On January 25, at the New York offices of Paul Hastings, AABANY’s Judiciary Committee hosted a discussion on “The Importance of Engaging in Judicial Screening Committee Panels.” Moderated by former AABANY President Will Wang, who has served on the New York City Bar Judicial Screening Committee, the panelists included:

 Vincent Chang, Partner, Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch
– NY City Bar Judicial Screening Committee
– NY County Democratic Independent Judicial Screening Panel

Dai Wai Chin Feman, Partner, Dorsey & Whitney
– NY County Democratic Independent Judicial Screening Panel

James Chou, Partner, Moritt Hock & Hamroff
– NY County Democratic Independent Judicial Screening Panel (Former Panel Administrator)

Tristan Loanzon, Principal, Loanzon LLP
– NY County Democratic Independent Judicial Screening Panel
– Bronx Democratic County Committee’s Independent Judicial Screening Committee
– Kings County Democratic Judicial Screening Committee

The wide-ranging discussion covered the nuts-and-bolts, ins-and-outs and do’s-and-don’ts of serving on a judicial screening panel, drawing from the experiences of the panelists. All the panelists spoke about why it is important for attorneys, in particular diverse attorneys, to serve on these screening panels as a way of not only providing a public service but to make sure that diverse voices are heard and represented on them. The panelists shared inside tips from their own participation in various panels and imparted words of wisdom for future participants in these judicial screening panels.

We thank Paul Hastings for hosting the meeting and to all the speakers for sharing their insights with all the attendees. To get involved with the Judiciary Committee and to learn more about independent screening panels, contact the co-chairs, Robert Leung and Lind Lin, who can be reached on the committee’s webpage here: http://www.aabany.org/?page=115