On November 3, at the 2017 NAPABA National Convention, NAPABA presented the Sen. Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award to the following distinguished members of the APA legal community:

• Honorable Halim Dhanidina
• Parkin Lee
• Willard K. Tom
• Honorable G. Michael Witte
• Honorable Youlee Yim You

AABANY is particularly proud of Parkin Lee as a longtime member of AABANY and a valued member of AABANY’s Advisory Committee. As noted in the NAPABA announcement of August 30th:

While in law school at New York University, Parkin Lee helped pioneer the practice of allowing students of color to review law school applications from, and advocate for, potential students of color, a practice initiated at NYU and subsequently adopted at other law schools, including Harvard. At the time, there were few students of color — including Asian Pacific Americans — in the law school (there were five Asian Pacific American students in total in his class). Currently, 30 percent of the J.D. student body at NYU are students of color; 16 percent of the Fall 2016 class are Asian and South Asian. As senior vice president and chief legal officer of the Rockefeller Group, Mr. Lee is trusted counsel to one of the country’s most recognized names in real estate development and asset management. Previously, he spent 20 years at New York Life Insurance Company where he became one of the highest ranking Asian Pacific American attorneys in the insurance industry in New York. He served for many years as president of the NAPABA Law Foundation where he is currently on the board and is board chair of the Asian American Justice Center.

Please join us in congratulating Parkin Lee and all the 2017 Sen. Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award recipients. For more photos from the awards presentation click here.