Dear friends:

On behalf of the youngest board in our organization's history, welcome to The Dominican Bar Association! ¡Bienvenidos!

I am honored to serve as your 2019 President and thrilled to have each of you join us along the ride. 

We must note that the Dominican Community in the United States has grown to almost 2 million, making us the fifth largest Latino group in the country. Approximately 750,000 of which reside in New York City alone.

As we enter Dominican Heritage Month, we must pay tribute to all of the accomplishments Dominicans have made over the years. The DBA has come a long way from our humble beginnings. Today, we proudly have hundreds of members and thousands of supporters. Within the past year alone, we’ve seen the rise of four Dominican Judges to the bench. Among that group, Judge Fidel Gomez, the first Dominican male Judge in the Bronx, Judge Patria Frías-Colón, the first Dominican female in Brooklyn, Judge Bianca Perez, and Judge Lourdes Ventura. 

In line with the DBA’s mission, we must continue honoring our legacy and keep escalating to higher posts in the legal profession and other facets of influence.

As President and in furtherance of this goal, this year the DBA will :

1. Restore our efforts to become a CLE Accredited Provider;

2. Expand our horizons, go across the Hudson River, and bring the DBA to New Jersey;

3. Strengthen our High School Law Days Program by starting a new “Lunch with a Judge Series”. This new event series will bring together our newly elected or appointed Dominican Judges and Dominican High School Students. Allowing the students to observe court proceedings and have an intimate conversation with the Judge; 

4. Continue our award winning “Let’s Chat Series” with panel topics on: Young Dominicans in Government, Women Entrepreneurs, and The Road to Partnership; 

5. Bring our Community Legal Workshops to other boroughs with panel topics on criminal law and immigration “crimigration”, landlord-tenant, family planning and financial services;

6. Strengthen our partnership with the business community by supporting Dominican owned or operated businesses and bringing our DBA events to our people;

7. Celebrate 16 years of scholarship, commitment to our cause, and service to legal profession with our 16th Annual Scholarship Gala to be celebrated on September 24, 2019 at Battery Gardens.

However, we cannot do all of this alone. Therefore, we ask that you join us today, renew your membership if you’re already a member, or make a charitable donation to us.

We welcome your support as we continue to make 2019 another impactful year. If you're interested in being an active part of our organization, we invite you join one of our committees by reaching out to a Committee chair. 

Thank you for joining us in fulfilling and extending The DBA's mission. We look forward to seeing you in 2019 and the years to come!

Marbel Leonel Muñoz, Esq.
President, The Dominican Bar Association