Partner, Hinshaw Culbertson
Concepcion (“Connie”) A. Montoya is a Partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, a national full-service law firm with offices throughout the United States. Connie is the only Filipina-American partner in a firm of over 400 lawyers. Connie is also a member of Hinshaw’s Diversity Committee. Connie’s practice focuses on the areas of employment litigation defense and counseling as well as consumer class action defense.
Other than her legal practice, Connie is deeply involved with diversity and inclusion efforts in the legal community. Connie is a founding member and a Past President of the Filipino American Lawyers Association of New York. She is a Board Member of the National Association of Women Lawyers and Co-Chair of its Diversity Committee. Connie is also a member of the Board of Directors of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, and a former Board Member of the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York. She is a former Co-Chair of the LGBTQ Network of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She served as Co-Chair of the Litigation Committee of the Asian American Bar Association of New York for several years.
Connie was recently recognized by the Philippine Consulate General as a 2022 Distinguished Filipino Woman. In 2019, she was one of the Nation’s Best Lawyers Of Color in 2019 and awarded by the Team United Maharlika Foundation as one of the 2019 Outstanding Foreign Workers in the field of law. In 2017, the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association of Brooklyn Law School presented her with the Distinguished Alumni Award.
Prior to joining Hinshaw, Connie was an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Special Federal Litigation Division of the Office of the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York. At the Corporation Counsel’s Office, Connie accomplished a record of undefeated federal jury trials defending municipal employees in civil rights cases. In 2004, she received the “Municipal Affairs Award” for outstanding achievement in the New York City Law Department, from the Municipal Affairs Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Before attending Brooklyn Law School where she obtained her Juris Doctor, Connie obtained a Masters of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York, concentrating on feminist theology and ethics. Her master’s thesis on undocumented immigration and ethics garnered distinction. Connie received her undergraduate degree from New York University, where she was a co-captain of the varsity debate team.