On June 18, more than 850 attendees came together at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall in the Time Warner Center by Columbus Circle for the annual Paul, Weiss Diversity Reception.

Many AABANY leaders were present, including: Immediate Past President Clara Ohr, Past President Jean Lee, Yang Chen (Executive Director), Marianne Chow (VP, Programs and Operations), Ligee Gu (Recording Secretary), and Tristan Loanzon (Board Director). The following Committee Chairs were in attendance: Blossom Kan and Duane Morikawa of the In-House Counsel Committee, Jack Chen, Membership Committee, Tammy Wang, Women’s Committee. George Hang, Managing Director of Programs for the Corporate Law Committee was also at the event.

We were also joined by Advisory Committee Member Dennis Hopkins, Don Liu Scholars Keli Huang and Michelle Li, and past AABANY Legal Interns Kevin Wong and Christina Nguyen. (Sorry if we missed anyone; there were a lot of people there!)

We thank Paul, Weiss Partner Larry Wee (who is also a Director on AABANY’s Board and Co-Chair of the Corporate Law Committee) for being such a gracious host, and we thank Paul, Weiss for inviting AABANY to take part in this great annual event celebrating diversity in the legal profession and in our communities.

The highlight of the evening was the wonderful keynote speech given by former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr., who is currently a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Ford was introduced by Paul, Weiss Partner Ted Wells.

After hearing the inspiring and moving remarks by Mr. Ford, the many guests at the reception returned to cocktails and networking. Mr. Wells indicated that the bar would be open until “9:01 pm,” although we suspect that many continued to meet, catch up and connect long after that.

George and Larry organized a karaoke after-party a few blocks south of Columbus Circle, where the singing continued into the wee hours, and Larry showed “the kids” what “the Classic Rock” was all about.

Thanks again to Paul, Weiss for a marvelous evening!