AG Holder says Hispanic lawyers' influence growing

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, The Associated Press
2:22 p.m. September 3, 2009

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The head of the Justice Department told a crowd of Hispanic lawyers and others from the legal profession that their influence is greater than ever before.

Attorney General Eric Holder told the Hispanic National Bar Association Thursday that he, too, is proud the U.S. Supreme Court has its first Hispanic justice with the recent appointment of Sonia Sotomayor.

The nation's first black attorney general told the association's annual convention in Albuquerque that the Obama administration is committed to increasing diversity in the legal profession.

Despite Sotomayor's appointment and the nation's growing Hispanic population, a panel unveiled a new report at the luncheon that said Hispanic women make up only 1.3 percent of lawyers in the United States.

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