Hispanic Heritage Month – ¡Celebramos Juntos!

From September 15 to October 15, we observe National Hispanic Heritage Month and celebrate the histories, cultures and contributions of the people and cultures from Spanish speaking countries. This year DBA second VP Annie Martinez will be leading us through our programming featuring an assortment of spotlights in The Loop, music, events as well as a limited podcast series ¡Bienvenidos! highlighting Hispanic attorneys and issues across the state.

About our host
Host, Annie Martínez, calls her legal practice a “defense-minded practice.” Her solo firm, Bridge Legal Solutions, handles family, criminal and juvenile defense law, and often her cases are at the intersection of those areas. Annie is the current 2^nd Vice President of the Denver Bar Association and Past President of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association. Each week, Annie will explore the backgrounds and careers of some of Colorado’s leading Hispanic and Latin lawyers while discussing a wide variety of topics relevant to the month’s celebrations.

Annie Martínez

Episode One

¡Bienvenidos! with guest Carlos Romo

Carlos Romo

What is Hispanic Heritage Month? Who exactly is considered Hispanic? And is it Hispanic or Latin? What about latinx or latine? Is one more correct than the others? Introducing ¡Bienvenidos! A limited podcast series celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month brought to you by the Colorado and Denver Bar Associations. On today’s inaugural episode, Annie speaks with Carlos Romo, President-Elect of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and a nationally recognized environmental and natural resources attorney with Williams Weese Pepple & Ferguson. Carlos discusses his professional journey as an attorney and his personal journey as the son of both Hispanic and Creole heritage. Annie and Carlos explore the history of Hispanic Heritage Month, the importance of community, and what being “Hispanic” means to them.

Episode Two

¡Bienvenidos! with guests Yuridia Bazan & Cristina Uribe Reyes

Cristina Uribe

Yuridia Bazan

In the second installment of our limited series podcast honoring Hispanic Heritage Month, we discuss Hispanic women in the law, particularly in Colorado. As of a report issued in 2020 by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, 6.42% of the attorney population in Colorado identify as Hispanic. Per the census, we know that the Hispanic population in Colorado is 21.8%. While we don't know the number of Hispanic attorneys that identify as women, we do know that nationally the statistics are not great. Per a report by the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), women make up about 2% of US Hispanic lawyers. We also saw in these reports that women attorneys tend to leave the practice earlier — at around the 10-year mark.

With these sobering statistics in mind, host Annie Martínez speaks with two Hispanic women attorneys practicing in Colorado to hear their insights and their experiences, what led them to the law, and what they've had to overcome.

Both of our guests today own their own practices. Yuridia Bazan of Yuri Bazan focuses on family relations and personal injury and Cristina Uribe Reyes of Uribe Reyes Law works on family-based immigration, deportation defense, and citizenship applications.

Episode 3-¡Bienvenidos! with guests Crystal Murillo and Juan Marcano

In today’s episode, host Annie Martínez leads a discussion on what it means to be an agent of change in the Hispanic community in greater Colorado. From recent census data, we know that almost 22% of Coloradoans identify as Hispanic, which is up from past years. We also know that there is a large contingency of the Hispanic community living in the Aurora area.  

It is our honor to bring into the conversation two Hispanic members of the Aurora City Council: Crystal Murillo, Diversity Program Coordinator, Undergraduate Admission for the University of Denver who represents Ward I and Juan Marcano, BIM Manager and architectural designer who represents Ward IV. 

Crystal Murillo

Juan Marcano

Episode 4-¡Bienvenidos! with guests Judge Arguello and Maria Arias

Over the past few weeks, this podcast has looked at what Hispanic Heritage is, the dearth of Hispanic changemakers in the form of attorneys and politicians in this state, as well as topics that are of particular importance to the Colorado Latino community. In our final episode of ¡Bienvenidos! our discussion takes a forward-looking lens as we focus on what is happening in the community to change the status quo. Hispanic Latinos make up over 20% of the population in Colorado, but only 6% of the state’s attorneys. Therefore, it is obvious that the Colorado Latino community faces unique barriers to getting into college, getting into law school, and making a career in the law. Working to change that is Law School…Yes We Can. Today we are honored to have in the studio the founder of Law School…Yes We Can, Judge Christine Arguello and the organization’s Executive Director, Maria Arias.  

Judge Arguello

Maria Arias