On April 1, the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) together with NYSBA’s Business Law, Corporate Counsel, Dispute Resolution, Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law, General Practice, International, Senior Lawyers, and Trust and Estate Sections co-sponsored the 9th annual Smooth Moves program, held at Lincoln Center, in the Rose Building, at the Kaplan Penthouse.

The first part of the program was a CLE panel discussion entitled "The Business of Lawyering: Understanding Clients’ Language and Managing Your Practice Ethically and Efficiently” at which AABANY past president Vincent Chang served as a speaker.

The second part of the program included a networking reception, which started with welcome remarks from NYSBA President Glenn Lau-Kee. Also during this part of the program, NYSBA presented the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section’s Hon. George Bundy Smith Pioneer Award. The retired Court of Appeals Justice was present in person to give the award to the Hon. Denny Chin, United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit.

Judge Chin shared with the audience highlights from his distinguished career on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which included cases such as the Naked Cowboy suing the manufacturer of M&M’s for coming out with a blue M&M that looked just like the Naked Cowboy. The first claim was one for invasion of privacy. Judge Chin, noting that the Naked Cowboy walked around Times Square wearing only his cowboy hat, briefs, guitar and cowboy boots, dismissed that first claim right away.

Judge Chin also talked about his sentencing of criminal defendants, including the infamous Bernie Madoff case, and noted that the subject was covered in major articles in The New York Times.

Judge Chin concluded with documents and photos from his own family history, showing his immigrant roots and how his achievements as a judge was embraced by the Asian community which thrives right outside the Federal courthouses downtown.

Congratulations to Judge Chin for receiving the Hon. George Bundy Smith Pioneer Award!