Official blog of the Asian American Bar Association of New York
The notice below is from Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence K. Marks relating to the annual report submitted to the Legislature, the Governor, and the Chief Judge evaluating the state’s experience with electronic filing. Please send responses to [email protected] by January 17. Read the notice for further details.
For Immediate Release I December 30, 2019
For More Information, Contact:
Jill Werner, Interim Executive Director, [email protected]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) extends its gratitude to Tina Matsuoka for her dedicated service as executive director of NAPABA for more than eleven years. NAPABA flourished under her tenure, which was marked by significant financial and programmatic growth.
“The NAPABA Board is grateful to Tina for her leadership and vision,” said Bonnie Lee Wolf, president of NAPABA. “NAPABA is recognized on the national stage for its effective advocacy and policy work and emulated by peer organizations in large part because of Tina’s efforts.”
Tina was the longest-serving executive director in NAPABA’s history. Before she joined NAPABA, she was a practicing attorney with experience in government and private practice.
In announcing her departure, Ms. Matsuoka said, “It has been an honor to have worked with dedicated and talented NAPABA staff, board members, and volunteers to support the Asian Pacific American community and diversity in the legal profession. Although I am looking forward to spending more time with my family, I will truly miss the NAPABA community of lawyers who have become friends and mentors.”
Jill Werner, who is now serving as NAPABA’s Interim Executive Director, has served in various roles at the American Bar Association, including as director of member retention and staff director of the National Association of Bar Executives and the National Conference of Bar Foundations.
The NAPABA Board of Governors is working to ensure a smooth transition and has begun the recruitment and selection process for the next executive director.
On December 19, 2019, many were on hand to celebrate E. Grace Park being sworn in as a judge in the Manhattan 4th Municipal Court District of the Civil Court of the City of New York.
Judge Park was born in Seoul, Korea where she lived through the second grade when she immigrated to the United States to join her mother in Chicago, Illinois. Thereafter, Judge Park moved to Boston, Massachusetts for her high school years. She attended Dartmouth College, where she received her B.A. magna cum laude in Government & Asian Studies. Judge Park holds two Master’s degrees: the first in Regional Studies – East Asia from Harvard University and the second in Public Administration from Columbia University. Judge Park received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1999, where she served as Senior Editor of the Journal of Constitutional Law as well as President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association. After graduating from law school, Ms. Park clerked for the Hon. Jacob Mishler in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, followed by five years in private practice. Judge Park then embarked on a career in public service with the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice, representing children in Family Court.
Congratulations, Judge Park, for your hard fought election and well deserved induction ceremony. AABANY wishes you the best of luck in your new career on the bench.
AABANY congratulates My Chi To on her appointment as Executive Deputy Superintendent of the Insurance Division at the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). In this role, she will oversee more than 1,400 insurance companies with $4.7 trillion in assets. My Chi To is an AABANY member and was a Partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, in the Restructuring Group and Global Insurance Practice.
According to the DFS Press Release which announced her appointment in November,
My Chi was awarded the Kathryn R. Heidt Memorial Award by the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. She also received the Best Lawyers Under 40 Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. An advocate for women in law and business, she is a member of the Steering Committee of the U.S. 30% Club, a group of business leaders focused on improving the representation of women at all levels of U.S. organizations, including corporate boards. My Chi will join New York state’s Committee for the Advancement of Women in Leadership in Financial Services, which was announced by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in September.
She received an M.Phil. in Politics from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She received an LL.L. and LL.B. in Civil Law and Common Law from the University of Ottawa and was a law clerk to the Hon. Claire L’Heureux-Dubé of the Supreme Court of Canada, the highest court of Canada.
Read the full press release here: Press Release – November 20, 2019: Financial Services Superintendent Linda A. Lacewell Names My Chi To As Executive Deputy Superintendent of Insurance
The New York Law Journal reported that My Chi is expected to start full-time at DFS at the start of 2020.
Please join AABANY in congratulating My Chi and wishing her success on this important appointment.