The Cuban American Bar Association installed Javier A. Ley-Soto of Miami Lakes as its president on Jan. 27.
He will lead the national service organization that also includes CABA Pro Bono Legal Services and the CABA Foundation.
Members the 50-year-old group are attorneys and law students with an interest in human and legal rights for Cubans and other minority communities, according to a media release.
“…I’m humbled and excited to take on this new leadership role as we continue to raise awareness for one of our main causes, human rights violations by the Cuban regime and elsewhere,” he said in the statement.
Ley-Soto, 45, lives in Miami Lakes with his wife Jennifer Sabin Ley-Soto and their two sons.
He is general counsel for Miami Dade College and its eight campuses. Previously he was regional general counsel for the Florida Department of Children & Families in Miami-Dade County and Monroe County.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminology from the University of Florida and his law degree from the Benjamin L. Crump Center for Social Justice at the St. Thomas University College of Law.
Ley-Soto is the former HOA president for the Loch Isle community and is a volunteer on the Miami Lakes Neighborhood Improvement Committee.
A member of CABA since 2005, Ley-Soto has served in several officer positions. Since his election in 2023, he was president that year of CABA Pro Bono Legal Services. His current role is as president of CABA. In 2025, he will become immediate past president of CABA and president of its Foundation, which provides scholarships for law students.
CABA has student chapters at almost all Florida law schools and at Cornell University, he said.
“I want to increase our community service work with other bar associations and celebrate our legacy,” Ley-Soto said. “We will also continue our advocacy for those that remain in Cuba and their fight for a free Cuba.”
He said CABA has a petition on behalf of 52 political dissidents on the island that will be heard in the Organization of American States’ court later this year, an action that will shine a light on the situation and hopefully pressure the government to secure the prisoners’ release, he said.