Hernandez '84 Receives Prestigious Award
Gary Hernandez '84, chair of law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP's national Insurance Regulatory Practice Group, was selected by the San Francisco Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SFHCC), San Francisco Business Times, Wells Fargo, and other community organizations to receive the Latino Business Leadership Award for 2007. Hernandez was also recognized by the group in 2005.
Hernandez, who is based in Sonnenschein's San Francisco office and serves on the firmwide management committee, was honored at the Latino Business Awards Dinner on September 28 at the Hyatt in San Francisco. The event acknowledged the 33 most influential Latinos in the San Francisco Bay Area in the areas of corporate, emerging leaders under 40, entrepreneurship, health, nonprofit/philanthropy, and public sector.
A former deputy insurance commissioner and chief of enforcement for the California Department of Insurance and a deputy San Francisco city attorney, Hernandez is widely recognized as an expert in insurance regulatory and administrative law. Hernandez was selected as one of the most influential Hispanics in the United States as part of Hispanic Business magazine's "100 Influentials List 2006."
In addition, Hernandez was featured in Diversity & the Bar in the November/December issue as one of the nation's leading law firm rainmakers. Hernandez started up Sonnenschein's regulatory insurance group 10 years ago as its only lawyer. Today, he heads up 20 lawyers and hopes to have 20 more within the next five years.