Local justice named Latina Judge of the Year

> NAME: Gina M. Benavides

> DEGREES: law degree from University of Houston Law Center; bachelor’s degree in business administration from University of Texas at Austin

> CAREER: 12 years working primarily as a defense litigator at Adams & Graham Law Firm in Harlingen; six years working as a plaintiff’s lawyer representing families at South Texas firm Gonzales and Associates; Elected to six-year term on 13th Court of Appeals in January

> PROFESSIONAL HONORS: Named a “Super Lawyer” by Texas Monthly in 2003, 2004; has served as director for the State Bar of Texas and president of the Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas

EDINBURG — Justice Gina M. Benavides knew in the second grade that she was destined for a law career.

“I had a friend that wanted to be a lawyer and we were going to be the Martinez & Martinez law firm,” she said, referring to her maiden name.

The partnership never quite developed. But in the four decades since then, Benavides has accomplished quite a bit more.

After more than 17 years as a litigator, the 44-year-old McAllen resident was elected to the state’s 13th Court of Appeals in January.

Last month, she was named Latina Judge of the Year by the Hispanic National Bar Association at its annual conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized by your peers for your work,” she said. “But as a whole, women are still so far behind in representation on the bench.”

Nationally, 9 percent of judges and 10 percent of lawyers are members of minority groups, compared to a minority rate of 1 in 4 among all U.S. workers, according to the American Bar Association. Drill down to the level of Hispanic judges, and then to female Hispanic judges, and the rates dwindle even more

But the Rio Grande Valley’s judicial demographics may be the exception that proves the rule.

Benavides is one of at least 10 Latinas to hold elected judicial office in the Valley.

Her appellate court, which covers a 20-county region between Nueces and Hidalgo counties, consists of five female justices. Chief Justice Rogelio Valdez is the only man to hold a seat on the court.

But it wasn’t always that way, Benavides said.

As she arrived on the steps of the University of Texas Law Center in the 1980s, she didn’t see many future lawyers like her. But growing up in Laredo and Corpus Christi, Benavides had always been urged to strive beyond her current state.

“I was the first in my family to attend college — let alone law school,” she said. “My parents always said that if you wanted to make a better life, you had to get an education.”

For Justice Linda Reyna Yañez, who attended Texas Southern University Law School a decade earlier, the sense of difference was even more acute.

“It was a very different legal landscape than we have now,” she said. “We were just getting into the profession, and there weren’t a lot of women to look up to.”

As both women continued their careers, however, they began to see more and more Latinas climbing the legal ranks and inserting themselves into male-dominated networks that often led to opportunities on the bench.

In 1993, Gov. Ann Richards appointed Yañez to the 13th Court of Appeals, making her the first Latina appellate judge in the state. Benavides still calls Yañez’s appointment crucial in shaping her own future ambitions.

“To watch her and see her as the first Hispanic female was critical,” she said. “You have to know it can be done and that the opportunity is there.”

Now, both women work to inspire young Hispanics to pursue careers in law at workshops and clinics across the state. For Yañez, that work is almost as important as her rulings.

“The doors have come open,” she said. “And the wonderful thing is that they appear to have stayed open.”

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts, law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.