WHLA’s 25-year history

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The Wisconsin Hispanic Lawyers Association celebrated its 25th anniversary in November.

For the five members who launched the organization, the milestone was a special one.

WHLA “gave me an opportunity to meet some of the people who were pioneers in the Milwaukee area,” said José Olivieri, the organization’s second president who served from 1986 to 1988. “I was very recently out of school when we founded it. It kept me in touch with people and introduced me to new people.”

But today, aside from serving as a networking organization and resource option for its more than 80 members, WHLA is also making strides in serving the Hispanic community.

WHLA helped tackle the issue of language in the courts by pushing for translators instead of having defendants and plaintiffs rely on family members to interpret for them, said Olivieri, a partner specializing in labor and employment relations and immigration law at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP.

“It was a really hit or miss in terms of who was doing the interpreting,” he said. “Today, it’s a much more professional system.”

The organization also has worked to make the legal system more accessible to Hispanics in Wisconsin, said Micabil Diaz, assistant chief legal counsel with the Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs and past president of WHLA. The group worked with the State Bar to translate the small claims guide into Spanish, and it created a Spanish-speaking lawyers directory that it distributes to the courts so the community can better find lawyers, he said.

WHLA also has been active in looking at immigration enforcement, Olivieri said.

Specifically, it has voiced concerns about county and municipal governments attempting to enforce immigration laws although enforcement is a federal government issue.

“There’s much more work to be done in that area,” he said.

As the organization grows, members say they are confident they’ll be able to accomplish much more.

Much of the organization’s growth came in the last five to 10 years as more Hispanic lawyers graduated from Wisconsin schools and decided to stay in the state, Olivieri said.

The organization also has more diversity in terms of practice areas with members working in the private, government and not-for-profit sectors.

“It’s great to see how the number of attorneys has grown and the presence of Hispanic lawyers in many components of the practice of law,” Olivieri said.

Diaz said the organization has gotten more diverse geographically as well. WHLA was originally centralized in Milwaukee and Waukesha. Today, its members come from Racine, Kenosha, Madison and other areas, he said. In fact, his 2006-2007 term as president was the first time the president wasn’t from Milwaukee, he said.

“Our growth has not only to do with recruiting, but also people who have shown some interest in the issues we work with and the community at large,” Diaz said. “The president of the Milwaukee Bar Association is the past president of WHLA. We really are very excited about the changes with the association.”