Commission Chair Charisse R. Lillie, a partner at Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll in Philadelphia has been appointed chair of the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The appointment comes from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Charisse has been a board member for five years and served as deputy chair for the past two years. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Jim Goh on his new partnership at Holland & Hart in Denver! Jim is an officer of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Darryl Tom has departed Sanchez & Daniels for the Chicago office of Cozen & O’Connor. He can be reached at 312-382-3100.

Congratulations to Woon-Wah Siu on her election to partnership at Bell Boyd & Lloyd in Chicago.

Ramon Rossi Lopez of Lopez Hodes Restaino Milman Skikos & Polos in Newport Beach, CA will be heading the national steering committee that will coordinate work in the class actions that have been filed against Warner-Lambert Co, and Pfizer, Inc. over Rezulin, a drug for treating diabetics.

William W. Choe was promoted to partner at Gray Cary Ware & Friedenrich in Palo Alto, CA. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Clarissa Cerda who became the new General Counsel for Madison Information Technologies, Inc. in Chicago.

Elena Baca is a new partner at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker’s Los Angeles office. Congratulations!

Also congratulations go to Catharina Y. Min on her new partnership in the San Francisco office of Squire Sanders & Dempsey.

Cheryl Blackwell Bryson was appointed to the Three person Executive Committee at the Chicago office of Duane Morris & Hecksher.

Congratulations to this year’s class of Business Law Ambassadors: Lillian G. Apodaca, a partner at Crider, Bingham & Hurst, P.C. in Albuquerque; Hugo Chaviano, a partner at Cozen & O’Connor in Chicago; W. Muzette Hill, Corporate Counsel and practice group leader, Governmental Affairs for Ford Motor Credit Company in Dearborn; Patricia Tsubokawa Reeves, a partner at Reeves & Ashley in Sacramento; and Willard K. Tom, a partner at Morgan Lewis & Bockius in Washington, DC. The Business Law Ambassadors Program offers outstanding business lawyers of color the chance to gain leadership roles within the ABA Section of Business Law. The Section funds the Ambassadors expenses for participation in Section activities for two years.

The Emory Public Interest Committee at Emory University School of Law honored Paula J. Frederick at its annual Inspiration Awards Ceremony and Reception.

Armando Lasa-Ferrer and Jose Feliciano were nominated to become members of the 37 member Board of Governors of the ABA. Once elected, they would join Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, Judge Bernice Donald, and Paul W. Lee in bringing the total of minority members of the Board to five. Mayor Archer has announced his candidacy to become President-Elect of the ABA; he would be the first minority to serve as ABA President.

Congratulations to Robert Gonzalez on becoming the president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents.

Welcome and congratulations to Carmen Feliciano, the new Executive Director of the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Javier Hernandez is a new partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed in New York. Congratulations!

In the Los Angeles office of Bingham Dana, Akinobu Yorihiro was elected to the partnership. Congratulations!

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Have some good, bad, happy or sad news you’d like to share with minority lawyers and others interested in diversity issues? E-mail any announcements or other news (personal or professional) to the Commission on Racial & Ethnic Diversity in the Profession at yamates@staff.abanet.org– of course, the Commission reserves the right to edit or refuse publication of any submission.