Press Release: New York Asian American Law Students Excel at National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Convention in New Orleans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2015  

Contact: Yang Chen, Executive Director
(718) 228-7206

NEW YORK – November 18, 2015 – The Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) is proud to congratulate Christina Nguyen and Azizah Ahmad on their recent honors from the NAPABA Law Foundation (“NLF”), which were presented on November 7, 2015 at the NAPABA Rising Convention at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside in New Orleans, Louisiana. NAPABA is the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and it established the NLF in 1994. The NLF awards scholarships on a nationwide basis to law students who demonstrate a commitment to serve or contribute to the Asian Pacific American community as future leaders. We also congratulate Katherine Zhang, who was elected as Northeast Regional Director of the National Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (“NAPALSA”) at the NAPABA Rising Convention.

Christina Nguyen, a third-year law student at St. John’s University School of Law and former AABANY Legal Intern, received one of the two UPS/NLF Gold Mountain Scholarships for $5,000, awarded to law students in the Asian Pacific American community who are the first in their family to go to law school. Azizah Ahmad, first-year law student at Brooklyn Law School and former Senior Programs Associate for NAPABA, received one of two Anheuser-Busch/NLF Presidential Scholarships of $7,500, awarded to the law students who demonstrate particularly outstanding leadership potential to serve the Asian Pacific American community, as selected from all of the scholarship applicants by the NLF in consultation with the President of NAPABA. Katherine Zhang, who was elected as the Northeast Regional Director of NAPALSA, is a second-year law student and the President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (“APALSA”) at Brooklyn Law School.

“We at AABANY are proud of Christina and Azizah to have their achievements and leadership potential recognized by the NLF with well-deserved scholarships,” said Yang Chen, Executive Director of AABANY. “We also congratulate Katherine for her election to Northeast Regional Director of NAPALSA. All three students exhibit traits that will serve them well as future leaders in the legal profession, both within the Asian Pacific American community and beyond. Congratulations to Christina, Katherine and Azizah.”

For more information, please contact Yang Chen, AABANY Executive Director, at (718) 228-7206, or direct any inquiries to [email protected].


Correction: A previous version of this press release erroneously identified the scholarship that Christina Nguyen won as the $2,000 NLF Scholarship. This was incorrect. She received one of the two $5,000 UPS/NLF Gold Mountain Scholarships. 


The Asian American Bar Association of New York 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).

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Introducing the Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, Inc.

New York, New York – November 16, 2015 – Representatives from the Sonia & Celina Sotomayor High School Judicial Internship Program (“SCS HSJIP”) and The Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program (“JMB JIP”) merged this Summer to form the Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, Inc.

The SCS HSJIP was founded in 2014 by Celina Cabán as part of her work with the Ms. JD Fellowship Program. The mission of the program is to encourage diverse high school students from underserved communities to pursue careers in the law. With the guidance of Second Circuit Judge Denny Chin and support of the Justice Resource Center, the program hosted seventeen students its first year and more than doubled in size its second year.

The JMB JIP was founded in 2009 by Linda S. Lin, Senior Counsel, Senior Complex Claims Director at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, when the Association of Judges of Hispanic Heritage (“AJHH”), the Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”), the Asian American Law Fund of New York (“AALFNY”), the Metropolitan Black Bar Association (“MBBA”), the New York Women’s Bar Association Foundation, Inc. (“NYWBAF”), the Puerto Rican Bar Association (“PRBA”), and the South Asian Bar Association of New York (“SABANY”) joined together to offer law students who have completed at least one year of law school the opportunity to enhance and complement their legal education as summer judicial interns in New York metropolitan area courthouses. Since 2009, JMB JIP grew from a nine intern program to an over 30 intern program.

SCS HSJIP’s Founder Celina Cabán is “particularly excited about the ability to provide additional resources and mentorship to underserved high school youth.”

JMB JIP’s Founder Linda S. Lin is “thrilled and honored to be joining forces with SCS HSJIP and developing a deeper pipeline program.”

The Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program seeks to increase diversity in the legal profession by educating and empowering students from underserved communities and diverse backgrounds. The Program exposes high school students to legal careers through judicial internships in state and federal courts, educational workshops, and mentorship opportunities. The Program also places law school students in judicial internships to introduce them to the state and federal judicial systems and sharpen their legal research and writing skills.

Our goal is simple, to educate and empower our students.

Applications for 2016 summer internships are now available at www.scsjip.org.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, Inc.
Rosevelie Márquez Morales, President at [email protected].