Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, is pleased to announce that Jose Villalobos was presented with the Cuban American Bar Association's (CABA) Lifetime Achievement Award.
Villalobos, who in 2015 was presented with the 11th Judicial Circuit Historical Society’s Legal Legend Award, is being recognized for his legal career spanning 43 years. A longtime supporter of the bar association, Villalobos served as CABA's sixth president in 1980. Villalobos was City Attorney for the City of West Miami for 24 years, including as its Chief Legal Counsel. He has also served as a member of the City of Miami Building and Zoning Board, representing clients in municipal judicial and administrative matters.
As a Chair of the Judicial Nomination Committee for the 11th Judicial Circuit in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Villalobos was instrumental in the diversification of Florida's judicial system. His recommendation would lead to the appointment by former Governor Bob Graham of the first woman, first Cuban American woman, and African American to judgeship post. Villalobos is the past recipient of a pro bono award from The Florida Bar for his role in the guardianship of 1,500 unaccompanied children in the Mariel boatlift emigration that brought approximately 150,000 Cubans exiles to Miami in 1980.
Villalobos represents municipal entities in state and local government affairs. He focuses his practice on legal issues involving land use and entitlements, representing Latin American clients in acquisitions and regulatory matters in the United States, and counseling clients on a broad array of legal issues, including local governmental operations, municipal law, and regulatory matters. Currently, Villalobos serves as bond and disclosure counsel for Miami-Dade County.
Villalobos was recognized at CABA's 2019 Membership Reception and Member Awards on September 18 in Coral Gables, where the mayor of Miami and the commissioner of Dade County issued a proclamation on September 18 as Jose Villalobos Day. CABA is a non-profit voluntary bar association founded in 1974 by lawyers of Cuban descent whose members include judges, lawyers, and law students of all backgrounds interested in issues affecting the Cuban community, as well as broader legal and human rights issues impacting minority communities as a whole.
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