Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. issued the following announcement on Feb. 8.
Chuhak & Tecson, P.C., is proud to announce that attorney Leynee A. Cruz has been named to the Latinos 40 Under 40 list, a highly selective honor given to Latinos in the Chicago area by Negocios Now, a national award-winning. For the fourth consecutive year, Negocios Now has recognized 40 talented Latinos after a six-month nomination period and they represent business, government, nonprofits, politics, sports and education, among other fields.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to showcase the positive contributions of these young Latinos, many of which are millennials,” says Clemente Nicado, publisher and editor in chief of Nicado Publishing Company, owner of Negocios Now. “These special men and women are part of a hardworking community that represent an invaluable asset in this country. Negocios Now recognizes them for everything that they do.”
Cruz concentrates her legal practice in all aspects of probate and guardianship administration and litigation. She is often appointed as Guardian Ad Litem by Cook County Probate Division judges to assist in matters relating to adult and minor guardianship. She provides representation in trust and estate administration matters, from the initiation of proceedings to the discharge of personal representatives.
“From the get-go Leynee’s style is goal and outcome oriented combined with a constant effort to meet her clients’ objectives,” said David Feinberg, principal and leader of the Estate & Trust Administration & Litigation group. “She is very deserving of this award and will no doubt receive many others throughout her legal career.”
Before moving to Chicago in 2014, Cruz practiced law in South Florida where she worked alongside Cuban attorneys based in Havana, Cuba, representing Cuban national beneficiaries. Her experiences in Cuba were the most challenging in her career and communicating legal principles to her clients without access to the internet or a fax machine and sending telegrams instead of having phone conversations were obstacles that she quickly adapted to.
This experience also helped her further appreciate the sacrifices her grandfather, a Cuban political prisoner, made by fleeing to the United States leaving everything he ever knew and loved behind.
Cruz believed she would become a social worker but when she began working as a legal secretary during her college years for the Guardianship Program of Dade County, Inc., it sparked her decision to attend law school.
“My intention has always been to have a career that allows me to positively impact individual’s lives,” Cruz said. “The practice of adult guardianship, probate and trust and estate administration continually proves to be the perfect marriage between my passions of social work and the law.”
Leynee received her J.D and Certificate in Elder Law from St. Thomas University School of Law in Florida. Prior to receiving her degree she founded and served as president of the Elder Law Society, which was recognized in 2013 as the Student Bar Association’s Organization of the Year.
After Cruz’s move from Miami to Chicago, she volunteered at the Center for Disability & Elder Law in Chicago where she advised, drafted and executed estate planning documents for low-income elderly and disabled clients. She is currently a member of the Young Professionals Board for the Center for Disability & Elder Law.
In addition, Cruz currently serves as president-elect of the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois and will take the helm of president in June 2019. For the Hispanic Lawyers Scholarship Fund of Illinois, she is one of the board of trustees. She is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, Illinois State Bar Association and Women’s Bar Association. Cruz was recently selected as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers Magazine, an honor earned by only 2.5 percent of Illinois attorneys.
Original source can be found here.