The Albuquerque firm of Robles, Rael & Anaya has been ranked 20th in the New Mexico Business Weekly's 2009 list of Hispanic-owned Businesses, ranked according to gross New Mexico revenue. The firm's name partners are Luis Robles (`90), Marcus Rael (`01) and Christina Anaya (`94). The firm has a broad practice with an emphasis on civil rights work and representing city governments.
Linda Ellison became certified as a specialist in Family Law in 2010. She also chairs the annual Family Law Institute CLE committee is on the board of directors of the State Bar’s Family Law Section. She practices with the Law Offices of Lynda Latta in Albuquerque.
Yvette Gonzales was elected to the bench in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court in 2010. Previously, she had been special counsel for House Speaker Ben Lujan during the 2010 Legislature and a prosecutor with the Second Judicial District Attorney's Office.
Alberto León was elected to the World Boxing Council’s Legal Committee in 2011. A former chairman of the New Mexico Athletic Commission, he is also supervisor for WBC-sanctioned events. He is a shareholder and director with Bauman, Dow & León.
Susan McCormack has been named Business Lawyer of the Year 2012 by the Business Law Section of the State Bar of New Mexico. She is a shareholder and director at Keleher & McLeod where she has a business practice.
Jennifer Stone was elected to the Art Therapy Credentials Board, a national credentialing body that confers and administers professional credentials to qualified art therapy practitioners. She joined the board in 2010. She is a partner at the Rodey Law Firm and the leader of the firm’s healthcare transactions and regulation practice group.
William Slease became chief disciplinary counsel for the New Mexico Supreme Court, effective Dec. 1, 2010. He supervises a staff of nine whose job is to investigate allegations of misconduct against lawyers. Since 1999, he practiced at his own firm, Slease & Martinez, where he focused on civil rights, estate planning and representing small businesses and local governments.
Patrick Rogers was appointed in 2012 as acting director of the Tribal Executive Leadership Program at Yale University School of Management.
Roger Smith has been promoted to partner and shareholder at the Revo Law Firm. The Albuquerque firm has changed its name to the Revo/Smith Law Firm. Smith joined the firm in 2005 and practices in the areas of personal injury, insurance, medical malpractice and criminal defense.
Steve Taylor was promoted in 2012 to senior vice president and counsel for public policy at United Way Worldwide in Alexandria, Va. He oversees United Way's federal government relations and supports local United Ways in their state and local public policy advocacy.
Thomas Briones has been elected chairman of the Hispano Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors; he began his term on Jan. 1, 2012. He is owner of Briones Business Law Consulting in Albuquerque. He also serves on the boards of Central New Mexico Community College Foundation, the Hispano Philanthropic Society of United Way of Central New Mexico, WESST and the Center for Civic Values.
Donna Trujillo Dodd (`93) has joined with Matthew Torres (`01), Cody O'Brien (`07) and Matthew Sanchez (`09) to form Trujillo Dodd, Torres, O'Brien & Sanchez, an Albuquerque law firm in 2011. Doing business as The Family Law Firm, the partners focus their practice on family law, criminal defense and personal injury.
Denise Torres was named co-chair of the New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission in 2010. She is a name partner with Saenz & Torres in Las Cruces.
Lori Gallagher is director of the Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. In 2009, she was honored for her work building up the center's program. She was named grand marshal of the 2011 Houston St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Kenneth Gonzales was named U.S. Attorney for New Mexico in 2010. He had been an assistant U.S. attorney since 1999, most recently as a prosecutor in the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force unit. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gonzales was a legislative assistant to U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and he also clerked for the state Supreme Court.
Christopher Holland was recognized for his work in education law in the 2013 Best Lawyers in America directory. He practices with Sutin, Thayer & Browne.
David Johnson has been selected a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He is a name partner with Bannerman & Johnson in Albuquerque.
Seth L. Sparks received the highest Martindale-Hubbell peer rating in 2012. He is a director at the Rodey Law Firm where he practices in the areas of trucking litigation, insurance bad faith, professional liability and products and general liability.
Rick Wellborn was named Community Service Prosecutor of the Year for 2010 by the Prosecutors Section of the New Mexico State bar. He is with the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Susan Allen has become the first Native American woman to serve in the Minnesota Legislature. She was sworn in to the beat of a drum circle in the chamber of the House of Representatives in January 2012. Allen, who also is the first openly gay Native American woman to serve in any Legislature nationwide, represents a diverse south Minneapolis House district with a high poverty rate.
Eduardo Duffy was recognized for his work in securities/capital markets law in the 2013 Best Lawyers in America directory. Duffy practices with Sutin, Thayer & Browne.
Virginia Dugan was elected in 2012 as a Region V Representative to the American Bar Association’s Family Law Section Council. She also was selected as a Southwest Super Lawyer for 2012, was listed in the 2012 edition of the Best Lawyers in America and in the New Mexico Business Weekly’s 2011 Best of the Bar awards for family law. She serves as co-chair of the New Mexico Supreme Court's Mandatory Legal Education Committee. Dugan is a shareholder with Atkinson & Kelsey, where she focuses her practice on pre- and post-nuptial agreements, child support and custody.
Susan Hapka was recognized for her work in employment law – management in the 2013 Best Lawyers in America directory. She practices with Sutin, Thayer & Browne.
Brett Loveless was named to fill a vacancy in the criminal division of the Second Judicial District Court in February 2012. Previously, he had been a deputy district attorney and assistant supervisor in the court’s Crimes Against Children division. He joined the bench in March 2012.
Lemuel Martinez is serving as the 2011 president of the National Hispanic Prosecutors Association, the only professional membership organization dedicated to the advancement of Hispanics as prosecutors. He has been district attorney of the 13th Judicial District since 2001.
Sean Olivas has been elected to the American Law Institute. He is a shareholder and director with Keleher & McLeod, where his practice focuses primarily on tort defense, employment and civil rights litigation, mainly defending employers. Olivas has served on the ABA's committee on Law School Accreditation, as president of the Albuquerque Bar Association and UNM Law School Alumni Association. He is the immediate past chair of the City of Albuquerque's Personnel Board.
Emeterio Rudolfo was appointed to the New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission in 2011. He has been in private practice since 1998 in Farmington. He is a member of the San Juan Labor Relations Board and the board of directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Farmington.
Judge Linda Vanzi of the New Mexico Court of Appeals received the 2012 Justice Mary Walters Award. The annual award is presented by the Women’s Law Caucus at the UNM School of Law to a woman in the legal community who displays a pioneering spirit. Vanzi joined the Court of Appeals in 2008 after serving on the Second Judicial District Court for four years.
Vicki Wilcox was appointed to the Board of Directors of the UNM Anderson School of Management Foundation in July 2012 for a three-year term. She is a board-certified specialist in estate planning, trust and probate law, and leads the Wilcox Law Firm.
Gregory Williams became of counsel with the Albuquerque firm of Peifer, Hanson & Mullins in 2012. He focuses his practice on general litigation, employment, auto dealership, defense and media law.
Henry Alaniz was appointed to the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court bench and was sworn in on April 21, 2011. He has been assigned to the criminal division. He had been in private practice and also was an assistant district attorney for New Mexico's 2nd Judicial District from 1997 to 2002. In 2009, he was president of the State Bar of New Mexico. At UNM, Alaniz was enrolled in a dual degree program and, along with a J.D., he earned an M.B.A. from the Anderson School of Management. In 2010, he was inducted into Anderson's Hall of Fame.
Steffani Cochran was named the Chickasaw Nation's 2011 Dynamic Woman of the Year. The award honors Chickasaw women who have made significant contributions to the Chickasaw Nation and served as role models to other Chickasaw women. Cochran was appointed vice chair of the National Indian Gaming Commission in 2010. Previously, she was special counsel for Indian Affairs in the New Mexico Attorney General's Office and general counsel for the Pueblo of Pojoaque.
Patricia Galindo was an associate with the Vickie R. Wilcox law firm in 2010. She focuses her practice on estate planning and estate litigation.
Ronald Holmes received the 2010 Robert H. LaFollette Pro Bono Award from the State Bar of New Mexico. He is an Albuquerque bankruptcy lawyer.
Danny Jarrett has been recognized in the 2012 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for his work in labor and employment law. He is the managing partner of the Albuquerque office of Jackson Lewis.
Twila Larkin was recognized for her work in family law in the 2013 Best Lawyers in America directory. She practices with Sutin, Thayer & Browne.
Lori Lein has been promoted to general counsel of the Alabama League of Municipalities where she is responsible for advising municipal officials and employees from more than 400 member cities and towns. She also works closely with the league's state and federal legislative agenda and is a frequent speaker on issues relating to municipal law in Alabama.
Ramona Manglona was nominated in early 2011 by President Barack Obama to the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. She has served as an associate judge with the Superior Court for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) since 2003.
Manglona's nomination, which must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, marks the first time a CNMI citizen has been nominated by a U.S. president to serve on the U.S. District Court. She would also become the first woman to serve as a federal district court judge in the commonwealth.
Trace Rabern was presented with the 2011 Charles Driscoll Award from the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Rabern runs a solo specialty criminal law writing practice in Santa Fe and is an adjunct professor at the UNM School of Law, where she co-teaches Appellate Law in Practice.
She participated in reforming the Children's Code and was active in working to repeal New Mexico's death penalty. She is a recognized expert in mental health and legal competency issues, as well as constitutional issues involving search and seizure, prosecutorial misconduct and sentencing.
Joel M. Carson III (`97), Nancy Franchini (`97) and Ray Vargas (`98) were appointed to the New Mexico Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission in early 2012. Carson, of Roswell, serves as general counsel for Mack Energy Corp. Franchini is a shareholder in the Albuquerque firm of Gallagher, Casados & Mann. Vargas formed Garcia & Vargas in 2005 and represents individual rights.
Jeff Albright has been named to the 2012 edition of Southwest Super Lawyers. He is a partner at Lewis and Roca, and his practice focuses on telecommunications, water/electric utility law, water rights and intellectual property.
Marianne Hill was elected in 2012 to a three-year term on the board of directors of Leadership New Mexico. She is a senior attorney at Sandia National Laboratories.
Morris Chavez and Christopher Saucedo opened SaucedoChavez, an Albuquerque law firm in 2011. The firm focuses its practice on commercial litigation, insurance defense and government affairs. Previously, Chavez was the New Mexico Superintendent of Insurance and Saucedo was in private practice.
J. Brent Moore was elected secretary-treasurer of the 2013 New Mexico Board of Bar Commissioners. He is a shareholder with Montgomery & Andrews and works in the firm’s Santa Fe office. He focuses his practice on governmental relations, insurance regulation and environmental law. He also was elected in 2012 to a three-year term as secretary of the board of directors of Leadership New Mexico.
Brett Olsen became of counsel with Montgomery & Andrews in 2010. He concentrates his practice on water and natural resources litigation, along with environmental, administrative and real estate law.
Will Steadman joined Grubb & Ellis as chief operating officer in 2010. Previously, he had been New Mexico division president of SunCal, a California company with development plans for 55,000 acres on Albuquerque’s West Side.
Ray M. Vargas, II, opened his own firm, the Vargas Law Firm, in 2012. He focuses his practice on personal injury, insurance coverage and business litigation. In 2012, he was president-elect of the New Mexico Trial Lawyers’ Association.
Hans Voss was elected 2012 president of the New Mexico Board of Bar Commissioners.
Whitney Warner, a founding partner at Moody & Warner, an Albuquerque labor and employment law firm, has been elected a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Michael Kaemper has become of counsel with the Rodey Law Firm. He focuses his practice on products and general liability defense. He is listed in The Best Lawyers of America for his expertise and experience in railroad law.
Erin Langenwalter became an associate with Lewis & Roca in 2012, focusing her practice on commercial litigation and employment law.
Marc Lowry in 2012 was promoted to partner at Rothstein, Donatelli, Hughes, Dahlstrom, Schoenburg & Bienvenu. He works in the firm’s Albuquerque office, where he focuses on criminal law.
Sharon Pino became a prosecutor in the New Mexico Attorney General’s Violence Against Women Division in 2010. Previously she served a Gov. Bill Richardson’s domestic violence czar. She will continue as chair of the state Domestic Violence Leadership Commission, which monitors domestic violence laws, trends and policies.
Michael J. Brescia has received the highest Martindale-Hubbell peer rating. Mr. Brescia is a Director in the Albuquerque office and a member of Rodey’s Litigation Department. His practice is focused in the areas of health law and professional liability. Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent rating is given to lawyers whose legal ability and professional ethical standards are of the highest quality.
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