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Photo added by Erin Bohannon
Yvette C Mendez
- Birth
- Death
- 1999 (aged 36–37)
- Burial
- Hadley, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA
- Memorial ID
- View Source
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Black Women of Amherst College, pgs. 126-129
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Yvette Cecilia Mendez did not reply to my two letters but when I telephoned her she responded with charm and promptness. She graciously apologized for not having replied but "was grateful for your reminder call since I do wish to be included in this momentous and worthwhile effort.
Yvette majored in Political Science and it is obvious that she has always been interested in the legal profession. Even while at Amherst her intern positions were with the District Attorney's Office in New York County and the Law Department for the City of New York, in January of 1983 and the summer of this same year, respectively. But Yvette was also engaged in other activities here at Amherst: She was a member of the Student Assembly, of the Black Student Union and she was elected a member of the Admissions Search Committee. She also played varsity volleyball.
Upon graduating, she attended the Fordham University School of Law and gained the J.D. in 1990. But during this time she was also actively involved with the New York Public Interest Research Group, Inc. (NYPIRG) where she was employed in different situations: she was a staff person organizer with varying responsibilities including supervising student-run lobby organizations, and was soon promoted from entry level to senior staff person; she then became Divestment Coordinator, where she conducted statewide grassroot campaign dealing with the extent and scope of New York State's divestment endeavors; she then went back to personnel affairs but in this case as Director and here she organized, developed and coordinated NYPIRG's recruiting program; later she became Legal Assistant to the group and in this capacity she organized and documented evidence and interviewed prospective witnesses in student-fee cases and finally, under this same group, she became Project Coordinator and was involved with the coordination of certain activities dealing with Hunter College in New York City.
All this she did between 1984 and June of 1987, when she took a new appointment with the New York City Charter Revision Commission as Research Assistant. Here she interpreted, analyzed and summarized various sections of the New York City Charter and, having done this, she would then write briefing papers, detailing and explaining charter provisions; she compared federal, state, and city ethics provisions and summarized the findings for the Commissioner's use; and she also researched and briefed case laws regarding land use, as well as the zoning and formation of greater New York City.
By May of 1988, Yvette found herself working with a private firm, Brown & Guilbert, as Legal Assistant. In this position she assisted the general practitioner, prepared complaints, affirmations, jury instructions, affidavits in matrimonial, real property and probate matters. She also compiled a successful opposition to a summary judgment in a multi-million-dollar personal injury lawsuit. During the fall of this year (1988) she also participated in Fordham's two-credit Judicial Clinical Program, where she researched and wrote opinions, observed trials and court procedures.
Upon leaving Brown & Guilbert in May 1989, she went on to another private firm, Gold, Farrell & Marks, as a part-time summer associate where she prepared briefs and memoranda for entertainment litigation firms on issues of contract, construction, securities and attachment laws.
Having now received her Fordham law degree (J.D.) in May 1990, Yvette then went back to the public sector, in this case as a full-time Law Clerk for a federal district court judge in Boston in September of 1990. In this capacity she attended court sessions, acted as courtroom deputy on bench trials, in addition to which, she briefed issues for motion sessions and prepared memoranda and opinions. She also acted on different occasions as a judge for trial advocacy classes and summary jury trials. She was also involved in the training and coordination of student intern programs, which must have reminded her of her own intern service in New York in 1983. She remained in this position until September 1991, when she went back into private practice, in this case with Goodwin, Procter & Hoar, still in Boston, but on a part-time basis. Again she is involved in trial practices, mostly civil, including discovery, trial, preparation of motion practice, in environmental, insurance and personal injury matters; she also is court-appointed counsel in contempt and First Amendment cases.
In the meantime, Yvette has been involved in some teaching. From September 1992, she signed up with the New England School of Law and became a writing instructor to law students, teaching them, on an individual basis, how to gain skills in legal writing and reasoning. She also became a writing specialist, through the Legal Practice Skills Program (LPS) at Suffolk University School of Law, and is still involved in this teaching program.
At present, she is working with the firm of Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen, as an Associate. This firm concentrates on insurance coverage, insurance defense and discrimination cases. Although Yvette leads a very busy life, she nevertheless finds the time for some pro bono activities, including the presidency of the Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys and membership of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association of New York. She is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Bar Association, among others.
She is very concerned about hiring practices in the legal profession and has always been an advocate39of more diversity. This is well reflected in an article she wrote, "Affirmative Action and Diversity: A Hand in Glove Situation," published in the Boston Bar Journal, vol. 39, no. 4, September/October 1995. It is a level-headed, well-reasoned article that made positive suggestions on how the situation could be alleviated.
Like so many of these alumnae of the College, Yvette has paid tribute to her Amherst education: "At the time that I graduated from Amherst College in 1984, I was merely pleased that I had endured four years of college and had received the payoff -- my Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Now, as a practicing trial attorney at a 24-lawyer firm in Boston, Massachusetts, I am grateful for my Amherst experiences -- both inside and outside of the classroom -- and for the benefits that the Amherst reputation has sent my way." She felt that the sense of community service that has become a part of her lifestyle was "spawned during my Amherst years, during which I served on the Student Assembly and played an integral part in the planning and execution of many of the rallies and community events that occurred in the Five College area during my [time there]. Today, I can say that my Amherst education and experience played a supreme role in my development as an attorney and has made me a concerned and active citizen. It has also given my family, who emigrated from Panama, a sense of great pride in my accomplishments. I owe many of these accomplishments to my Amherst experience. ... I encourage all Amherst students and graduates, indeed, all young people -- college-educated or not -- to pursue their dreams and make their voices heard."
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May 27, 1999
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Contact
Family
Personal
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Professional
Employment Information
Former
- AttorneySugarman Rogers Barshak & Cohen, P.C.Start:02/1995End:05/1999
- Law ClerkUS District CourtStart:09/1990End:06/1991
- Law ClerkGoodwin Procter LLPStart:01/1990End:08/1990
- AttorneyGoodwin Procter LLPStart:01/1990End:05/1999
- Divestmen CoordNew York Public Interest Research GroupStart:01/1985End:06/1987
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Amherst
Reunion Class
- 1984
Graduation Year
- 1984
Major(s)
- Political Science
Other Academic
Secondary Schools
- Marymount School of New York
Higher Ed
- Fordham UniversityField of Study:LawDegree:Doctor of JurisprudenceYear:1990
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Amherst
Volunteering
- Wade FellowRole:MemberStart:July 1998End:May 1999
- Alumni FundRole:Associate AgentEnd:May 1999
Athletics
- Women's Volleyball
Post-Graduate
Publications/ Creative Works
- Note-'Times Baring and Realty...'Urb Law 1989
- Writing/Rsrch Edit-Urban Law Journal 1989-90
- Urban Law Journal Member 1988-89
- Articles in the 'Boston Bar Journal'
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