Sylvia Ontaneda-Bernales Named One of Maryland's Top 100 Women

BALTIMORE – March 10, 2008 — Ober|Kaler attorney Sylvia Ontaneda-Bernales has been named one of Maryland's Top 100 Women. The honor, bestowed by Maryland's business and legal daily newspaper, The Daily Record, recognizes those women who demonstrate a high level of achievement through professional accomplishment, community service, leadership and mentoring. Ms. Ontaneda-Bernales will join the other Top 100 honorees at a special ceremony to be held at Baltimore's Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on May 12.

An attorney in Ober|Kaler's Litigation Group, Ms. Ontaneda-Bernales is dedicated to the legal profession and to public service. She is active in numerous professional and community groups, including the American, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, District of Columbia, and Maryland bar associations, as well as the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, the Maryland Women's Bar Association, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She serves on the MSBA Immigration Committee, the Maryland Immigrant Rights Coalition Steering Committee, and the Baltimore City Bar’s Pro Bono Legal Services Committee, among others. Ms. Ontaneda-Bernales mentors law students in the MHBA program and high school students in the Mentoring to Empower Program sponsored by Community Law in Action. She also serves as an Alternative Dispute Resolution Volunteer, Spanish language interpreter for the Maryland State Judiciary, and as a Casa de Maryland board member. Governor O’Malley appointed her to the Maryland Health Care Commission in October 2007.

Ms. Ontaneda-Bernales has previously been awarded the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) 2007 Educator Award and the Maryland Hispanic Bar Association Public Service Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Individual. She was also granted the Women's Role Model Award by Attorney General of Nevada, Frankie Sue Del Papa.

Ms. Ontaneda-Bernales is a graduate of the University of Nevada at Reno (B.A., with high distinction, 1993; M.A., 1996) and the George Washington University Law School (J.D., 2002). She resides in Baltimore City.

About Ober|Kaler
Ober|Kaler is a national law firm providing integrated regulatory, transactional, and litigation services to financial, health care, construction, and other business organizations. The firm has more than 125 attorneys, and offices in Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and Falls Church.

Ober|Ober, Kaler, Grimes & Shriver

Maryland
120 East Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Telephone 410-685-1120, Fax 410-547-0699

Washington, DC
1401 H Street, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005
Telephone 202-408-8400, Fax 202-408-0640

Virginia
407 North Washington Street, Suite 105, Falls Church, VA 22046
Telephone 703-237-0126, Fax 202-408-0640