Day: April 3, 2023

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AABANY’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force Organizes Court Watching Event for Sentencing of Jarrod Powell, Yao Pan Ma’s Killer

On March 31, AABANY’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force, under the leadership of Chair Elaine Chiu, who is also a Professor at St. John’s University School of Law, organized and led a court watching event at New York State Supreme Court to observe the sentencing of Jarrod Powell, who pled guilty to manslaughter in the 2021 killing of Yao Pan Ma. Powell admitted that his act was motivated by racial hatred against Yao Pan Ma, and Powell was convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime. He will serve 22 years in jail plus five years of post-release supervision.

Prof. Chiu wrote on LinkedIn:

More than 50 Asian New Yorkers came out today to #rememberyaopanma at the sentencing of his killer, Jarrod Powell. Together we helped our communities be seen and heard and not forgotten. Congrats to the team at Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for their commitment to these cases. Asian American Bar Association of New York thanks @donblee and @waiyeechan of Homecrest Community Services and Ansen Tang of United Chinese Association of Brooklyn. A big shout out to @maywong of the Pro Bono Committee!

Jeffrey Gu, a member of AABANY’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force, wrote on LinkedIn:

The raw necessity of just showing up has never been more evident. Over 50 Asian American community members showed up this morning to #rememberYaoPanMa at the sentencing of his killer.

It is not easy hearing victim impact statements and wondering whether, under different circumstances, it could have been your colleague, or friend, or family member viciously attacked on account of their race. The killer admitted in his plea that he targeted Mr. Ma because he was Asian American. There is no amount of justice that can restore what was taken from Mr. Ma’s family: the loss of a father taken from his children, a husband from his wife, a son from his elderly mother.

Thank you to the Asian American Bar Association of New York for organizing the gathering of support. Thank you to Elaine Chiu for inviting me onto AABANY’s Anti-Asian Violence Taskforce and for your diligent work in this space on behalf of victims. Thank you to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for working on these cases.

As a community, what we can do is at least show up and refuse to let the stories of the victims of anti-Asian American hate fade away. Follow Asian American Bar Association of New York for future court watching and community gatherings.

Jeffrey is Co-Founder of Make Us Visible, a group advocating for AAPI history to be taught in school from K-12 across the country.

Hannah Yu, Chief of the Hate Crimes Unit in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, wrote on LinkedIn:

While this sentencing is the end of this sad chapter, the work of our Hate Crimes Unit continues. We are dedicated to serving every community in Manhattan and ensuring that everyone feels safe to be who they are. It is my sincere hope that the Ma family will continue to heal and find peace.

Her post included the Manhattan District Attorney’s Press Release on the sentencing that included the following quote from D.A. Bragg:

“Mr. Ma’s death was the result of a despicable racially motivated attack. His family endured an agonizing eight months in the hospital while the devoted husband and father of two remained in a vegetative state, before succumbing to his injuries on December 31, 2021,” said District Attorney Bragg.  “New York is one of the most diverse cities in the world, and no one should have to fear that they may be in danger because of their background. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that New Yorkers of all origins feel safe.”

AABANY thanks everyone who came out for this court watching event which epitomized the importance of the AAPI community showing up and standing up to speak out against AAPI hate. We thank Prof. Chiu for her leadership and Jeffrey Gu for his support and dedication. We thank Chief ADA Hannah Yu and the Manhattan DA’s office for their continuing fight to seek justice in hate crimes against the AAPI community and all targeted communities.

Support AABANY’s Anti-Asian Violence Task Force through our Turn the Tide (T3) Project. To learn more about the Task Force and its work, contact [email protected].

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Congratulations to AABANY President William Ng on Being Named to the City & State 2023 Law Power 100 List

On March 20, City & State published their 2023 list of the Law Power 100 in New York. As stated in the article: 

City & State’s Law Power 100 recognizes the most influential legal professionals in the world of New York politics and government. The list features high-profile elected officials, powerful prosecutors, high-ranking appointees, partners at prominent firms, defense attorneys, public defenders, legal scholars and others in the profession who advise or oversee governmental bodies, advocate for policy changes or argue cases before our highest courts. 

AABANY is pleased to announce that President William Ng has been named one of City & State’s Law Power 100 at 96 on the list. (At the time of publication, William Ng was AABANY President. His term ended on March 31, and he currently sits on the Board as Immediate Past President.)

Please join AABANY in congratulating William Ng along with attorneys from the following affinity bar associations that were featured in the 2023 Law Power 100 List (numbers in parentheses indicate ranking):

·      Carl Forbes Jr., President, Metropolitan Black Bar Association (93)

·      Deborah Rosenthal, President, Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (95)

·      Anthony Perrotto, Board President, LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York (97)

·      Megha Jain, President, South Asian Bar Association of New York (99)

·      Lejla Hadzic, President, Muslim Bar Association of New York (100)

We also congratulate the attorneys from the following AABANY sponsors (2022-23) for being featured on the 2023 Law Power 100 List (numbers in parentheses indicate ranking): 

·      Barry Berke, Jeffrey Braun & Gary Naftalis, Partner; Counsel; Partner, Kramer Levin– Platinum Sponsor (13)

·      Jonathan Lippman, Of Counsel, Latham & Watkins– Silver Sponsor (17)

·      Brad Karp & Jeh Johnson, Chair; Partner, Paul Weiss– Platinum Sponsor (29)

·       Neil Barr, Chair and Managing Partner, Davis Polk– Platinum Sponsor (34)

·      Jon Mechanic, Melanie Meyers & David Karnovsky, Partners, Fried Frank– Silver Sponsor (35)

·      Boyd Johnson & Preet Bharara, Partner-in-Charge, New York Office; Partner, WilmerHale– Silver Sponsor (37)

·      Neil Rock, Partner, Skadden– Silver Sponsor (39)

·      Faiza Saeed, Presiding Partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore– Gold Sponsor (42)

·      Michael Cardozo & Paul Salvatore, Retired Partner; Partner, Proskauer Rose– Silver Sponsor (44)

·      David Boies, Chair and Managing Partner, Boies Schiller Flexner– Bronze Sponsor (49)

·      Kevin M. Hogan, Managing Partner, Phillips Lytle LLP– Silver Sponsor (67)

·      Glen G. McGorty, New York Managing Partner, Crowell & Moring LLP– Silver Sponsor (81)

Congratulations to our sister affinity bar associations and our 2022-23 sponsors and to everyone who made the 2023 Law Power List 100. For the full list, click here.  

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Asian American Judges Association of New York (AAJANY) Statement Raising Concern about Newly Proposed Program Bill

March 30, 2023 – On behalf of the Asian American Judges Association of New York (AAJANY), we would first like to congratulate the seven candidates who have been nominated to fill the Chief Judge vacancy on the New York State Court of Appeals. Our state’s highest court is a Court for the people, inclusive of every race, ethnicity, gender, religion and more. Likewise, the process of selecting the six Associate Judges and Chief Judge that make up this Court must be thorough and all-inclusive. We wish to emphasize the importance of a fair and thoughtful selection process for any future Associate Judge appointment and express concern over the newly proposed Program Bill.


There has never been an Asian American judge on the Court of Appeals. To date, there have only been five Asian American judges on the Appellate Division, and only in the First and Second Departments. Since 1979, the Commission on Judicial Nomination has published 37 nomination lists for appointment to the Court of Appeals. An Asian American candidate did not appear on a list until the 25th vacancy in 2012. In the entire history of the Commission on Judicial Nomination, an Asian American has only appeared on the list on five occasions.


Jeh Johnson’s report on Equal Justice in the New York State Courts, dated October 1, 2020, highlighted the significant deficiencies in the representation and promotion of Asian American and Latino judges. There are no Asian American or Latino American candidates on the Commission’s current list for the Chief Judge vacancy. On Monday, March 27, 2023, new legislation was proposed which would significantly modify the well-established procedure for filling an Associate Judge vacancy on the Court of Appeals. Were the Governor to select a sitting Associate Judge from the Court of Appeals as the next Chief Judge, and then select from this same list of nominees to fill that vacancy, there will be no opportunity for the Governor to consider an Asian American for the Associate Judge position. In fact, there will be no opportunity for the Governor to consider any candidate of color. Diversity of candidates is paramount in the selection process of an Associate Judge to our highest court, and so we call for that process to be complete, fair, and inclusive of all.