Charles Ogletree delivered the keynote address at the 89th Annual Awards and Installation Dinner of the Cook County (IL) Bar Association.

Rodolfo Pittaluga, Jr. of Miami has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Latino Turnaround and Insolvency Network.

Elwood Lui is the new Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day's San Francisco office.

Harry S. Johnson was elected President of the Maryland State Bar Association, the first African American to hold that office.

Sin Yen Ling of New York was awarded the Joseph Minsky Young Lawyers award by the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

Anita M. Alvarez was promoted to Chief Deputy for the Cook County (IL) State's Attorney's Office.

Naikang Tsao was promoted to Partner from Senior Counsel at Foley & Lardner.

Jamene L. Christian recently announced the opening of The Law Offices of Jamene L. Christian. Christian's Tucker (Atlanta), Georgia practice concentrates on Immigration, Employment and Consumer matters of working individuals.

John H. Stroger, Jr., was the 2003 recipient of the Chicago Bar Association's Earl Burrus Dickerson Award.

Raymond Aragon and Demetrius Shelton were among the five newly elected members of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California. Anthony Paul Diaz will serve on the Board as a representative of the California Young Lawyers Association. Krishna Juvvadi was elected to the Board of the California Young Lawyers Association.

T. Christopher Tsang was promoted to Counsel at Pennie & Edmonds in New York.

Joy V. Cunningham was elected the 1st Vice-President of the Chicago Bar Association, putting her in line to become that organization's first Black female president.

Congratulations to Philip H. Lam on his election as President of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association.

Peter M. Suzuki is running for City Council in Summit, NJ.

Congratulatiosn to Karina Ayala-Bermejo on becoming the new president of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.

Congratulations to Hon. Shelleyanne Chang on her appointment to the Sacramento Superior Court by California Governor Gray Davis.

Brenda Rhoades was selected as one of "The Best Lawyers in Dallas - 2003" by D Magazine.

Congratulations to William Yu of Hinshaw & Culbertson on his election as President of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Chicago Area.

Congratulations to Zalwaynaka ("Z") Scott on her election as President of the Black Women Lawyers Association of Chicago.

Hon. Robert M. Takasugi received the Judicial Courage Award from the Criminal Courts Bar Association of Los Angeles.

Jose de Lasa is this year's recipient of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association's National Exemplar Award.

Congratulations to Ray Marshall of Bingham McCutcheon in San Francisco on being the recipient of the Burton Award for exceptional writing in the legal field. Marshall's winning article dealt with slavewry reparations and was published in The San Francisco Daily Journal. ("Tied to the Past: Toilers for Slavery Reparations Hope to Right Wrongs in Court, But How?," June 21, 2002).

Peter W. Ito has joined the San Diego office of Foley & Lardner.

Patricia Mendoza has been named chief of the State of Illinois' Civil Rights Bureau.

Brian A. Sun, a partner at O'Neill, Lysaght & Sun in Santa Monica (CA) was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association. Brian was also selected as the Defense Attorney of the Year by the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Rene A. Torrado, Jr. has joined Corboy & Demetrio in Chicago.

Congratulations to Chun-Yen and Frank Chen on the birth of their son, Nathaniel Yen-Hao Chen on May 12th.

Sharon Barner was elected to Foley & Lardner's Management Committee for a 9-year term.

Shirley Ann Higuchi is the new President of the District of Columbia Bar Association.

Congratulations to Teresita T. Mercado on her installation as the new President of the Arizona Asian American Bar Association.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. will be joining the Washington, D.C. office of Alston & Bird.

Simi Agawal has joined Ross & Hardies as an associate in health care law.

Congratulations to Larry Nelson on being named Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel - Development for Wendy's International, Inc.

Mark Lee is running for Comptroller in Houston, TX.

Clarissa Cerda will be honored by Chicago United as one of their Business Leaders of Color and will be featured in a diversity publication for Crain's Chicago Business magazine.

Congratulations to Allyson Duncan on her confirmation as a judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. She will be the first African American woman to serve on that court.

Randa Trapp has been appointed to the San Diego Superior Court Bench.

Gordon Quan is running for Mayor Pro Tem in Houston, TX.

Kevin Duckworth has become a capital partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson in Chicago.

Milan Patel has joined the London office of Duane Morris.

Fred D. Gray was awarded the Soaring Eagles Award from the Minority Caucus of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

Congratulations to Kim E. Cook on being elected President of the Illinois Native American Bar Association.

Joseph Nery and Robert Muriel have joined to form Nery & Muriel. Their practice will focus upon corporate law and commercial litigation in Chicago.

Moez Kaba of Columbia Law School was selected as the first recipient of the Reed Smith Fellowship, awarded by the firm Reed Smith LLP to a law student who has overcome adversity to pursue a law degree.

Congratulations to Alan King and Jesse Ruiz of Gardner Carton & Douglas; Chaka M. Paterson of Jenner & Block; and Brett Hart of Sonnenschien Nash & Rosenthal, all in Chicago on being named part of 40 Illinois attorneys under 40 to Watch.

The Wiley Manuel Foundation honored Judy Johnson, Executive Director of the State Bar of California, as a legal pioneer.

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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.