About Us

Salvador Cicero is the President of the Hispanic Lawyers’ Association of Illinois (HLAI) for the Bar year 2011-2012. He is the Principal of The Cicero Law Firm, P.C. The firm focuses on providing affordable legal services to national and international clients.

Salvador Cicero is a graduate of the Matías Romero Institute for Diplomatic Studies in Mexico City (2000) and holds a Juris Doctor and a Certificate in International Transactions and Development from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law (1998). He received a B.A. in Latin American Studies at the University of New Mexico (1994). He is admitted to practice law in Illinois and the US Federal District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois (trial bar) and Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Prior to opening the firm, Mr. Cicero served as Research Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and Director of the American Bar Association’s Project to Combat Trafficking in Persons in Ecuador. Mr. Cicero was also a career member of the Foreign Service of Mexico.

He has published various Law Review articles and other academic articles in the U.S., Colombia, Mexico and Argentina. He has lectured in programs throughout the American Hemisphere, most notably as an expert for the Organization of American States and as a trainer for United Nations’ Peacekeeping Forces. He has been an invited commentator on national legislation in Mexico and Ecuador.

Among his awards and distinctions are the Martin Luther King Jr. DREAM Award for Public Service (2011), the El Humanitario Award (2007), the Ohio State University Alumni Association’s William Oxley Thompson Award for Early Career Achievement (2004), and the American Bar Association’s Silver Key (1998) and Bronze Key (1997).

Federico was born and raised in Mexico City, coming to Chicago as a teenager. He began a quasi-legal career as an Official Court Interpreter for the County of Cook in 1989. While working during the day, he attended college full-time at night and weekends, receiving a B.A. from DePaul University’s School for New Learning in 1995. During that time, from 1990-91, he participated and graduated from MALDEF’s Leadership Development Programs under the direction of the Hon. Ruben Castillo (before his appointment to the federal bench).

Federico received a first year scholarship from the Illinois State senate to attend the University of Illinois College of Law in 1995, where he earned his J.D. in 1998. Upon graduating he began as an associate with Lawrence H. Hyman & Associates, focusing on personal injury litigation and high profile criminal cases nationwide. In his last two years with that firm, he brought in and handled personal injury cases that grossed over 11 million dollars combined for the firm.

He is currently the principal of Rodriguez Legal Group, LLC. Since opening his first solo firm, he has obtained over 32 millions dollars in judgments and settlements for his clients. He has handled many high profile cases, including two lawsuits against La Ley radio station (for their failure to award prizes to contestants arising out of their immigration status) and defamations claims against WGN News and another national Spanish language television station. Some of these cases have been featured in the New York Times, The Sun Times (front page), the Daily Herald, and the Law Bulletin. Federico has appeared on Telemundo, Univision, Television Azteca, NTN24 (broadcasted throughout the Americas) and Fox News’ former show Hannity & Colmes.

Rosa Maria Silva received her undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995 and later received her Masters degree in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1998. In 2001, she received her law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Rosa was an Assistant Public Defender in Will County, where she handled traffic and misdemeanor cases. She then joined the Cook County Public Defender's Office, where she has worked in the traffic Division. Since 2004, she has been assigned to 26th Street. She is currently assigned to a Felony Day room. She handles felony cases ranging from narcotic offenses to first-degree murder. She has tried over 40 felony jury trials.

Rosa is currently the recording secretary of the Woman's Bar Foundation, which is an organization that provides scholarships to women in law school and female attorneys practicing in the public interest sector. She is currently co-chair of the Latina Lawyers Committee, a past board member, past communications secretary and past president of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois. She is also a participant in the Lawyers in the Classroom through the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois (PRBA), of which she is a member. She is a member of the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Rosa currently volunteers at Kanoon Elementary School. She is also a trustee for AFSCME local union 3315.

Elizabeth Ribbeck is originally from Peru and moved to Chicago over 20 years ago. She received a B.A. degree from Lake Forest College and her law degree from Loyola University School of Law in Chicago in 1998.

Elizabeth has been practicing law in Illinois for 12 years. While she was attending law school and for a short period after her admittance to the bar, Elizabeth engaged in the general practice of law at her family’s law office where she represented clients on civil, family law and immigration matters until she became an Assistant Public Defender, first in Winnebago County and later in Cook County. She has dedicated her career to the representation of indigent clients and as a Cook County Assistant Public Defender, she has represented clients in child protection, delinquency, felony, appeals and post-conviction matters.

Litza Mavrothalasitis is an attorney in Jenner & Block LLP's litigation practice. Prior to working at Jenner, she was an associate at DLA Piper LLP. She practices general litigation and has experience with ERISA, employment, breach of contract, insurance, and tort matters. She also has experience consulting with case teams on e-discovery. She has been heavily involved with pro bono work at both firms, and has served on Jenner & Block's Pro Bono Committee. Litza graduated from the University of Michigan Law School where she served as the President of the Latino Law Students Association and was an Executive Articles Editor for the Michigan Journal of Race & Law. She received her Bachelors of Arts in Economics and French Minor from Northwestern University. Prior to practicing law, she was an Associate in KPMG's Corporate Finance group working on mergers, acquisitions, and financings.

Alfredo Maldonado attended the University of Iowa for his undergraduate studies. He was awarded a full tuition scholarship to attend the University. He graduated from the College of Liberal Arts with Bachelors of Arts degrees in History and Political Science. He then went on to attend the law school at the University of Iowa and graduated with distinction.

He began his legal career as a contract attorney for West Law Publishing Group. He then went on to become a Cook County Public Defender. He has been assigned to the traffic division, child protection division and the felony trial division. He is currently assigned to the Homicide Task Force, where he defends persons accused of murder.

Alfredo is also a professor at Benedictine University where he teaches undergraduate courses in American Government and Argumentative Writing. He is a volunteer tutor at Kanoon Elementary Magnet School. He currently serves as the Recording Secretary for the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.

Alejandro Menchaca is a partner at the firm of McAndrews, Held & Malloy in Chicago, Illinois. Menchaca is an Adjunct Professor at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago teaching Patent and Trade Secrets Law, and also having taught Unfair Competition and Consumer Protection, International Intellectual Property Law, and Patent Prosecution (in John Marshall’s Intellectual Property LLM. Program). He received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1985 and his law degree from the Loyola University of Chicago in 1989. He is also a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois where he worked in the criminal division.

Sergio E. Acosta is a partner with the law firm of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. Mr. Acosta's practice includes white collar criminal defense, gaming law, and commercial litigation. Prior to joining Hinshaw in 2010, Mr. Acosta served as Chief of the General Crimes Section for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. Mr. Acosta was an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1990 to 1999, and again from 2001 to 2010. From 1999-2001, he served as Administrator of the Illinois Gaming Board. Mr. Acosta began his legal career in 1985 as an Assistant State’s Attorney under then-State Attorney Janet Reno in Miami, Florida.

Mr. Acosta received his Bachelor of Arts degree from DePaul University and graduated in 1985 from the George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C. Since 1998, he has served as an adjunct professor of Trial Advocacy at the Northwestern University School of Law. Mr. Acosta is a member of the Board of Directors of Leadership Greater Chicago, and is a member of LGC’s Class of 1999. He is a past President and founding member of the National Hispanic Prosecutors Association.

Mr. Acosta has received numerous commendations throughout his career, including the Chicago Crime Commission’s Star of Distinction Award and the Chicago Bar Foundation’s Richard J. Phelan Public Service Award. Mr. Acosta has made presentations to many organizations, including the City of Chicago Law Department and the U.S. Department of Justice National Advocacy Center. In addition, Mr. Acosta has represented the Department of Justice and the Department of State in presentations to prosecutors, law enforcement agents and judges in various Latin American countries, including El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Colombia. In July 2010, he presented a training program to Mexican federal prosecutors entitled, “The Investigation and Prosecution of Organized Crime and Human Trafficking Cases.”

Mr. Acosta lives in the western suburbs with his wife of 28 years, Patty. They have four children: Joseph (21), George (19), Alina (16) and Sara (13).

Ernesto Palomo obtained his J.D. in 2002 from the University of Illinois College of Law, where he was a Symposium Editor for Law Review and Vice President of the Latino/a Law Students’ Association. He is a partner at Locke Lord LLP works primarily in the Business Litigation and Arbitration practice group. Ernesto has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of complex business disputes, including cases involving civil RICO, antitrust, fraud, real estate, patent and copyright infringement, interference with contractual relations, unfair competition, cases alleging theft of trade secrets and cases involving emergency equitable remedies such as temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions. He also has substantial experience counseling clients on issues of insurance and reinsurance coverage and has represented domestic and overseas insurers and reinsurers in several coverage disputes. Ernesto also devotes considerable time to pro bono matters through the National Immigrant Justice Center, the Center for Disability and Elder Law, and the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services.

Beatriz Santiago received her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She then received her law degree from John Marshall.

Beatriz joined the Cook County Public Defender's Office in 1999, where she was assigned to the Rolling Meadows Courthouse. She was then assigned to 26th Street where she handled felony matters. She is currently at the juvenile justice division where she defends juveniles in felony and misdemeanor cases.

Beatriz is currently the President of the Hispanic Lawyers of Illinois Charities (HLAIC), the charitable arm of HLAI. In addition to serving on the board she also serves on the board of Aspira, the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Illinois (PRBA) and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois (HLAI). Beatriz is also a trustee and a steward for AFSCME local union 3315.

In 2009, Beatriz Santiago was named one of 40 Illinois Attorneys under Forty to Watch. She is also a participant in the Lawyers in the Classroom through the PRBA.

Cesar Orozco is an attorney at the Belcher Law Office, specializing in civil litigation. He is a 2006 graduate of the Chicago-Kent College of Law and received his bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of Michigan in 2000. Prior to attending law school, Cesar worked for the University of Michigan, where he focused on the recruitment and retention of urban students. While in law school, he clerked for the Public Defender of Cook County and the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Currently, Cesar sits on the Board of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois in which he co-chairs the JD Mentors Committee. In his spare time, he enjoys discussing politics and critical legal theory.

Claudia Castro is an Assistant State’s Attorney with the Cook County State’s Attorney's Office. She is currently assigned to the Community Justice Center-Central Office where she prosecutes cases of importance to the community and follows them from arrest all the way to trial. She also works with local law enforcement, schools, and community groups to help problem solve and find ways to prevent crime. Previously, she was assigned to the Juvenile Justice Bureau where she prosecuted juvenile delinquency cases and handled child abuse and neglect cases. She was also in the Seniors and Persons with Disabilities Unit where she prosecuted hearings to civil commitments and treatments orders for persons with mental health illnesses. She began her career prosecuting criminal misdemeanor cases as the first chair in the jury room while in the First Municipal Division.

While she has been an Assistant State's Attorney since November 2007 she has been with the Office for over 13 years. She began working as an administrative assistant in the felony trial division and moved her way up to the Executive Office. Claudia graduated from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School Weekend Program in Lansing, Michigan and completed her undergraduate degree from Loyola University Chicago where she majored in Criminal Justice.

Claudia is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, and the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She sits on the Boards of the National Hispanic Prosecutors Association (NHPA) and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois (HLAI).

J. Damian Ortiz is a professor at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. He received his under graduate degree from Loyola University of Chicago, his JD and Masters in Real Estate from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. He teaches civil rights, legal writing and Fair Housing Law and Lending Law. He also litigates cases at the Fair Housing Legal Clinic. He is a national and international commentator on foreclosure, housing and lending issues. He has litigated numerous fair housing cases in administrative, state, federal courts and appellate courts. He has argued before the Illinois appellate court and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. His most noteworthy case is Sullivan-Lackey v. Godinez, 815 N.E.2d 822 (1st Dist. 2004) were he argued and the court found that the federal housing assistance program, Section 8, is a lawful source of income. Professor Ortiz conducts fair housing trainings and supervises staff attorneys and law students who are litigating fair housing cases at the Clinic. Professor Ortiz has received a number of awards for his community service and dedication to civil rights. Previously, he worked as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Ronald A. Guzman of the United States Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He is a member of the ABA, Seventh Circuit Bar, ISBA, CBA, Hispanic Bar Association and HLAI. He has served on the ISBA and CBA Judicial Review Committees for the last five years. He has authored real estate and civil rights articles. Other community activities include serving on the boards of various not-for-profit organizations.