Chinatown’s Ghost Scam
Congratulations to Kin Ng, AABANY member and co-founder of the AABANY Prosecutors’ Committee, for his work at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office prosecuting scammers who had run off with the life savings of an elderly Chinese immigrant, mentioned in the New Yorker article above!
Fraud that exploits the religious and spiritual beliefs of immigrant communities continues to be a pervasive problem in Chinatowns around New York and the world. Please join AABANY in thanking Kin Ng for helping to protect those in the Chinese-American community who are vulnerable.
Empire Mock Trial (Opportunity to Judge)
Empire Mock Trial is excited to invite attorneys to judge at Empire New York, scheduled for November 18-19. The program is run by Empire Mock Trial, an education nonprofit. The organization is asking attorneys to serve as a judge or juror for one three (3) hour trial, which includes a complimentary meal and brief orientation session. The remarkable high school students hail from 6 countries and 16 states, and attorneys receive 3 free CLE credits for volunteering.
More program information can be found on the website here—it takes less than 5 minutes for volunteers to register.
For the event flyer, click here.
This is a win-win opportunity for everyone: the local community gets to empower the next generation of leaders, while students learn from their knowledge and expertise.
For more information, please contact 917-426-3682 or [email protected].
NAPABA Names Goodwin Liu as Its 2017 NAPABA President’s Award Recipient
WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is proud to present the 2017 NAPABA President’s Award to Goodwin Liu, associate justice of the California Supreme Court. The NAPABA President’s Award is given to NAPABA members who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to NAPABA, the legal community, and the greater Asian Pacific American community.
The 2017 NAPABA President’s Award will be presented at the 2017 NAPABA Convention in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 3, 2017.
“Justice Liu has been an exemplary leader in the legal profession and in the Asian Pacific American community,” said NAPABA President Cyndie M. Chang. “In addition to his frequent engagement with Asian Pacific American lawyers and law students throughout the country, Justice Liu’s recent publication, ‘A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law,’ has been a game-changer for awareness within and beyond our community of the successes and ongoing challenges that Asian Pacific Americans have experienced in the legal profession.”
The Portrait Project — a two-year study — revealed that Asian Pacific American lawyers have increased in number from 10,000 in 1990 to over 50,000 today, but they face challenges reaching the top ranks of the profession. For example, although Asian Pacific Americans are the largest minority group in big law firms, they have the highest attrition rates and the lowest ratio of partners to associates.
The son of Taiwanese immigrants and the first in his family to become a lawyer, Justice Liu was appointed to the California Supreme Court in 2011. He was previously a law professor and associate dean at the UC Berkeley School of Law. An influential scholar and acclaimed teacher, he received UC Berkeley’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009. He clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge David Tatel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has also worked as special assistant to the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, as a litigation associate at O’Melveny & Myers in Washington, D.C., and as senior program officer for higher education at the Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps).
Justice Liu serves on the Council of the American Law Institute; the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Science, Technology, and Law; and the board of directors of the James Irvine Foundation. He has previously served on the Stanford University Board of Trustees and the governing boards of the American Constitution Society, National Women’s Law Center, and Public Welfare Foundation.
NAPABA congratulates Justice Goodwin Liu as the 2017 NAPABA President’s Award recipient.
For more information, the media may contact Brett Schuster, NAPABA communications manager, at 202-775-9555 or [email protected].
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of over 50,000 attorneys and over 80 national, state, and local bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal services and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government.
NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.
To learn more about NAPABA, visitwww.napaba.org, like us onFacebook, and follow us on Twitter(@NAPABA).
NAPABA Names Sylvaine Wong as Its 2017 Military and Veteran Service Award Winner
WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is proud to present the inaugural 2017 NAPABA Military and Veteran Service Award to Commander Sylvaine W. Wong, deputy director of the United States Navy Office of the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, Military Manpower Division. The NAPABA Military and Veteran Service Award — a brand new award — seeks to recognize individuals within the Asian Pacific American legal community serving the U.S. Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, including Reserve and National Guard) as uniformed personnel or as civilians or as veterans of the Armed Forces whose outstanding achievements (1) greatly enhanced the mission of the Armed Forces; (2) contributed to the advancement of rights for service-members, their families, and/or veterans; or (3) furthered the administration of justice.
The 2017 NAPABA Military and Veteran Service Award will be presented at the NAPABA Anniversary Gala at the 2017 NAPABA Convention in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2017.
Commander Wong’s military career has seen her traverse the globe from U.S. military bases to the Pentagon to deployments in support of the most historically significant combat operations over the last two decades. Her tireless dedication to advancing the principals of justice and the rule of law has left lasting impacts not only on the individual service members and their families she has represented, but also on policymaking and programmatic efforts at the national and international levels.
A few highlights of Commander Wong’s military career include:
- Multiple deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, including to Kandahar, Afghanistan, and on board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson;
- Establishing one of the most robust and precedent-setting waterfront legal assistance programs to bring legal services directly on to the decks of combat ships;
- Championing for the rights and advocacy on behalf of military sexual assault victims; and
- Contributing to the repeal of the U.S. government’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on military service by homosexuals and bisexuals.
Upon moving to Washington, D.C., in 2007, Commander Wong became one of the JAG Corps’ subject matter experts on administrative law, specifically pertaining to personnel law and military rights and benefits. As part of the Department of the Navy’s Equal Opportunity program, Commander Wong reviewed hundreds of investigations by individual sailors for alleged violations of military regulations and statutory law, including congressional inquiries. Her review of the specific administration of the program for compliance with federal law also contributed to the Navy’s long-term preparations leading up to the 2011 repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in military service by homosexuals and bisexuals.
Commander Wong returned once again to Washington, D.C., in 2016 after a posting in Italy to serve as the deputy director for Recruiting and Diversity for the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Military Personnel Division). Currently, she is responsible for the policy development and execution oversight of the entire JAG Corps’ recruiting, accession, and retention mission. In addition to managing the recruiting program, which spans the over 200 American Bar Association-accredited law schools throughout the nation, she has reinvigorated the JAG Corps’ diversity and inclusion efforts, compelling new initiatives to bring diversity and inclusion into all aspects of career development and retention within the JAG Corps.
Among the efforts Commander Wong has spearheaded is the Diversity Liaison Program, empowering both junior and senior officers within the Navy JAG Corps to work substantively with national affinity bar associations and law student organizations to develop meaningful long-term partnerships. This program is designed to offer mentorship, resources, and subject matter expertise to the members of these various organizations while simultaneously promoting public service in the legal profession.
NAPABA congratulates Sylvaine W. Wong as the inaugural 2017 NAPABA Military and Veteran Service Award recipient.
For more information, the media may contact Brett Schuster, NAPABA communications manager, at202-775-9555 or [email protected].
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of over 50,000 attorneys and over 80 national, state, and local bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal services and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government.
NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.
To learn more about NAPABA, visitwww.napaba.org, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter(@NAPABA).
Special education in Asian American communities
Special education in Asian American communities
AABANY’s efforts to recruit and train volunteer attorneys to help Asian American youth with disabilities protect their legal rights is the subject of a NYCLA blog post written by NYCLA Education Law Committee Co-Chair Amy Leipziger.
There are more than 12,000 Asian students receiving special education services in NYC schools, and yet Asian American youth with disabilities are often underrepresented in discussions about special education because they confront the ‘model minority’ myth that makes it more difficult for them to get the recognition and help they need, and as a result, their problems are more often ignored.
To read more, click the link above.
For further details on AABANY’s activity in this area, see the blog posts below:
http://blog.aabany.org/post/163370762837/on-july-11-over-twenty-five-lawyers-and-summer
http://blog.aabany.org/post/163639413887/chinese-american-planning-council-holds-conference
Thank you to Nelson Mar for leading AABANY’s efforts to protect the rights of Asian Americans students with special needs. To get involved with this project, email Nelson at [email protected].
NYLJ Distinguished Leaders 2017: Andrew T. Hahn Sr.
NYLJ Distinguished Leaders 2017: Andrew T. Hahn Sr.
Congratulations to Andy Hahn, Partner, Duane Morris, and former AABANY, KALAGNY and NAPABA President, on being named one of the New York Law Journal’s Distinguished Leaders of 2017.
Q: What does it mean to be a leader?
A: Being an effective leader means self-sacrifice. It means that the leader places the needs of his or her constituents and/or organization over personal, self-interest. While the leader can delegate duties and responsibilities, he or she must also lead by example. This will entail the expenditure of much time and effort for the greater good. A good leader also must possess wisdom and judgment to do the right thing.
To read more of the Q&A with Andy Hahn, click the link in the title. Please join us in congratulating Andy on this spectacular and well-deserved recognition.