During the Hispanic National Bar Association’s (HNBA) conference, which was held in Boston earlier this month, third-year law student Karel Suarez was sworn-in as the new National President of the organization’s Law Student Division.
For Suarez, who is the first in his family to graduate from an American university and who will be the first to receive a professional degree, this step is part of alaw school journey that also includes serving as vice president of the day division of the Student Bar Association and working as an FIU Law Student Ambassador. This past summer, Suarez added political intern to his list of achievements following his time in Washington, D.C., where he worked for Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Nine years ago, at 19 years old, Suarez arrived in Miami bringing with him a year of law school experience he earned while attending the University of Havana. Soon after arriving, he hit the ground running: he learned English, attended Miami Dade College and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration management from FIU. He came to the law school as a transfer student during his second year.
His work with HNBA started while he was a first-year law student at his previous law school. At that time, he volunteered at the HNBA conferences where he got an inside look at operations and planning, and had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet some of the Hispanic communities’ legal leaders. From there, he served as the Florida Regional Law Student President.
“HNBA has never had a student president-elect stand alongside the national board during an induction ceremony,” Suarez shared. “I was honored to be part of that and in my role I hope to encourage my fellow Hispanic law students to become members – it’s the largest organization for Hispanic attorneys. In my capacity with HNBA I have been fortunate to have met some of the most influential, brilliant legal minds.”
The Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) is the nation’s leading advocate for Hispanic attorneys, judges, law professors, legal assistants, law students and other legal professionals in the United States and its territories. The Association also advocates on issues of importance to the Hispanic community. During his inaugural speech, Suarez pointed out that his goals will be “to recruit, educate and involve law student members within the HNBA.”