don’t expect that it will be humongous but I do expect it to grow,” she said. “There are a lot of Hispanic lawyers out there that we have not reached yet that we would like to join us.”