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OHBA's 7th Annual Award Dinner

February 15, 2013
5:30 pm

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The Paul J. De Muniz Professionalism Award

Each year the OHBA honors an individual who elevates the practice of law by a combination of the following:

  • Exemplary professionalism
  • Significant contribution to the justice system and the public
  • Exceptional courage in the face of adversity
  • Outstanding service to the bench and bar
  • Outstanding service to the people of Oregon
  • Exceptional volunteer work and community service
  • Outstanding efforts in providing free or low cost services to the poor
  • Significant contribution to advancing legal education in Oregon
  • Dedication to mentoring students and legal professionals
  • Exemplary dedication to the OHBA
  • Exemplary service to the Latino community

THE OREGON HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION'S
PAUL J. DE MUNIZ PROFESSIONALISM AWARD DINNER
TO BE HELD ON FEBRUARY 15, 2013


Román D. Hernández

The Oregon Hispanic Bar Association (OHBA) is pleased to announce that Román D. Hernández, a shareholder with Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, is the recipient of the 2013 Paul J. De Muniz Professionalism Award. The award will be presented at the OHBA's Seventh Annual Award Dinner, held on Friday, February 15, 2013 at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Portland. Judge Jimmie V. Reyna, judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, is the keynote speaker.

The OHBA represents the voice of Latinos in Oregon's legal community. The OHBA seeks to encourage Latinos to become attorneys, retain Latino legal professionals, raise awareness of Latino legal issues, collaborate with other organizations that serve the Latino community, support Latino law students and legal professionals, and celebrate the achievements of Latinos in Oregon.

Each year, the OHBA honors an individual who elevates the practice of law by a combination of the following: exemplary professionalism, significant contribution to the justice system and the public, exceptional courage in the face of adversity, outstanding service to the bench and bar, outstanding service to the people of Oregon, exceptional volunteer work and community service, outstanding efforts in providing free or low cost services to the poor, significant contribution to advancing legal education in Oregon, dedication to mentoring students and legal professionals, exemplary dedication to the OHBA, and exemplary service to the Latino community.

Mr. Hernández exemplifies those attributes. Mr. Hernández is a founding member of the OHBA and has devoted a significant amount of time to civic and community involvement with specific emphasis on Hispanic issues. His contributions to the Hispanic community and the Oregon legal profession are outstanding. From humble beginnings, Mr. Hernández has worked to become a nationally recognized leader in Hispanic issues and a top legal professional in Oregon.

Mr. Hernández is a former president of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) and a former chair of the board of The HNBA Legal Education Fund that identifies and provides financial assistance to worthy programs that address education and the law within the U.S. Hispanic community and legal profession. He is also past president of the board of the Portland Hispanic Chamber, and has served on Governor Ted Kulongoski's Transition Steering Committee, as a board member for OHSU, on the U.S. Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, and as a board member of the Oregon Community Foundation.

Mr. Hernández has been recognized by many business publications and groups for both his commitment to the community and to business development and growth, and serves as a role model for the Hispanic legal community and community at large.

 

Jimmie V. Reyna, Circuit Judge

Jimmie V. Reyna was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President Barack Obama in 2011.

Judge Reyna has been active from the first day on the bench. In less than two years, he has participated in 309 cases, authored 52 opinions, 16 of which were precedential opinions, authored 8 dissents and 4 concurrences, and for what is rare for someone so relatively new to the bench, authored an en banc opinion on behalf of the court.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Reyna was an international trade attorney and shareholder at Williams Mullen, where, from 1998 to 2011, he directed the firm's Trade and Customs Practice Group and its Latin America Task Force, and served on its board of directors (2006-08, 2009-11). He was an associate and partner at the law firm of Stewart and Stewart (1986-98). From 1981 to 1986, Judge Reyna was a solo practitioner in Albuquerque, New Mexico and, prior to that, an associate at Shaffer, Butt, Thornton & Baehr, also in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Judge Reyna served on the U.S. roster of dispute settlement panelists for trade disputes under Chapter 19 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the U.S. Indicative List of Non-Governmental Panelists for the World Trade Organization, Dispute Settlement Mechanism, for both trade in goods and trade in services.

Judge Reyna is the author of two books, Passport to North American Trade: Rules of Origin and Customs Procedures Under the NAFTA (Shepards 1995), and The GATT Uruguay Round, A Negotiating History: Services, 1986-1992 (Kluwer 1993) and numerous articles on international trade and customs issues. He was the founder and Senior Co-Editor of the Hispanic National Bar Association Journal of Law and Policy.

Judge Reyna is a recipient of the Ohtli Award (the highest honor bestowed by the Mexican government for non-Mexican citizens). Other awards include: 100 Influentials, Hispanic Business Magazine (2011); 101 Latino Leaders in America, Latino Leaders Magazine 2011 and 2012; Minority Business Leader, Washington Business Journal; Extraordinary Leadership, Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA); Lifetime Honorary Membership, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers; Distinguished Citizen Award, Military Airlift Command, U.S. Air Force; Spirit of Excellence Award, Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce.

Judge Reyna served over a decade of leadership in the HNBA, including as National President (2006-07). He served in various leadership positions in the ABA Sections on International Law and Dispute Settlement. He was a founder and member of the board of directors of the U.S.-Mexico Law Institute, and the Community Services for Autistic Adults and Children Foundation. He currently serves on the Nationwide Hispanic Advisory Council of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

He received a B.A. from the University of Rochester in 1975 and a J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1978.