On Thursday, March 14, 2019, the In-House Counsel Committee hosted a very successful networking event at the cozy and upscale Freds at Barneys Downtown. In-house counsel from numerous prominent companies gathered and mingled over drinks and light bites.
The attendees took the time to get to know one another and shared insights into what their work entails. The general consensus appeared to be that the in-house counsel legal experience is vastly different from that of any other practice area and to be successful in this role, one has to learn to be a jack of all trades.
We thank everyone that attended and made the event a great success.
We also thank our In-House Counsel Committee co-chairs Grace Fu, General Counsel at Barneys New York, and Blossom Kan, Assistant General Counsel at Metlife, for hosting this event. A special thank you to Grace Fu for arranging such a beautiful venue for the event.
On March 7, 2019, Hon. Kiyo Matsumoto, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, participated in honoring Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at the New York City Bar Association for her commitment to upholding the rule of law and for being a role model to young students all across America.
At the event, Justice Sotomayor was honored with the unveiling of her portrait that will hang in the New York City Bar’s Great Hall and presented with the New York City Bar Association Medal. The Association Medal is a very prestigious honor that has only been conferred upon a total of 25 people in the last 67 years prior to Justice Sotomayor.
The awardees are chosen by the New York City Bar’s Executive Committee acting upon the nomination of the New York City Bar’s Honors Committee. Judge Matsumoto, a long time member of AABANY, is the chair of the Honors Committee.
The event was covered by the New York Law Journal. To read the article, click here.
On March 20, 2019, Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez is holding a workshop and roundtable discussion for small business owners on complying with the Americans with Disability Act.
Special guests invited to the event are State Senator Brian Kavanagh, Assembly Members Yuh-Line Niou and Harvey Epstein, and Council Members Margaret Chin and Carlina Rivera.
The workshop and discussion will be held in Chinatown at 49 Madison Street, New York, NY.
On January 16, 2019, Hon. Kiyo Matsumoto, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, was honored at the Conner Inn Annual Dinner.
The mission of the Hon. William C. Conner Inn of Court is to promote excellence in professionalism, ethics, civility, and legal skills for judges, lawyers, academicians, and students of law and to advance the education of the members of the Inn, the members of the bench and bar, and the public in the fields of intellectual property law.
Judge Matsumoto, a long time member of AABANY, was presented with the Conner Inn Excellence Award, at the Union League Club of New York, for her commitment and dedication to the promotion of excellence in the legal profession.
Please join AABANY in congratulating Judge Matsumoto on this well-deserved award and honor.
Chief Judge Dora Irizarry, EDNY(l.), with Judge Kiyo Matsumoto upon her receipt of the Conner Inn Excellence Award. (Photo courtesy of the Hon. William C. Conner Inn of Court.)
From left to right: Chris Kwok (Mediator at JAMS), Prof. Suzanne Kim (Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School), Prof. Robert Tsai (Professor of Law at American University and the author of Practical Equality), Hon. Denny Chin (Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit), Yang Chen (Executive Director of AABANY)
On March 11, AABANY co-sponsored a book release of Robert Tsai’s new book, Practical Equality. The event was held at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, and was also co-sponsored by UCLA Alumni New York Tri-State Network and Association of Asian American Yale Alumni.
Robert L. Tsai is a professor of law at American University. He is the author of Practical Equality and America’s Forgotten Constitutions and his essays have appeared in Boston Globe, Washington Post, Los Angeles Review of Books, Politico, Boston Review, and Slate.
Professor Tsai’s new book discusses a practical approach towards fighting for equality through the lens of legal ideas. It proposes that arguments not directly relevant to equality may achieve the goals of equality. It offers an alternative and more practical approach to the fight for justice.
The event mainly featured a panel discussion of the book. We were honored to have on the panel Hon. Denny Chin, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Suzanne Kim, Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School and Judge Denny Chin Scholar, and Professor Robert Tsai, the book’s author. The panel discussion featured many subjects, including Judge Chin and Prof. Kim’s thoughts on the book, people of colors’ historic struggles for justice, and contemporary political issues. The panel ended with a Q&A session, during which the audience engaged the panelists with questions raised by the panel discussion and the issues addressed in the book. Afterwards, the audience got to mingle among each other and with Professor Tsai, who also signed copies of the book which were made available for sale.
Panel discussion with Judge Chin (left), Prof. Tsai (middle) and Prof. Kim (right).
AABANY would like to congratulate Professor Tsai on the release of his new book. We thank Judge Chin, Professor Tsai, and Professor Kim for participating in the event. We thank Chris Kwok, Chair of the Issues Committee, for organizing the event. We also thank Seyfarth Shaw LLP for hosting the event at their office, and UCLA Alumni New York Tri-State Network and Association of Asian American Yale Alumni for co-sponsoring the event.
March’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, March 13 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 21 lawyers and 11 interpreters who volunteered their time to help 31 clients.
We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic by making donations that are vital to its continuing operation. In a few short years, with the tireless and generous assistance of our volunteers, we have helped hundreds of low-income clients with free legal advice and referrals to high-quality, culturally sensitive, and linguistically competent legal services. Together we have helped expand access to justice for underserved Asian American New Yorkers.
If you know family members, friends, or businesses, such as your firm, who would like to support the Clinic, please help us connect with them by contacting Karen Yau at [email protected].
Or please urge them to make a donation directly. They can visit the website of Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY), AABANY’s 501(c)(3) affiliate: https://www.asianamericanlawfund.org/donate/ AALFNY is accepting charitable donations on the Clinic’s behalf and can issue any donor a tax receipt. Any contribution, large or small, would help. Please be sure to indicate in the memo field that the donation is intended for the Pro Bono Clinic.
Thank you to all of the March Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!
Lawyers:
Samantha Sumilang
Kathy Yung
Beatrice Leong
Mayumi Cindy Iijima
Anna Jinhua Wang
Grace Pyun
Jonathan Hernandez
Ami Shah
Ricky He
Shengyang (John) Wu
Kevin Hsi
Kwok Kei Ng
Kelly Diep
Christopher Chin
Wei Li
Annie Tsao
Rina Gurung
Zhixian Liu
Pauline Yeung-Ha
Karen Kithan Yau
Asako Aiba
Interpreters:
Teresa Wai Yee Yeung
Eric W. Dang
Anna Chuen
Weiling Huang
Derek Ting-Che Tai
Satoshi Kurita
Bingzhen Song
Laura Tsang
Jessica Wang
Lindsay Hao
Justina Chen
Special thanks to Johnny Thach and Roger Chen for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Karen Kithan Yau, Pauline Yeung-Ha, Judy Lee and Asako Aiba for their leadership.
If you are interested in volunteering at next month’s Pro Bono Clinic on April 10, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected]. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.
