The AABANY Prosecutors Committee finally held their Brooklyn get together after being postponed since December due to the Omnicron variant of COVID. Over 50 former and current prosecutors from Queens, Brooklyn, Nassau and Manhattan joined Committee Co-Chairs, David Chiang of the Queens DA’s Office and Joe Gim of the Nassau County DA’s Office to honor James Lin, who recently retired after 30 years of service at DANY (District Attorney New York) and KCDA (Kings County District Attorney). Prosecutors have been on the front lines of the crime wave that has struck New York City, and it was great to share the stories of our challenges and our efforts to overcome them! We also were joined by AABANY Board Member Karen Yau, who works on AABANY’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force, and Hannah Yu, DANY’s Chief of the Hate Crimes Unit. We are so excited to see so many Asian Americans representing the people of New York State! To learn more about the Prosecutors Committee, go to https://www.aabany.org/page/73.
On March 11, AABANY’s Corporate Law Committee hosted a panel discussion on how junior associates can become star team players. Over 60 attendees were present over Zoom. The moderator was Ashley Wong of Sidley Austin and the speakers, all mid-levels at leading law firms, were:
Keli Huang, Kirkland & Ellis
Douglas Kim, Debevoise & Plimpton
Amrita Mukherjee, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
James Park, Sidley Austin
The purpose of the panel was to provide guidance to junior associates on how to build stronger workplace relationships and produce deliverables more efficiently. This was an instructional program that provided 1.0 CLE credits in Law Practice Management.
Advice from the speakers included researching a deal team’s working style before accepting an assignment, getting to know the firm’s research tools and letting people know when one has made a mistake so it can be solved faster.
The event ended with a gift card raffle. Congratulations to Terry Shen and Evelyn Mau for being the lucky winners of a Seamless gift card!
Thank you to all who attended this event. To learn more about the Corporate Law Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/128.
On Tuesday, March 29, 2022, AABANY members attended AAPI Heritage Night at the Barclays Center to watch the Brooklyn Nets take on the Detroit Pistons. During this inaugural event by the Nets to celebrate AAPI cultural heritage, female South Asian acapella group New York Masti performed the national anthem, Chinese-American rapper Bohan Phoenix performed during halftime, and AAPI pioneers were honored during the game. As for the game itself, fans enjoyed an exciting game where the Nets overcame an early deficit to win by a final score of 130-123 with Kevin Durant leading the way with 41 points. Thank you to those who came out and stay tuned for future AABANY Membership Committee events!
On March 24, 2022 AABANY co-sponsored a reenactment on the history of anti-Asian violence and hostility at the New York City Bar Association in midtown Manhattan. The script was written by Kathy Hirata Chin and her husband, the Hon. Denny Chin, longtime leaders and supporters of AABANY, who spearheaded the AABANY Trial Reenactment project. “Kung Flu” marks the Trial Reenactment Team’s 14th production. “Kung Flu” was first performed to a standing room only audience at the NAPABA National Convention in Washington, DC, in December 2021.
The program examined the history of anti-Asian violence and hostility through narration, reenactment of court proceedings, and historic photos. Asian Americans did not hesitate to fight for their rights in the courts, and these cases raised issues that were — and still are — important to all Americans.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 10,000 incidents of violence and hostility against Asian Americans nationwide. But this is nothing new, for there is a long and little-known history of anti-Asian violence in this country — from the lynching of 15 Chinese in Los Angeles in 1871 to the expulsion of all the South Asian residents of Bellingham, Washington in 1907 to five days of rioting and attacks against Filipino men in Watsonville, California in 1930.
Likewise, the recent rhetoric about the “China virus” and “Kung Flu” is not the first time Asian Americans have been targeted over purported health concerns. In 1870, San Francisco passed two health ordinances that were enforced only against the “Chinese and Asiatics.” In 1900, amidst fears of the bubonic plague, San Francisco required “the inoculation of all Chinese residents” and quarantined Chinatown. The ordinances were not applied to members of any other groups.
The reenactment acknowledges the challenges Asian Americans have faced in the past and reminds us that much is still to be done.
We thank Judge Denny Chin and Kathy Hirata Chin for leading the AABANY Trial Reenactment Team and all the participants for giving their time to raise awareness on anti-Asian violence and hostility. We thank the New York City Bar Association for co-sponsoring and allowing us to perform “Kung Flu” in the Great Hall. President Sheila Boston presented opening remarks at the start of the program and performed as Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald. To learn more about AABANY’s reenactments project, please visit https://reenactments.aabany.org/.
On March 23, the LGBT Committee hosted a group dinner at Wu’s Wonton King in Manhattan Chinatown. Attendees enjoyed a delicious family-style feast featuring peking duck, Wu’s signature wonton soup, and crispy prawns, among other dishes.
The dinner honored Committee Co-Chair John Vang for his five years of service. Co-Chairs Glenn Magpantay and Jacob Chen surprised John with a bouquet and a speech thanking him for all his hard work.
The evening also included a roundtable discussion on future programming by the LGBT Committee. Attendees reflected on what queer Asian spaces could look like. The conversation engaged voices from all areas of law, from the Honorable Richard Tsai of the New York Criminal Court to students at Cardozo School of Law. Thank you to everyone who attended the event! To learn more about the LGBT Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/439.
On Thursday, March 31, 2022, AABANY’s Membership Committee hosted their last event of the fiscal year, supporting Asian-owned restaurant, Nowon. The #RestaurantSeries was created to support Asian-owned restaurants recovering from the impact of the pandemic. Twelve members were in attendance enjoying Korean-fusion cuisine. We ordered the “Mixtape” menu, Classic – Vol. 1, which included Korean Fried Chicken, their Legendary Burger, Crispy Tater Tots, and Yuja Donut Holes for dessert. Chef-owner Jae Lee came out during dessert to say ‘hello’ to our group. Everyone was excited to be back in-person, dining comfortably with others and learning about the diverse membership body. Thank you to those who came out and stay tuned for future AABANY Membership Committee events!
