Angélicque M. Moreno

Angélicque M. Moreno, a longtime personal injury, negligence and medical malpractice trial lawyer, will be installed this month as the new president of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, becoming the first person of Latino origin to lead the group, according to an academy news release.

Moreno, a name partner at Avanzino & Moreno in Brooklyn, focuses her practice on representing the injured, and according to her biography on the law firm's website, “has taken on insurance companies in a wide variety of automotive, workplace, medical malpractice and wrongful death actions.”

She will be sworn in as the academy's new president Thursday at a private ceremony, the academy said in the news release listing many of her accomplishments and noting that a person of Latino origin will soon lead the group.

The academy itself is a nonprofit organization created in 2004 that “is dedicated to protecting, preserving and enhancing the civil justice system in New York state,” according to the news release.

In a statement, Moreno said that “it is an honor to be named the first Latina President of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers.”

Her statement and the academy also noted that her background and life experiences had drawn her to representing injured plaintiffs as a negligence lawyer.

“As a Puerto Rican woman growing up in the South Bronx, I experienced firsthand how an instance of malfeasance and neglect could uproot a family,” Moreno said.

She continued, “After my cousin was injured during birth as a result of medical malpractice, I witnessed the emotional and financial effects his injuries had on our entire family. This experience led me to deep-seated passion for working on behalf of victims.”

Her law firm biography also explains that she grew up in a South Bronx housing project with her family that emigrated from Puerto Rico and that her cousin suffered from cerebral palsy. It also noted that she has achieved “numerous multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements.”

The academy's news release noted that Moreno “has been repeatedly recognized as among the best of the best in her profession.”

But Moreno “is perhaps most proud,” the academy said, of being given the Brooklyn Women's Bar Association's inaugural Amy Wren Award, which recognizes significant service contributions to Brooklyn's community.

Outside of the courtroom, the news release said, Moreno was a founding director of Esquire Bank, where she serves on the advisory board today, and she's a founding board member of the Brooklyn Bridge Rotary Club. Her other charity work includes the Brooklyn Women's Club and Luminous Visions, the news release also said, adding that she founded and helps run her law firm with her husband and is raising two young sons.

She will lead the academy in its 15th year, the news release said.