40th Annual Hispanic National Bar Association Convention

Address

Boston, MA

Seyfarth proudly sponsored the 40th Annual Hispanic National Bar Association Convention held from September 2-5, 2015 in Boston, MA. Seyfarth attorneys from seven offices represented the Firm, including: Laura Maechtlen (SF), Christa Dommers (DC), Marcantonio W. Barnes (DC), Alberto Rodriguez (NYC), David Canales (HOU), Abad Lopez (CHI), Kristy Docabo (NYC), Joseph Y. Wang (BOS), and William H. Hudson (ATL). The HNBA Annual Convention attracted hundreds of participants from across the country, including attorneys in the private and public sectors, judges, law students, public officials, business leaders, and in-house counsel, including representatives from Firm clients Target, Metlife, and Prudential.

In addition to being a gold-level sponsor, the Firm also played a key role in events throughout the HNBA Convention. The Firm sponsored the HNBA’s Legal Education Fund Board meeting (for the second year in a row) and hosted a cocktail reception for the Board at the Firm’s Boston Office. The Firm also sponsored an Afterhours Champagne Reception for the HNBA’s LGBT Division. Laura Maechtlen, Abad Lopez, and Sheri Palomaki (DC) from the Firm made impressive contributions to the following CLE panels:

Abad participated on a panel discussing recent developments in the area of restrictive covenants entitled, “It’s So hard to Say Goodbye—Enforcing Restrictive Covenants Against Former Employees;” and
Sheri participated on a panel regarding project management entitled, “Lessons from the Experts on Implementing Legal Project Management Techniques.”
Laura discussed the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Obergefell v. Hodges and its implications for the LGBT community in a panel entitled, “What’s Next After Obergefell?: LGBT Rights in the Private and Public Realm;”

Seyfarth attorneys were invited to an exclusive VIP event hosted by the HNBA President to hear in-house counsel from the Kraft Group and the Boston Bruins discuss their roles as in-house lawyers in the sports industry. The VIP reception and other networking events were great opportunities to make new client contacts and deepen current client relationships. The Firm also participated in the HNBA’s career fair and Seyfarth attorneys met with several promising candidates. A big thanks to our Boston attorneys, Pavan Dhillan, Anne Bider, and Jessica Lieberman, for attending the career fair to answer questions about the Firm. In short, the 40th Annual HNBA Convention was a successful event and a wonderful opportunity to raise the Firm’s profile in the Hispanic legal community.