February 16, 2006
Grace Robles and Patricia Miranda Earn Recognition from Local Pan Asian and Filipino Lawyer Groups

Contrary to popular superstition, Friday, January 13, 2006, turned out to be a day of good fortune for two young women in the TJSL community. The Pan Asian Lawyers of San Diego (PALSD) and the Filipino Lawyers of San Diego (FALSD) chose that day to celebrate their joint Annual Installation and Awards Dinner. During the ceremony, the organizations honored one current student and one recent graduate from TJSL with scholarships in recognition of their community service and academic standing, among other criteria. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders delivered the welcome address while the Honorable Dana Makato Sabraw, of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, served as keynote speaker for the evening program.

Grace Robles, a December 2005 TJSL graduate, was awarded the Myrna B. Pascual Community Service Scholarship by FALSD. Pascual, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has dedicated countless hours of community service to the Filipino American and Pan Asian communities in San Diego over the past 25 years. Robles also was recognized during the ceremony with two engraved awards for serving as the first student board member of PALSD and for her leadership and service to Community Law School. Robles will continue her service to the organization as secretary of PALSD for 2006.

Patricia Miranda, who is president of TJSL’s Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) and a soon-to-be May 2006 graduate, was presented with the Russell Thrasher Memorial Scholarship by PALSD. The Honorable Russell Thrasher was an administrative law judge who played an instrumental role in the achievement of PALSD’s early goals. Miranda is a student member of both FALSD and PALSD, as well as the Lawyers Club of San Diego and the San Diego County Bar Association.

TJSL Dean Rudy Hasl, Assistant Dean Beth Kransberger, other TJSL staff and student members of APALSA were present at the dinner to see Robles and Miranda honored. TJSL supports PALSD and FALSD in their efforts to advance Asian and Filipino Americans in the legal profession and to strengthen multicultural relationships in the San Diego community.

The law school is also proud to acknowledge that the new 2006 president of FALSD is Darlene Palaganas, a 1997 TJSL graduate. She also is a past president of PALSD, a position other TJSL graduates, Judge Lillian Y. Lim (1977) and Peter Quon, Jr. (1977), have held. Palaganas and Carlotta Hivoral, also a 1997 graduate and a 2006 member of PALSD’s board, played key roles in launching TJSL’s Pan Asian Law Student Association (now APALSA). Judge Lim, who serves on the San Diego Superior Court and deserves recognition as the first Filipino woman to become a judge in the United States, has remained a constant supporter the law school’s Asian and Filipino students.