- Sandra M.
Muñoz,
Esq.
President
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Daughter of Dominican immigrants, Ms. Munoz was raised in Upper Manhattan and has lived in Elmhurst, Queens, for over 30 years. She began her professional career as a legal assistant in 1987. It was not until 1996, when Ms. Munoz connected with inMotion, Inc. as a volunteer in the Pro Se Divorce Workshop, where she assisted indigent and battered women in obtaining their divorces, that she discovered her passion for advocacy. With a new vision to becoming a lawyer, she enrolled in Marymount Manhattan College where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. While at Marymount, she started the first Empowerment Day with fellow Marymount classmates, providing needed educational workshops for the inMotion workshop participants.
She attended CUNY School of Law. While at CUNY she was the president of the Domestic Violence Coalition and student coordinator of Sanctuary for Families Courtroom Advocates Project. Upon graduation from CUNY, Ms. Munoz joined the inMotion staff as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. As a fellow, she implemented “Poder Latina” initiative where she conducted outreach in Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Corona to immigrant victims of domestic violence. She also instituted the immigration component at inMotion, Inc. that continues to provide immigrant survivors of domestic violence, with representation to obtain their permanent residency.
Ms. Munoz has since opened her private practice in Queens, New York, and specializes in family and matrimonial law. She is the co-chair of the Queens County Bar Association (QCBA) Minorities in Law Committee; sits on the QCBA 18B Screening Committee; sits on the Children in Law Committee of the New York State Bar Association and is a member of the Queens County Women’s Bar Association. She received the Law Student of the Year award from the National Association of Women Lawyers in 2001; received a Citation of Honor by Borough President Helen Marshall for her work as Civic Leader and Community Activist in 2002; and was awarded Mother of the Year by Latin Women in Action
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 - A. Camila
Popin, Esq.
1st
Vice President
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A. Camila Popin is a graduate of John Jay High School, St. Francis College (NY) where she graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science. Ms. Popin graduated Brooklyn Law School in June, 2000. After graduation from Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Popin worked for a firm where she concentrated in the areas of Divorce and Family Law. Ms. Popin opened her own law practice in Queens County specializing in Family Law and Divorces. Ms. Popin has been in private practice since 2004 representing clients throughout the City of New York and Long Island. Her office is located in Forest Hills, Queens. Ms. Popin is a member of the New York State Bar Association – Matrimonial Practice Group, Queens County Bar Association – Family Law Practice Group and is presently the Recording Secretary for the Dominican Bar Association.
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 - Ricardo
Rengifo, Esq.
2nd Vice President
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 - Mercerdes S.
Cano, Esq.
3rd
Vice President
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Ms. Cano immigrated to the United States as a young teenager in the 1970s when bilingual information and the legal system were minimally accessible to the Spanish-speaking community. During this time, she saw the irreversible consequences of people’s decisions due to lack of information. She is the sole proprietor of the Law Office of Mercedes S. Cano. She has extensive experience in the area of immigration law, and more specifically in matters involving deportation, immigration petitions with criminal issues and criminal defense in both immigration and criminal courts. In 1999, with funds from the Initiative for Public Interest at Yale University, Ms. Cano formed a not-for-profit organization that provided her with her first immigration cases. After forming a community center in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, she created an immigration clinic that helped over 1700 immigration families. This year Mercedes S. Cano launched The Juvenile Justice Project a project that assists undocumented immigrant youth to receive their permanent residency.
She was published by the New York City Law Review, Volume Twelve, Fall 2008 in the collaborative article titled “Public Interest Practice Section Notes from the Field: Challenges of Indigent Criminal Defense.”
Ms. Cano received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature cum laude from Queens College and her Jurist Doctorate from CUNY School of Law. In 2011 she became an Adjunct Professor at CUNY School of Law in a special project as a consultant to immigration and criminal defense attorney after a landmark decision (Padilla v. Kentucky). She has lectured attorneys through Continuing Legal Education lectures on immigration consequences in criminal and family courts.
Ms. Cano’s has received awards and recognitions from Mayor Bloomberg; The Latin American Cultural Center of Queens; Tenth Annual Pride Month celebration; The Honorable Helen M. Marshall, President of the borough of Queens and NYC Council members Daniel Dromm and Jimmy Van Bramer.
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 - Gary F.
Miret, Esq.
Treasurer
Gary
F. Miret is a graduate of Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School, St.
John's University where he graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Business Management, and a graduate of St. John's Law
School.
After graduation from St.
John's Law School Mr. Miret was appointed an Assistant District
Attorney in Queens County. After his ten years at the District
Attorney's Office.
Mr. Miret opened up his own
law practice in Queens County specializing in criminal defense, real
estate, wills and estate planning. Mr. Miret has been in private
practice since 1996 and has offices now in Queens, Brooklyn, and
Westchester.
Mr. Miret is a member of the
New York bar as well as all four districts of the federal bar in New
York.
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 - Laura Perez,
Esq.
Secretary
Laura Perez, born to Cuban and Spanish parents in Queens, New York is a solo-practitioner based in Jackson Heights, New York specializing in immigration law. Ms. Perez’s interest and dedication to the immigrant communities of New York stems from being born to immigrant parents and growing up, living in and working with immigrant communities in Queens, New York throughout her entire life. She received her Bachelor in Business Administration cum laude from Hoftsra University and her Jurist Doctorate from CUNY School of Law. Upon graduating from CUNY Law Ms. Perez worked for sole proprietor, Mercedes S. Cano, an expert in immigration law, in Jackson Heights, Queens until she went to develop her own practice. Her practice is focused on providing quality legal services for costs that make representation accessible to the vulnerable communities of people she works with. Laura Perez became Secretary for Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County in 2010. In 2011 she became an Adjunct Professor at CUNY School of Law in a project created in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision, Padilla v. Kentucky imposing a duty of criminal defense attorneys to advise their non-citizen clients of the immigration consequences of their criminal cases and acts as a consultant and CLE instructor. In addition, she is currently a member of El Centro Communitario y de Aseroria Legal which serves New York City’s underserved and indigent local immigrant communities as well as co-chair of the Immigration Committee for the Working Families Party- Queens Chapter.
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