Gina Fraga, Immediate Past President
Mrs. Fraga has devoted her entire legal career to defending the rights of our immigrants by focusing her practice in the complex and ever-changing field of Immigration and Nationality Law. She is a Partner at Acosta & Fraga Law, P.L.L.C., where she handles a heavy case load in areas such as deportation defense, family immigration, business immigration, equestrian-related immigration visas, self-petitions on behalf of victims and children, among others. She is a proud “double Gator” who received both her bachelor’s degree with honors and law degree from the University of Florida.

In addition to serving as a Board member of the Palm Beach Hispanic Bar Association since 2019, she has also been an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association where she chairs the AILA South Florida Chapter DMV Committee, serves as a member-at-large of the USCIS West Palm Beach Committee and previously served in the Unlicensed Practice of Law Committee. She is passionate about providing pro bono legal representation to children and women who are the victims of abuse or neglect and serves her community by providing outreach, education and assistance to charitable organizations such as Americans for Immigrant Justice, the Legal Aid Society of PBC and the Guatemalan-Maya Center in Lake Worth, Florida. Due to her outstanding work in the community she was awarded the 2019 Public Citizen Award from the National Association of Social Workers Palm Beach Chapter. She enjoys going back “home” to recharge at the beach in her little island of Puerto Rico where she was born and raised.

Alberto R. Leal, President-elect
Alberto R. Leal, Esq. is a solo practitioner based in the Lake Worth area and assists clients in the areas of Criminal Defense and Business Litigation. A native of South Florida, Mr. Leal is uniquely positioned to serve the legal needs of clients given his fluency in both English and Spanish. Mr. Leal is a past recipient of the National Trial Lawyer’s Top 40 under 40 award and has been recognized as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers.

Ethel Velasquez, Vice President

Olga Patterson, ACP, FCP, FRP, Co-Treasurer

Olga Patterson has been a paralegal since 1989 and earned her ACP in Discovery, Estate Planning and Trial Practice as well as the FCP and FRP designations. She is a NALA Advanced Certified Paralegal with more than 30 years of legal experience in the fields of Mass Torts, Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Litigation. She currently works at Smith, Ball, Báez & Prather Florida Injury Attorneys in Palm Beach Gardens. She is active on several committees for the PBC Chapter of the Paralegal Association of Florida and is a past president. She currently serves on the board of the FL Bar Registered Paralegal Committee, Certifying Chair of the FCP Examining for the Paralegal Association of Florida, Chair of the Paralegal Committee of the Palm Beach County Bar Association and Past Chair of the FJA Paralegal/Legal Assistance Section. Olga is also a member of the paralegal section of the American Bar Association. She devotes her free time in helping fellow paralegals grow and become part of the legal community. She is a frequent speaker at the paralegal sections of local colleges.

Francisco Cuello, Co-Treasurer
Litigation Paralegal with over 14 years of experience in personal injury claims in the State of Florida. Born in the Dominican Republic where he studied and received a law degree and graduated from the University of Miami with a Master’s degree focused on U.S. and Transnational Law. He has dedicated his life to social work and is a passionate advocate for the Latino community.

Cecilia Quinn, Recording Secretary
Cecilia Quinn is licensed to practice law in California and Florida, with over a decade of experience litigating cases in state and federal courts.  She began her legal career as a research attorney for the Los Angeles Superior Court Criminal Law division followed by entering into private practice where Ms. Quinn has represented clients in a variety of legal matters; such as successfully representing clients in complex litigation by serving as class action counsel in cases that involved over 1600 member plaintiffs in the field of consumer rights, unfair trade practices and privacy laws.  She also routinely advises internationally based business owners and entrepreneurs who seek to open and invest in the United States by representing them and their businesses before the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services within the Department of Homeland Security.  Ms. Quinn has had the privilege of working with international Latin American musical artists and groups in negotiating and drafting licensing agreements for musical works including the registration and defense process before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  Active in her community, Ms. Quinn has also served as a law instructor teaching courses in the areas of constitutional law, criminal law and procedure and general legal studies. Ms. Quinn is bilingual, fluent in Spanish and English and her law practice is located in Boca Raton, Florida.  In addition to being part of the board for the Palm Beach County Hispanic Bar Association, she is an active member of the South Palm Beach County Bar Association, South Palm Beach County Florida Association for Women Lawyers, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.                                                                                                                                                                     

Albany Rojas Carrero, Communications and Social Media Coordinator While pursuing her law degree at Nova Southeastern University, Albany served as a domestic violence paralegal, assisting victims in obtaining injunctions for protection. With eight years of legal practice in Venezuela, she undertook the challenge of restarting her legal career in the U.S., balancing work, motherhood, and marriage. Albany's deep connection to the immigrant community stems from her personal experience, making her a passionate advocate. After being a staff attorney at Legal Aid,  Albany recently started her own solo immigration practice to continue to help the Hispanic community. In addition, she mentors foreign attorneys to help them to get accepted into law school and eventually pass the bar exam. In her free time, she enjoys just being at home with her husband, daughter and her dog.