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Meet the Next President of the Cuban American Bar Association

By Jonathan R. Tung, Esq. on December 06, 2015 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Anna Marie Hernandez has been elected president of the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA) and will be leading the organization throughout 2016.

Ms. Hernandez's nomination and eventual election is no surprise. She has previously served on CABA's board for the last ten years. She is a partner at the Miami firm Holland & Knight and litigates complex real estate and commercial real estate matters and was elected Tuesday this week to succeed Manuel Crespo Jr. who works at Coral Gables neighborhood law firm. Alongside her credentials, the fact that she ran unopposed for the position probably didn't hurt matters either.

Great Timing

Ms. Hernandez's comments couldn't come at a better time. What with the recent removal of many federal restrictions that the United States had in place for so long upon the island nation, Americans and American-born Cuban travel to-and-fro has seen a mushrooming in the last few months. Even the Pope got in on the action to rekindle talks between the two nations.

Now it is far easier for Americans and American companies to establish a "physical presence" in Cuba. Jack Lew may have been a touch understated when he noted that the bilateral easing of economic sanctions against the communist island had the "potential to create economic opportunities for both Americans and Cubans alike."

Increased Business Opportunity?

Ms. Hernandez's firm is nestled in the Coral Gables neighborhood of downtown Miami, a town flush with ready capital and eager business professionals looking for freshly opened business opportunities with Cuba. With business comes legal problems, too. Overall, even small changes in the political landscape between the US and Cuba can mean monumental changes for the Cuban legal community in the area.

Which is just as well. The 12 newly elected board members all have their practices in Miami, or in Coral Gables: geographically, ideal to be where the action is.

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