The AABANY Trial Reenactment Team, led by Hon. Denny Chin and Kathy Hirata Chin, proudly presented Vietnamese Fishermen’s Association v. Knights of the Ku Klux Klan at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP on May 11, 2016. First performed during the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) National Convention on November 7, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Vietnamese Fishermen featured many returning cast members, excited to bring the drama of recent history back to life.

Set in the aftermath of the Fall of the Saigon in 1975, when Vietnamese immigrants arrived in the Gulf Coast and became fishermen, Vietnamese Fishermen recounts the experience of Vietnamese immigrants as targets of terrorizing tactics from the Ku Klux Klan designed to drive them out. The Vietnamese fishermen fought back with a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction against these actions, invoking not only civil rights statutes and the U.S. Constitution, but also the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Vietnamese Fishermen is the ninth Trial Reenactment led by Hon. Denny Chin and Kathy Hirata Chin, touching on familiar themes of discrimination and civil rights. Unlike previous reenactments performed by our team, this case also features depositions as well as the trial proceedings, filled with weapons and accusations that plaintiff’s counsel Morris Dees is the Jewish anti-Christ. The NYC premiere featured Andy Hahn as a convincingly dramatic bigot, Francis Chin as a Nazi photographer, David Weinberg in closing as the admirable Morris Dees who led the case against the KKK, and more. Click here to see photos from the event and reception. 

Thank you to Hon. Chin and Kathy Hirata Chin for once again leading a successful reenactment. Thank you to Cadwalader for hosting the reenactment and the lovely reception afterward. Thank you to everyone who made it.