On Monday, July 18, AABANY was privileged to take part in the US-Asia Institute Rule of Law Program meeting held at the New York City Bar. A group of top law students from China, who are visiting the United States on a four-week learning tour, made a stop in New York and visited with:

• John Kiernan, President of the New York City Bar Association
• Claire Gutekunst, President of the New York State Bar Association
• John McConnell, Counsel to the New York State Office of Court Administration
• Yang Chen, Executive Director of the Asian American Bar Association of New York
• Neil Quartaro, Chair of the International Section of NYSBA
• Glenn Lau-Kee, Past President of NYSBA
• Bret Parker, Executive Director of NYCBA

The students were:

• Zhao (Livia) Li, Tsinghua University, School of Law
• Debi (Dewey) Song, Shanghai Jiao Tong University KoGuan Law School
• Anqi Wei, Tsinghua University, School of Law
• Ying (Claire) Wu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University KoGuan Law School
• Yadian (Athena) Yu, Peking University School of Transnational Law
• Junqi (Richard) Zhang, Peking University School of Transnational Law

So far, the law students have spent time in Washington, DC, where they have met with Justice Samuel Alito, federal judges, members of Congress, and partners of law firms.

The discussion at the New York City Bar focused on the regulation of lawyers. Some of the topics included the history in the U.S. of the legal profession as a self-regulated profession, the role of court administration in New York, the role of bar associations with respect to ethics opinions and law reform, the changes being faced by the legal profession because of technological advances, and the evolving role of law firms and bar associations in international legal practice.

After presentations from the representatives of the New York City Bar, New York State Bar and AABANY, the students got to ask questions about the American legal system and profession. Their excellent questions demonstrated that these students are among the best and brightest law students from China.

After a productive three-hour meeting, we exchanged business cards with the students. We look forward to staying in touch and hope to have a chance someday to work with these promising future lawyers.

Thanks to Glenn Lau-Kee (whose parents helped to found the US-Asia Institute) for organizing the meeting and the visit.

(Photo courtesy of Claire Gutekunst.)