Arturo Alvarez, founding member of Cuban American Bar Association, dies at 71
Arturo Alvarez, trailblazing Miami trial lawyer and co-founder of the Cuban American Bar Association, died Monday at the age of 71.
A native of Havana, Cuba, Alvarez was one of a handful of Cuban law students at the University of Florida when he graduated in 1972. He entered his field at a time when South Florida firms were in dire need of bilingual attorneys, but they still lacked a community to rely on.
“In one of the courtrooms [at the time], a judge told a lawyer of Cuban descent that spoke with an accent to get out of the courtroom... ‘You can come back when you can speak English,’” recalled his brother Cesar Alvarez, an attorney for Greenberg Traurig.
“Today, if you don’t get the endorsement of CABA, you’ll have a hard time getting elected,” added Alvarez, 72.
It was one of his brother’s proudest achievements to provide support for Cubans who were new to the legal profession and turn CABA into an influential institution. Though best known for his work as a trial lawyer, he served as an assistant state attorney for Miami-Dade County in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit and later joined the Office of the City Attorney in 1977.
He was a quick study and an optimist. He loved his family, his kids, and football. His competitiveness in the courtroom was only matched by his ambition in the lawyer’s football league.
Alvarez also served on various committees to nominate judges at the local, state and federal levels. After leading his own private firm since 2011, Alvarez retired and became Of Counsel for the De La Peña law firm in 2013.
“He was a lawyer’s lawyer,” said his colleague and mentee Leonicio De La Peña, who met Alvarez when they both directed CABA in the mid-1990s. “Lawyers trusted him... His goodness and his transparency came through to jurors. When you trust a lawyer and you believe them, it’s of great help.”
Alvarez is survived by his wife Ana Viciana Alvarez; his daughters Vannesa, Alexandra and Danielle; his sons-in-law Chris, Robert and Danny; his two stepchildren Enrique and Anita and their spouses Javier and Katerina; his three grandchildren Olivia, Ryan, Nicholas and Evan; his three siblings, Cesar, Carlos and Ana; and his mother Isolina.
A religious ceremony in honor of Arturo will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at the Catholic Church of the Little Flower at 2711 Indian Mound Trail in Coral Gables. A Celebration of Life will follow at 12:30 p.m. at the Biltmore Hotel. The events are open to the public.
In lieu of flowers or donations, the family is requesting a simple act of kindness toward another human being.
“That’s the way Arthur would do it, and that’s all we ask,” said Cesar Alvarez.
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 8:42 PM.
