Arcadier, Maurice

Ms. Sylvia (Sylmarie) Arizmendi Lopez de Victoria was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1967. She attended primary and elementary school at Colegio Rosa-Bell in Guaynabo and graduated in 1985 from Academia San Jose High School, with honors (Salutatorian). She then double-majored in Biology and Psychology at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1989. While at Tufts, she was a member of the Latin American Society, which she also presided for two years. Thereafter she attended the University of Puerto Rico School of Law, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1992. She joined the Puerto Rico Bar Association in 1993 and the Federal Bar Association in 1995.

From 1992 to 1993, Ms. Arizmendi was a Law Clerk for the Hon. Federico Hernandez Denton, at the Puerto Rico Supreme Court. She then pursued graduate studies in Columbia University at New York. After completing her LL.M. studies there, where she graduated as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, she joined the law firm of O'Neill & Borges in June of 1994. She was a partner in its Labor Department from December 1998 until she left to pursue her own private practice in December 2004. In February 2005, together with attorney Rosangela Sanfilippo Resumil, she founded the law firm of Arizmendi & Sanfilippo, now SA Arizmendi Attorneys At Law, PSC where she currently holds her practice.

As part of her practice, Ms. Arizmendi represents clients in litigation before the Puerto Rico and the Federal Courts, as well as before local and federal government agencies. Aside from litigation, Ms. Arizmendi also has a civil law counseling practice. She is a member of the Association of Labor Relations Practitioners, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Society for Human Resources Management. She has lectured on the legal issues that arise in the employment and educational context, including Discrimination, Harassment, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Individuals with Disabilities in Employment Act.  She also offers training to managers on the application of the law to day to day management of employees.