Celebrating 38 Years:
1980-2018
The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey Congratulates Three Members on Being Selected to Receive the Hispanic National Bar Association’s 2018 Top Lawyers Under 40 Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 23, 2018
The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey (“HBA-NJ”) congratulates three members, Andrés (Andy) Acebo, Jaclyn Medina, and Miguel A. Nieves on being selected to receive the 2018 “Top Lawyers Under 40 Awards” from the Hispanic National Bar Association (“HNBA”).
Mr. Acebo, Ms. Medina and Mr. Nieves are amongst 33 award winners nationwide whom the HNBA selected for this prestigious honor based upon their “demonstrated professional excellence, integrity, leadership, commitment to the Hispanic community, and dedication to improving the legal profession.”
Andrés (Andy) Acebo
Mr. Acebo is a partner with the law firm of DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin LLP. He counsels and represents governmental entities, higher education institutions and public-school districts, and closely-held corporations. His practice focuses primarily on the areas of employment and labor, education law, and government/public entity law. He is regularly retained by governmental entities to conduct independent special investigations into alleged public official and employee misconduct and adverse employment actions.
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Acebo clerked for the Honorable Jonathan N. Harris, J.A.D. (retired) in the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey. He has published several articles concerning the cross-section of race, law, politics, and public policy with the Columbia Journal of Race and Law, the Brown University Policy Review, the Seton Hall Legislative Journal, and the Rutgers Race and the Law Review. Mr. Acebo also has been recognized as a Rising Star in the area of Labor and Employment by New Jersey Super Lawyers. He has also held leadership roles within local and national bar associations, including formerly as Press Secretary of the HBA-NJ. He currently serves as a Deputy Regional President (Region III) of the HNBA. Mr. Acebo received his undergraduate degree from Brown University and his Juris Doctor from Rutgers University School of Law.
Jaclyn Medina
Ms. Medina is a managing attorney and First Assistant of the Bergen Criminal Trial Region of New Jersey’s Office of the Public Defender. She represents indigent individuals charged with indictable crimes at all phases of trial litigation. She co-chairs the Public Defender’s Ethics and Professionalism Committee and serves on its statewide Continuing Legal Education Committee. She has been a long time Board Member of the HBA-NJ, where she currently serves as the Vice-President of the Northern Region. She also currently serves on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Committee on Minority Concerns.
Ms. Medina has been an adjunct professor for over a decade at Fairleigh Dickinson University teaching undergraduate and graduate courses to Latino immigrants and diplomatic officials from various missions to the United Nations and Latin-American consulates. She was the recipient of a New Leaders of the Bar award from the New Jersey Law Journal in 2016. She earned her undergraduate degree from the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University and her Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law.
Miguel A. Nieves
Mr. Nieves is Vice President & Corporate Counsel for Prudential Financial and a member of the company’s Financial Management Law Group. He provides legal support to Prudential’s corporate treasury on a broad range of activities, including capital markets and intercompany financing transactions, and securities law matters.
Prior to joining Prudential, Mr. Nieves was an associate in Sidley Austin’s Capital Markets Group in New York, where he represented issuers and underwriters in a variety of public offerings and private placements of securities, worked extensively on liability management transactions, and provided legal advice to clients under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Mr. Nieves received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law.
“On behalf of the HBA-NJ, we are extremely proud that Andy, Jaclyn and Miguel have been recognized nationally for their tremendous achievements in the legal profession, as well as in the community,” said HBA-NJ President Hector D. Ruiz. “For all that they have accomplished, they truly deserve this honor and recognition.”
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About The Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey
Founded in 1980, the HBA-NJ is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit association that is comprised of attorneys, judges, law professors, law students, and other professionals who share a common interest in addressing the issues affecting Hispanics within the legal community.
The purpose of the Association is to serve the public interest: (i) by cultivating the art and science of jurisprudence, (ii) by advancing the standing of the legal profession, and (iii) by preserving high standards of integrity, honor, and professional courtesy among Hispanic lawyers.
Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey
P.O. Box 25562, Newark, NJ 07101
