NEW YORK – July 11, 2012 – The Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) applauds the appointment of Lillian Wan as a New York City Civil Court judge, with an assignment to the Family Court. Judge Wan was approved by the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary, the New York City Bar’s Judiciary Committee and the Mayor’s office. “AABANY is delighted that Lillian Wan has been appointed a Civil Court judge. Her assignment to serve in the Family Court is well-deserved recognition of her experience and demonstrated commitment to the children and families of New York State,” said Jean Lee, President of AABANY.
Asian Pacific Americans remain significantly under-represented in the New York State Judiciary, where there are only currently twenty-three (23) Asian Pacific American judges out of about 1,200 judges across the state. Although, according to the 2010 Census, approximately 8.3% of the population of New York State and approximately 14.0% of the population in New York City consist of Asian Pacific Americans, Judge Wan will be one of four Asian Pacific American judges serving in Family Court in the entire state of New York. Even with the addition of Judge Wan to the bench, less than 2% of the New York judiciary are Asian Pacific Americans.
“With her appointment, Judge Wan will be the only Asian Pacific American female jurist serving in New York City Family Court,” said James P. Chou, Co-Chair of AABANY’s Judiciary Committee. “We applaud Mayor Bloomberg for his continued commitment to diversifying the judiciary in our City.”
Prior to taking the bench, Judge Wan served as a Court Attorney-Referee at the Kings County Surrogate’s Court where she handled adoptions, guardianships, wills, trusts, and estates matters. Before joining Surrogate’s Court, Judge Wan was an attorney for the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) in the Manhattan Family Court Unit for nine years, where she litigated and supervised hundreds of child abuse and neglect proceedings. Judge Wan is the in-coming chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Family Court and Family Law Committee. She is also a member of AABANY, where she is the co-chair of the Government and Public Sector Committee. Judge Wan was recently elected to the board of directors for the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association. Judge Wan is also a member of the Metropolitan Black Bar Association (MBBA) and Practicing Attorneys for Law Students Program, Inc. (PALS). Judge Wan graduated summa cum laude from Binghamton University in 1997 and then attended Albany Law School where she served on the Albany Law Review as an Associate Editor and graduated magna cum laude in 2000.
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The Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) is a professional membership organization of attorneys concerned with issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community. Incorporated in 1989, AABANY seeks not only to encourage the professional growth of its members but also to advocate for the Asian Pacific American community as a whole. AABANY is the New York regional affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). To learn more about AABANY, visit www.aabany.org.
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