Cox Castle Nicholson Partner Mario Camara Elected Century City Chamber’s 2014 Citizen of the Year
Century City, CA (June 5, 2014) – Cox Castle Nicholson partner, Mario Camara, has been named Century City Chamber’s 2014 Citizen of the Year. Each year, the Century City Chamber of Commerce presents the Citizen of the Year award to an individual that best exemplifies excellence in corporate and community relations, displaying an intense commitment to serving the community.
“This honor reflects our firm’s historic commitment to improving the vibrancy of our community by encouraging and supporting our lawyers’ efforts in many essential private, philanthropic and business organization initiatives.” Said Camara, “Cox Castle Nicholson encourages all of its team members to get involved in local philanthropy, and this recognition highlights our culture of giving back to the communities in which we live and work. Personally, my work has created and nurtured many wonderful relationships in our community which have been an extremely gratifying part of my career.”
Camara has more than four decades of legal experience, all of which he has spent at Cox Castle Nicholson, and has served on numerous boards and nonprofit organizations, giving thousands of hours of his time outside the firm to serving his local community. Camara graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1970 cum laude and from UCLA School of Law in 1973. In 1987, he became the first Hispanic managing partner of a Top 50 Los Angeles County law firms. He remains a senior managing partner of a Top 50 Los Angeles County law firm. He remains a senior member of Cox Castle Nicholson’s Executive Committee today.
In 1976 Camara was appointed by then Governor Jerry Brown to serve as a member of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors and became their youngest president in 1981 at age 32. His earliest community efforts involved Volunteers in Parole and Advocates for the Arts in which he represented “Los Four,” including the renowned artist Carlos Almaraz. Camara acted as the legal Co-Chair of Rebuild LA after the Los Angeles riots in 1992. In 1998, he was the founding Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for California Community Colleges on which he still serves. He has donated countless hours to his alma mater, including participation in Chancellor’s Associates, UCLA Law Founders and Dean’s Council, UCLA Foundation Board of Councilors and UCLA’s Law School Dean’s Advocates. Most recently, Camara has been active in UCLA’s AAP program in which he and his wife Nancy sponsor an annual scholarship for students with disadvantaged backgrounds. Camara has also served as President of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and as President of the California Bar Foundation which established a diversity scholarship fund under his presidency. He is also past chair of the Century City Chamber Board of Directors and his firm was the prior recipient of the Century City Chambers Corporate Citizen of the Year in 2001 and is a member of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
“Being a first generation college graduate, I relied on those who had gone before me for mentorship, and I am grateful to be able to give back in the same way,” said Camara.
About Cox Castle Nicholson
Cox Castle Nicholson, one of the largest full-service law firms focused on real estate in the United States, provides superior, strategic legal services to developers, lenders, investors, joint ventures, landlords, tenants, high-net-worth individuals and others for their complex real estate, business and litigation challenges. Founded in 1968, the firm has more than 125 transactional and litigation attorneys in offices in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Francisco. For more information, visit www.coxcastle.com.