WALTER RODRIGUEZ

Attorney, Locke Lord LLP

Deputy Region I President, Hispanic National Bar Association

Age: 29

Heritage: Costa Rican and Mexican

 

Notable Accomplishments:

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• Selected into the 2018 cohort of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's Boston’s Future Leaders (BFL) Program.

• Pro Bono Recognition Award from the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice

 

Walter grew up outside of Los Angeles, California, the son and grandson of Costa Rican and Mexican immigrants. He studied political science and theatre at the University of California, Irvine while working at the Cheesecake Factory to save money for law school.

 

Walter attended Boston College Law School where he served as the president of the Latin American Law Student Association and the executive articles editor of the International and Comparative Law Review. He was also a member of the 2015 Jessup moot court team that won first place at the regional championship in New York and advanced through the preliminary stages of the Jessup international competition in Washington D.C.

 

Additionally, Walter interned in Costa Rica and co-founded an international pro bono service trip to Haiti to investigate the state of the Haitian people’s right to freely assemble.
 

He is a corporate attorney at Locke Lord LLP where he focuses on all aspects of corporate law, with a concentration in private equity and venture capital financings, mergers and acquisitions, and restructurings.

 

Walter also provides legal assistance to nonprofits, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. Currently, Walter is assisting the Latina Circle build organizational capacity to implement its strategic plan, which is focused on increasing Latino representation across all sectors with programs such as the recently launched “PowerUpLatinx Biz” initiative which aims to support growth of Latino businesses in Massachusetts.

Walter served on the Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys (MAHA) board of directors in 2017 and is a Deputy Region I President of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) where he provides professional development and support to Latino attorneys throughout New England by coordinating networking and mentorship opportunities and educational resources.

 
Walter credits his family’s love and support for his success, and their sacrifice and work ethic as his motivation. Walter is also forever grateful to all of his friends and colleagues who have mentored, guided, challenged, and championed him over the years.

 

Ultimately, through work on Locke Lord’s diversity committee and involvement with the HNBA and MAHA, Walter’s goal is to help increase the representation of Latinos in law schools and the legal community, in order to further empower, advance, and increase the upward mobility and impact of the U.S. Latino population as a whole.