Day: September 16, 2019

Posted on

AABANY Pro Bono Clinic Leaders Meet Taipei Commissioner of Law

On Tuesday, September 3, 2019, AABANY’s Pro Bono and Community Service Chair Karen Kithan Yau and Vice-Chair Kwok Ng had an opportunity to meet with the Commissioner of Law from Taipei City, Hsiu-Hui Yuan, and her staff in a meeting arranged by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of NY Inc., a  long-time community partner for the Monthly Pro Bono Legal Advice and Referral Clinic in Manhattan at Confucius Plaza. Commissioner Yuan and her team had expressed interest in learning from the AABANY Pro Bono Clinic’s experience to best meet the legal needs of the ordinary citizen. In addition to meeting with AABANY, Commissioner Yuan and her team will also met with Pro Bono Net, New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP), and Office of Legal Policy for US Department of Justice.

Commissioner Yuan and her staff members asked Karen and Kwok, members of the Clinic’s leadership team, about the Clinic’s history, challenges, and successes in serving limited English proficient, low-income community members. The discussion was substantive and far-reaching, ranging from overcoming barriers to justice that community members experienced, to legal policies and mechanisms to encourage positive use of the law, effective distribution of legal resources, use of mediation to protect consumers, and ways to encourage more volunteerism among extraordinarily busy lawyers.

AABANY thanks the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of NY and Commissioner of Law Yuan of Taipei City for this wonderful opportunity to exchange information and experience. To read about the meeting in the World Journal, click here (in Chinese). To learn more about AABANY’s Pro Bono Clinic, go to https://www.aabany.org/page/648

Posted on

New CJA Panel Applications Being Accepted

The Criminal Justice Act Committee of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York is soliciting applications from highly qualified and experienced criminal defense attorneys for membership on the CJA Panel for the District.

Applications will be accepted from attorneys who are available for case assignments in either the Brooklyn or Central Islip Courthouses, or both. The Committee is also seeking applications from practitioners whose experience is uniquely suited to handling petitions for post-conviction relief.

Assignments to the Panel will be for a three-year period, beginning January 1, 2020.

Applications are available at the Clerk’s Offices at the Courthouses in Brooklyn and Central Islip. The form of the application has also been posted at the Court’s website at:

https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/forms/cja-panel-application-form

Your application must be received by October 11, 2019. Please mail it to:

Douglas C. Palmer, Clerk of Court
United States District Court, Eastern District of New York
225 Cadman Plaza
East Brooklyn, NY 11201

Or submit via E-Mail at: [email protected]

Posted on

2019-20 NAPABA Board of Governors Election Results

NAPABA congratulates the newly-elected officers of the NAPABA Board of Governors for the 2019-20 board year. They will be sworn into office at the Welcome Reception on Thursday, Nov. 8 during the 2019 NAPABA Convention in Austin, TX.

The following individuals were elected by the NAPABA membership.

President-Elect | A.B. Cruz III

Vice President for Finance and Development | Bruce L. Ishimatsu

Vice President for Membership | Bridgett Y. Ahn

Vice President for Programs and Operations | Charles H. Jung

Vice President for Communications | Avanti Bakane

Treasurer | Gary Zhao

Secretary | Jeffrey Javinar

Posted on

Thank you to our September Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

September’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, September 11 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 31 volunteers who volunteered their time to help 23 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 September Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

Lawyers: 

Yvetta Scott
Julia Elhai
Breanna Andree-Couturier
Kelly Diep
Anna Jinhua Wang
Mayumi Cindy Iijima
Bart Wu
Samantha Sumilang
Shengyang (John) Wu
Annie Tsao
Beatrice Leong
Kevin Hsi
Jonathan Li
Christopher Chin
Karen Lin
Jonathan Hernandez
Francis Chin

Interpreters: 

Henry Man
Vivian Chen
Teresa Wai Yee Yeung
Alicia Chen
Weixi He
Xiaoxiao Pan
Ruth Poon

Special thanks to Coordinator Johnny Thach, Coordinator Jenny Lam, Technology Coordinator Roger Chen, Vice Chair Kwok Kei Ng, and Vice Chair Zhixian Liu for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Pauline Yeung-Ha, Karen Kithan Yau, Asako Aiba, and Judy Lee for their leadership. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. The next clinic will take place on October 9, 2019. If you are interested in volunteering at future Pro Bono Clinics, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected].