MHLAC Senior Attorney Robert Hernandez died suddenly on April 10, 2025, while visiting his ancestral home in Belgium in the company of his wife Elena. His death left his colleagues at MHLAC and advocates statewide shocked and bereft. Bob was a passionate warrior for civil rights and social justice for poor and marginalized people. He was a wonderful lawyer and an even better person.
Bob already had a fine career before coming to MHLAC in 2016. A graduate with honors from Princeton University and Harvard Law School and lecturer at area colleges and law schools, Bob long sustained a progressive private practice; litigating a host of cases resulting in significant decisions. Typical clients were workers who suffered discrimination and victims of police violence.
Bob was also influential in the legal community outside of his law practice. As the founder and President of the Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys, he led advocacy for diversity in the court system and access for language minorities. Bob and MAHA pushed for the provision of certified court interpreters for limited English proficient civil litigants and criminal defendants, as well as for Latinx representation in the judiciary equivalent to that in the general population. Under Bob’s leadership, MAHA initiated a program called “Las Primeras,” which honored many trailblazing Latinx jurists, including Justice Sonia Sotomayor when she was appointed to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals.
At MHLAC, Bob worked on issues that were close to his heart and hugely important to vulnerable clients. He prosecuted class actions such as the PLESH case, in which he represented limited English proficient parents of children with disabilities who, due to the Holyoke schools’ longstanding failure to translate documents and interpret at school meetings, were effectively denied their legal right to participate in educational planning and be otherwise included in school events and activities. The case resulted in wholesale reforms and a model communications regimen. Bob also represented students and workers with disabilities in individual cases designed to achieve larger ends for clients generally. He was excellent in court and remarkable in his analysis, sharp strategic judgments, and willingness to go the extra yard for clients.
Bob was an extremely knowledgeable student of history and a realist who did not shrink from harsh, albeit warranted, conclusions about the state of the world. But he never became jaded, never let go of indignation generated by a keen sense of injustice. He contributed significantly to an MHLAC office culture that strives for major changes in clients’ lives. His passion and enthusiasm were infectious.
But Bob will be best remembered for his kindness and generosity. He was a beloved mentor to many young Latinx lawyers who are now prominent members of the bench and bar. At MHLAC, he was a collegial collaborator with advocates from partner organizations and offered guidance and support to all, going out of his way to recognize his fellow advocates’ achievements and brighten their days with a warm greeting and broad smile.
There is no replacing what Bob brought to MHLAC and the community of poverty and public interest law advocates. He will be sorely missed.
In remembrance:
Phillip Kassel (MHLAC Executive Director) and Virgen Palermo (MHLAC Board member)
