PRESS RELEASE
August 3, 2010
Contact: Melanie A. Shakarian, Esq.
216-370-2135 (c)
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to Visit Cleveland
CLEVELAND – The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor, United States Supreme Court Justice, will visit Cleveland on September 9 and 10. The Justice is the guest of The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, along with Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University, the Hispanic Roundtable and Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law.
Sotomayor is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 2009. Sotomayor is the Court’s 111th justice, its first Hispanic justice, and its third female justice.
She earned a B.A. in 1976 from Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude and receiving the university’s highest academic honor. In 1979, she earned a J.D. from Yale Law School where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. She served as Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney’s Office from 1979-1984. She then litigated international commercial matters at Pavia & Harcourt, where she served as an associate and then partner from 1984-1992. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and she served in that role from 1992-1998. She served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1998-2009.
While in Cleveland, Justice Sotomayor will participate in private events for students at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, Case Western Reserve University School of Law and community leaders associated with the Hispanic Roundtable.
Justice Sotomayor’s only public event in Cleveland will be on Friday evening, September 10, at “The Presence of Justice – Legal Aid’s Annual Report to the Community.” There, she will provide short remarks during a dinner program to 1300 Legal Aid supporters. This is a community event, not a fundraiser. Reservations for the dinner event are necessary by August 23. To purchase tickets, please call 216-861-5506 or visit www.lasclev.org.
Since 1905, The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland has provided legal assistance to low income clients. The mission of Legal Aid is to secure justice and resolve fundamental problems for those who are low income and vulnerable by providing high quality legal services and working for systemic solutions. Legal Aid’s 55 staff attorneys and 1400 volunteers handle about 11,000 civil cases annually. For further information visit: www.lasclev.org.
Melanie A. Shakarian, Esq.
Director of Development
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland
cell: 216-370-2135