At Its Annual Meeting, MALDEF Elects Joseph A. Stern of Fried Frank as Its New Chair, Announces New Office in Atlanta.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 1, 2002

MALDEF (the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) announced that Joseph A. Stern has been elected its new Board Chair.

Stern was elected at MALDEF's annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, where the nation's premier Latino civil rights organization also announced that it will launch a new legal program covering the Southeastern United States.

Stern said he looks forward to continuing his service with MALDEF as it faces the challenges posed by anti-immigrant backlash in a post-9/11 world and the educational equity issues of Latinos in the United States.

Stern, a MALDEF board member since 1991, is a partner in the New York-based international law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. The firm has supported MALDEF throughout its 33-year history with a partner on the Board and fellowships for attorneys to work for MALDEF, plus pro bono legal and other support. However, this is the first time a Fried Frank attorney will serve as Board Chair. Stern replaces Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who remains on the board after three one-year terms as Chair.

"We are thrilled that Joe Stern will continue his long-term commitment to MALDEF and have the opportunity to lead our organization," said MALDEF President and General Counsel Antonia Hernandez. "We look forward to his leadership, particularly in the emerging areas of need in the Southeast."

MALDEF, a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and promote the civil rights of the more than 35 million Latinos living in the United States, decided to launch its Atlanta legal program after its successful outreach campaign following the 2000 Census, which showed tremendous growth in the Southeast. Last year, it established a Parent School Partnership office in Atlanta, which provides parents with the knowledge and tools necessary to advocate for a quality education for their children.

The new, expanded office will address the needs for legal services and advocacy including the areas of employment, education, immigration, political access, language, public resources and equity issues. For example, the office will work to ensure that the Atlanta Public Schools' dramatically increased number of Latino population needs to ensure that children who do not speak English are provided an equitable education. Also of concern will be the relationship between law enforcement and immigrant communities and fair employment issues.

The name of the legal programs director will be announced shortly when MALDEF hires a Southeastern regional counsel.

Stern is a corporate partner resident in Fried Frank's New York office in charge of the firm's Latin American practice. During his more than 10 years on the MALDEF board, he has been vice chair and then chair of the fiscal and fundraising committee. He is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the American Bar Association.

Stern received his JD in 1976 from Yale Law School and his BA in 1972 from Yale University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He also attended Trinity College, Cambridge University. He is admitted to the bar in New York and to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Founded in 1968 in San Antonio, Texas, as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, MALDEF is the leading nonprofit Latino litigation, advocacy and educational outreach institution in the United States. MALDEF achieves its objectives through advocacy, community education, collaboration with other groups and individuals, the awarding of higher education scholarships in law and communications and, when necessary, through the legal system. Through its leadership development programs, MALDEF trains and empowers Latinos to serve on policy-making boards and commissions at the local, state and national levels.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, MALDEF has regional offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Chicago and Washington, DC; program offices in Phoenix, Houston and Albuquerque; and a satellite office in Sacramento, California. Its 35-member board of directors is comprised of leaders from the public and private sector, government, and law firms. MALDEF's staff of 80 employees include 22 attorneys.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson is an international law firm with approximately 560 attorneys in offices in New York, Washington, DC, Los Angeles, London and Paris. It handles major matters involving, among other things, corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions and financings; litigation; securities regulation, compliance and enforcement; antitrust counseling and litigation; bankruptcy and restructuring; benefits and compensation; real estate; tax; trusts and estates; and technology law.