Lugo '84 Voted President-Elect of the Puerto Rican Bar Association

During a spirited meeting in New York on April 24, 2014, Betty Lugo '84 was voted president-elect of the Puerto Rican Bar Association (PRBA). In attendance were a record 140-plus members, including 35 judges. She will take office in 2015.

Ms. Lugo is a founding member of Pacheco & Lugo, PLLC, the first Hispanic woman-owned law firm in New York, established in 1992. She leads the firm’s litigation practice in general and commercial liability, construction, labor law and real estate. She is admitted to practice in New York and before the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Ms. Lugo began her legal career as the first Hispanic woman to work as a Nassau County assistant district attorney from 1984 to 1987.

Ms. Lugo is a fellow of the New York Bar Foundation, and she is a member of the New York State Bar Association House of Delegates; Trial Lawyers Section, Executive Committee and Diversity Committee; Commercial and Federal Litigation Section Member; and Committee on Federal Priorities and Initiatives Committee. She served as Co-Chair of the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion (2010-2013) and the Task Force on the Future of the Legal Profession.

She is former president and a current member of the Albany Law School National Alumni Association Board of Directors and is a former member of the Board of Trustees. Ms. Lugo was a 2006 recipient of the Kate Stoneman Award.

The PRBA has a long history of activism in the Puerto Rican community and the Latino community at large. During her tenure, Ms. Lugo plans to preserve the organization's history, restore and continue cultural programs and relevant CLE programming, and work to build PRBA scholarship endowments.