Kutak Rock was a gold sponsor of The Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association’s (MHBA) 11th annual Gala on March 3, 2016 at the Loews Minneapolis Hotel.

The keynote speaker was the Honorable Julián Castro, who currently is secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Before serving with HUD, the Hon. Castro served as Mayor of the City of San Antonio, where he became a national leader in urban development.

In addition, MHBA presented the 2016 Manuel Guerrero Courage in Leadership Award to retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page. The award is named after the father of Kutak Rock attorney Todd Guerrero. Manuel Guerrero, who taught and mentored many Hispanic lawyers and community leaders in Minnesota , was one of the founders and the first President of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association.

MHBA presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Judge Salvador Rosas, Second Judicial District judge for Ramsey County, Minnesota.

The Gala also marked the 25th anniversary of the MHBA.

Kutak Rock has led the way on inclusiveness and diversity since opening its doors more than 50 years ago. A pioneer for recruiting women, Kutak Rock received early, national recognition for its number of women partners in the 70s and 80s.

In April of 2015, Law360 ranked the 100 best U.S. law firms for women, based on each firm’s female representation at the partner and nonpartner levels and its total numbers of female attorneys. Our firm was ranked #14 among the 308 U.S. firms surveyed, and ranked #5 among the other AmLaw 200 firms.

Additionally, according to The AmLaw Daily, as of 2015 Kutak Rock was one of only three AmLaw 200 firms whose new partner classes were at least 30% female in eight of the last nine years. No AmLaw 200 firm achieved a 30% rate for all nine years. Again in 2016, more than 30% of the firm’s new partners were women.