Anya Freeman used to look at her law school classmates and wish she had the networking opportunities they had through law groups to market her Russian-speaking skills.

So last June, with the guidance of Kendall Coffey when she was with Coffey Burlington, Freeman and fellow Russian-speaking attorney Yana Manotas founded the Russian American Bar Association of South Florida (RABA). The voluntary bar association elected its inaugural of directors in March at its third meeting.