America’s 50 Outstanding General Counsel | National Law Journal

America’s 50 Outstanding General Counsel | National Law Journal

An Endangered Species? The NYC Dept. of Education’s SHSAT: Perspectives from the Asian American Community

On Sunday, March 30, at the Flushing Library, members of the Asian American and Specialized High Schools community, including education activists, SHS alum, parents, and students, met to address the NAACP complaint leveled against the single test criteria for admission to the NYC high-performing Specialized High Schools, backed by AALDEF (Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund).

With the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test as the only criteria for admission, the racial composition of the SHS consists of a high percentage of Asian Americans (72% at Stuyvesant) disproportionately low number of Latino and especially African American students (less than 1% black students at Stuyvesant), a major issue of concern in NYC. Panelists and community members shared opinions, arguments for and against opening the criteria for admission, and personal experiences as parents and students in the testing system. 

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Panelists included: Roksana Mun (Youth Organizer, DRUM), Mitch Wu (Program Manager, Coalition for Asian American Children & Families), Larry Cary (President, Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation*), Stanley Ng (BTHS Alumnus & Lower Manhattan Representative for Citywide Council on High School), Catherine Zhou (Stuyvesant Alum & Education Activist), Michael F. Han (SHS Parent), Kathy Wang (SHS Student), Shikha Rawat (SHS Student & Youth Leader from DRUM). The moderator was Nelson Ma, lifelong New Yorker, AABANY member and Education Law Specialist. 

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Roksana Mun (left) and Mitch Wu (center left) represented views that support opening the criteria for admission to include top students and across different New York neighborhoods. They also discussed issues of standing in solidarity with other communities of color, Asian American issues of identity and the “model minority” myth, and the problematic nature of many expensive test prep academies, which many working class and immigrant families will work long hours at hard jobs to pay for. Larry Cary (center right) and Stanley Ng (right) represented views that support the SHSAT as the most non-political and least easily biased admission for acceptance and offered alternative explanations for the discrepancy. Larry Cary and Stanley Ng contextualized the larger disparities within the New York City public school system and presented case studies of schools that opened admission criteria and yet still failed to promote diversity.

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Above: Catherine Zhou shares concerns about recent cheating scandals and the test culture created out of the high-pressure single test system.

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Above: Stanley Ng presents information about the neighborhoods feeding into the Specialized High Schools. He pointed out that the willingness of Asian American students to travel a long commute for their education, as well as a lack of seats for public high schools in Queens if similar numbers of Asian American Queens residents do not feed into the SHS system.

We can all agree that every NYC student deserves the best education possible. A special thank you goes out to Chris Kwok, Labor and Employment Law Committee Co-Chair, and Nelson Mar for organizing and moderating an event revolving around an important issue that affects the Asian American community!

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Co-sponsored by the Coalition for Asian American Children & Families (CACF) and the Asian American Bar Association (AABANY)

*Appearing in his personal capacity, and not representing the views of the Brooklyn Tech Alumni Foundation

From AALDEF: 2014 Justice in Action Awards

March 26, 2014 – Mari Matsuda, Professor of Law at University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Aasif Mandvi of The Daily Show, and John G. Chou of AmerisourceBergen Corporation were honored with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) 2014 Justice in Action Awards on March 25, 2014, at AALDEF’s 40th Anniversary Celebration.

Since 1987, AALDEF has presented the Justice in Action Awards to exceptional individuals for their outstanding achievements and efforts in advancing social justice.

The awards were presented by Charles Ogletree, Jr., Harvard Law School professor and former Justice in Action Award honoree and Judge Ida Chen, the first Asian American female to serve as a judge in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Juju Chang, Emmy Award-winning correspondent for ABC News Nightline, and Cindy Hsu, Emmy Award-winning anchor for CBS 2, were the co-emcees for the banquet of over 800 to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of AALDEF.

Among the guests at Pier Sixty in New York City were U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Karen Korematsu, the daughter of the late civil rights icon Fred Korematsu, and AALDEF founders Loida LewisArthur Soong, and Ira Glasser. Past Justice in Action Award recipients in attendance included Art ChongSandra LeungDon LiuParkin Lee, and Alice Young,

For the 40th Anniversary, AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung and Board president Tommy Shi shared the story of the creation of AALDEF 40 years ago. “Our first office was on the second floor of a tenement building in New York’s Chinatown,” said Fung. “We were passionate about our work and believed we could change the world one case at a time.”

Among the challenges ahead for the Asian American community, Fung pointed to the glass ceiling faced by many Asian Americans, the attack on affirmative action programs, the standstill of immigration reform in Congress, and the continuing struggles of human trafficking survivors and immigrant workers seeking to earn a living wage.

AALDEF client Hong-Mei Pang, now organizer of AALDEF’s undocumented youth group RAISE, spoke about the lack of options she had faced prior to garnering AALDEF’s legal representation and joining the movement for immigration reform. “My call to AALDEF became a turning point in my life,” said Pang.

Judge Ida Chen introduced honoree John Chou by thanking AALDEF “for recognizing John Chou for advancing the status of Asian Americans all over the country.” Chou said that by receiving the Justice in Action Award, he was “following in some really big footsteps.” He described AALDEF as representing “lawyers at their best.”

Former honoree Charles Ogletree Jr. introduced honoree Mari Matsuda as a “living legend.” Matsuda shared her advice for young people seeking to stand up for their beliefs. “If you were sitting still and doing nothing, you would get no pushback,” she said. “We need to do the work to make this a better, stronger country for everyone.”

The evening came to a close with honoree Aasif Mandvi taking a rare break from satire to describe the impact of his hit political comedy show The Daily Show on addressing racism and bias. “What AALDEF does in a real way, I do in a very small way, by pointing out the absurdity,” he said.

Past Justice in Action Award recipients include Rep. John LewisDavid Henry HwangFareed ZakariaBD WongSandra LeungMira NairDeval PatrickGeorge Takei,Salman RushdieSeymour HershHarry BelafonteMargaret ChoYoko Ono, and the late civil rights icons Fred Korematsu and Gordon Hirabayashi.

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Photo Credit: Lia Chang

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Photo Credit: Corky Lee

From NYIC: IMMIGRANTS’ DAY OF ACTION

                                   

*SAVE THE DATE*

IMMIGRANTS’ DAY OF ACTION 

THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2014

April 10th is an historic day for our movement.  This year, we will be joining groups around the country for a nationwide mobilization demonstrating the power of our movement and calling on lawmakers at the city, state and federal level to enact policies that promote immigrant rights.  Please join the New York Immigration Coalition and New Yorkers for Real Immigration Reform together with our allies across New York City for a rally to demand fairness and equality for immigrants in New York and across the country.

We hope you can also join the New York Immigration Coalition in the morning for legislative meetings with our City Council and our new Mayoral Administration to push the NYIC’s City Policy & Budget Priorities, which, if enacted, would strengthen New York City as a national leader on immigrant rights. 

Join us and help raise the voice of immigrants in New York City!

To RSVP click here

AABANY Congratulates Rio Guerrero

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AABANY congratulates Rio Guerrero, Founding Chair of AABANY’s Immigration and Nationality Law Committee, on recently being appointed to serve as a Co-Chair of the NAPABA Immigration Committee. Also, as a 1998 Brooklyn Law School alumni, Rio has been invited as a guest speaker for the April 4th APALSA 25th Annual Dinner at Brooklyn Law School. 

Chinatown NYC Restaurant Week

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Ten days left to #SpringforChinatown.
 
Manhattan’s Chinatown has the most sensibly-priced restaurants in NYC and the one neighborhood where you can have
Shanghainese, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Japanese cuisines and get some ice cream afterwards
from our 2014 sponsor Häagen-Dazs on Mott St.
So how about saving your same-old restaurant for another day and #SpringforChinatown
for one of the deals, meals and steals, which vary at each participating restaurant.

Here’s a sample (hyperlinks to menus + offers can be found below) – some restrictions apply:
All you can eat sushi  + hot pot under $20/pp +  prix fix lunches + just pick-from-the-menu lunches +
prix fixe dinners + just pick-from-the-menu dinners +  prix fix packaged deals on a meal + a Häagen-Dazs Chinatown ice cream cake (see design below) for 20% off + lobster + peking duck specials +
10% off your next visit + 50% off wine selection + 10% off your entire bill
 
Can’t go – no prob: Share this message with others. Follow us Twitter @ChinatownRW and like us on Facebook atChinatownRestaurantWeek.
 
Tweet a pic of your Chinatown Restaurant Week experience and tag it #SpringforChinatown or @ChinatownRW
for a chance to win a diamond replica keychain ring. All entries/twitter handles will be entered into a raffle drawing.
Winners will be announced on Twitter on Sundays: March 23 and 30.
 
Share + post this poster in your office building, company kitchen, apartment building lobby by the mailboxes + retail stores.
 
Chinatown Restaurant Week community groups: feel free to foward this message to your email lists.
 
The 2014 Chinatown Restaurant Week event was funded by our participating restaurants and our 2014 sponsor Häagen-Dazs Chinatown.  NYC Chinatown Restaurant Week® is an independent community-based celebration of diverse cuisines found in the downtown Manhattan Chinatown community. It was created by local resident and public relations veteran Julie Huang who serves as its volunteer producer with the support of over 32 community groups and local elected officials. NYC Chinatown Restaurant Week® is a registered trademark of and licensed from Kaimen Company.

Follow us Twitter @ChinatownRW and like us on Facebook at ChinatownRestaurantWeek.

For a media tour + customized pitch ideas + interviews with restaurants + inform us of your presence, please contact Chinatown Restaurant Week [email protected] and (917) 807-0718.

SDNY BOARD OF JUDGES REVISES ITS ELECTRONIC DEVICES POLICY

NOTICE TO THE BAR
CONTACT: Edward Friedland, 212-805-0500

SDNY BOARD OF JUDGES REVISES ITS ELECTRONIC DEVICES POLICY

        The Board of Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has revised its policy regarding the use of personal electronic devices and general purpose computing devices. A copy of the new policy is attached to this notice.

        The new policy allows members of the bar of any court, with the advance written permission from the judge presiding and subject to security screening, to bring one or more personal electronic devices or general purpose computing devices into the courthouses for that trial.

        Attorneys who are admitted in the Southern District of New York and have a valid New York State Office of Court Administration Secure Pass should still apply for an SDNY Secure Pass, which permits the holder to bring a personal electronic device into the courthouse. For more information on how to obtain a SDNY Service Pass, visit the court’s website at http://nysd.uscourts.gov/file/forms/attorney-service-pass-application.

AABANY Co-sponsors: Achieving Diversity in ADR

The AABANY Litigation Committee encourages anyone interested in pursuing a career as a neutral (arbitrator, mediator, etc.), and, in particular, learning about the specific advantages and challenges as a person of color, to attend the New York State Bar Association’s program entitled, “Achieving Diversity in the ADR Field: Overcoming Old Challenges and Seeking New Opportunities.” The program will be held on Tuesday, March 25th from 5:30-9:00 p.m. and, because AABANY is a participating and sponsoring bar association, the program will offer 2.5 FREE NY CLE credits in Skills to all AABANY members. A panel of renowned ADR providers, scholars, and administrators will discuss their practices for recruiting and selecting neutrals, the efforts they have undertaken to diversify their rosters of neutrals, and their efforts to further expose the users of their ADR services to racially and ethnically diverse panels of arbitrators and mediators. Another panel, moderated by AABANY member Theo Cheng, and comprising distinguished ADR neutrals, will provide perspectives on how to navigate a successful career as a neutral; recommending specific networking, marketing, and promotional activities; discussing how best to leverage diversity issues; and providing practical tips for increasing the opportunities for being selected as a neutral. Finally, there will be a discussion about strategies for addressing cross cultural issues in dispute resolution, followed by a networking reception. For more information go to http://bit.ly/nysbareg.

P.S. For those of you who are experiencing difficulties registering via the NYSBA’s website, you can alternatively send an email to Beth Gould at [email protected] with your full contact information (name, address, email, phone number), indicating that you are a member of AABANY. She will handle registering you for the event.