Sheppard Mullin Helps Fund Pipeline And Scholarship Programs
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP has honored associate Norma García Guillén with the firm's second Diversity & Inclusion Award, an award that recognizes the significant diversity and inclusion commitment of a Sheppard Mullin attorney. As part of the award, the firm has made a contribution to two programs that expose secondary students to the legal profession and provide scholarships for deserving Latino law students: The UCI Saturday Academy of Law and the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association scholarship endowment fund.
“Norma has been a diversity advocate within the firm and in her community, and we are thrilled to recognize her dedication to efforts and initiatives in this area," stated Dianne Baquet Smith, Sheppard Mullin's Diversity chair. "Additionally, we are pleased to contribute on her behalf to two programs that are making a difference in our local communities."
In addition to García Guillén's internal Sheppard Mullin achievements and accomplishments, she remains active in her community and currently serves on the UCI Saturday Academy of Law Oversight Committee and the KidWorks Board, among others. She proudly served as president of the Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County in 2008. Norma attended Santa Ana's public schools and graduated from Valley High School in 1993.
"I am honored by the firm's recognition and pleased that Sheppard Mullin's donation will support the vital work performed by the UCI and the OC Hispanic Bar programs, as our firm teams with them to address the current pipeline crisis," said Garcia Guillén. "I believe this award also honors my hardworking parents and the wonderful community in which I grew up (Santa Ana) and to which I feel indebted and a moral obligation to support."
García Guillén has spent her entire legal career as a litigator with Sheppard Mullin, where she has successfully handled high profile matters on behalf of various clients, including a Receiver in a Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action for a ponzi scheme where thousands of investors were defrauded out of tens of millions of dollars. As part of the Latino Business Practice Group, she has also handled high profile claims, including business and defamation disputes for Latin American celebrities. Upon graduating from Valley High School, García Guillén attended Smith College in Northampton, MA, where she earned her B.S. in 1997 in Government and Latin American Studies. In 2002, she earned her J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
The Sheppard Mullin Diversity & Inclusion Award was created to recognize an individual or team of attorneys in the firm for their commitment to diversity & inclusion programs and initiatives in the legal profession. Recipients are selected based on their overall contributions and dedication to advancing the firm’s mission in this area.