Alumnus Román Hernández ’00 Commencement Speaker

Román Hernández shared the challenging pathway that led him to be the distinguished attorney and celebrated leader of his community today.

Speaking before 250 graduates and their families and friends, Román Hernández shared the challenging pathway that led him to be the distinguished attorney and celebrated leader of his community today.

Hernández is the youngest of eight children; their parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico and were migrant farm workers in Texas, Michigan, and Ohio before they settled in Oregon. “My parents had very little formal education, but they were hardworking and intelligent,” he says. “They instilled in us the value of education as a means to success.”

Hernández has parlayed those lessons into a stellar law career. He is a partner at the Portland law firm of Cable Huston, LLP, where he has a national litigation practice focusing on employment law and commercial litigation. In addition to his professional work, Hernández has a long record of community service and has received accolades from varied and diverse organizations and institutions, including the “Distinguished Graduate Award” from Lewis & Clark Law School.

“Know that you are better than your most recent failure, which does not define you. You are strong, resilient, determined, and very bright.”

— Román Hernández

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