NEW YORK, Sept. 26 -- Bowne & Co., Inc., a global leader in providing high-value document management solutions, today announced that Gloria M. Portela, a nationally recognized employment attorney and mediator with the firm of Seyfarth Shaw, has been elected to the company's Board of Directors. She becomes the 10th member of Bowne's Board. Ms. Portela, who specializes in mediation and representation of management in labor and employment law, joined Seyfarth as a partner in 1994. Seyfarth is widely considered the premier management labor and employment firm in the United States. Ms. Portela has been in private practice in Chicago and Houston since 1983, and was previously a partner with the law firms of Pope, Ballard, Shepard & Fowle, Ltd.; Chadwell & Kayser, Ltd.; and Hutcheson & Grundy. She earlier held both management and legal positions in Chicago with Standard Oil Company (Indiana) and Container Corporation of America. "With her strong and diverse background, Gloria Portela brings a number of important attributes to the Bowne Board," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert M. Johnson. "She has achieved national prominence as an accomplished employment and labor attorney, and brings yet another business perspective to our board deliberations as the company moves forward in pursuing our global diversification strategy. She will be a key advisor as Bowne leverages its internationally diverse workforce to better serve the needs of our global clients. We welcome Gloria to Bowne and believe she will make significant contributions to our future growth." Ms. Portela is a founding Fellow and a Governor of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, and served on the governing council of the American Bar Association's Section of Labor and Employment Law. She also sits on the advisory board of the National Employment Law Institute, and was one of the founders of -- and special counsel to -- the Texas Employment Law Council in the mid-1980s. In 1992, the National Law Journal named Ms. Portela one of the nation's top 50 employment lawyers. She lectures extensively and has published numerous articles in her field of specialization. Her past government service includes: the Illinois Advisory Committee to the U. S. Civil Rights Commission (1993 to 1995); the Commission on Workforce Quality and Labor Market Efficiency (1988 to 1990); the Texas Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission (1984 to 1986); and the Civil Rights Reviewing Authority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1981 to 1983). Ms. Portela has extensive expertise in training on a wide variety of employment law subjects, including sexual harassment prevention and investigation, privacy issues in the workplace, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. She has trained audiences ranging from chief executives to hourly employees, in both Spanish and English. Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Ms. Portela also serves on the Board of Directors of the Houston READ Commission, the largest urban literacy coalition in America, and the Board of Trustees of the Houston Grand Opera. In 1998, The Houston Chronicle named her one of Houston's "Women on the Move" for her professional success and community involvement. Ms. Portela, a native of Havana, Cuba, came to the United States in 1961. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Northwestern University School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Loyola University of Chicago.