FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 4, 2013 

Contact: Yang Chen, Executive Director

(718) 228-7206 

AABANY APPLAUDS SELECTION OF BLOSSOM KAN AND TEENA-ANN V. SANKOORIKAL AS MINORITY CORPORATE COUNSEL ASSOCIATION’S RISING STARS

NEW YORK – April 4, 2013 – The Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) applauds the selection of Blossom Kan and Teena-Ann V. Sankoorikal for being named one of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Rising Stars for 2013.

The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (“MCCA”) was founded in 1997 to advance the hiring, retention, and promotion of diverse attorneys in legal departments and the law firms that serve them.  In the March/April 2013 issue of “Diversity & the Bar Magazine,” MCCA recognized Ms. Kan and Ms. Sankoorikal as “Rising Stars” based on their extraordinary legal accomplishments, demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, and their emergence as major players in the legal world.

“We are thrilled that both Blossom and Teena-Ann were named one of MCCA’s ‘Rising Stars’ for 2013.  Their selection to this exclusive group is a testament to their outstanding legal work, commitment to diversity and leadership abilities, and we congratulate them for this well-deserved honor,” said Mike Huang, AABANY President. 

Blossom Kan is an Assistant General Counsel at MetLife Inc in New York, NY.  Ms. Kan handles complex litigation matters and represents MetLife on regulatory matters with both federal and state regulatory authorities.  Ms. Kan currently serves as the co-chair of AABANY’s In-House Counsel Committee.  Prior to joining MetLife, Ms. Kan was a litigation counsel at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.  Previous to that, she was a litigation associate at the law firm of Orrick Herrington and Sutcliffe.  Her practice focused on complex financial litigation.  Ms. Kan received a Bachelors of Arts in English and History from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law, where she was a member of the Environmental Law Journal.  Ms. Kan has also co-authored two women’s fiction novels published by St. Martin’s Press, China Dolls (2007) and Young, Restless and Broke (2010).

Teena-Ann V. Sankoorikal is currently a litigation partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.  Ms. Sankoorikal has a broad litigation practice, with particular experience in copyright, patent and trade secret matters, as well as experience with antitrust law, securities, Alien Tort Statute and internal investigations.  In 2013, Ms. Sankoorikal was elected to the Board of Directors of AABANY.  Ms. Sankoorikal received a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry cum laude from Yale University in 1996 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania in 1999, where she was the Research Editor for the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.