Day: March 11, 2024

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NAPABA and Indiana Legal Services, Inc., Welcome Legal Interns to Support Indiana’s LGBTQ+ and Immigrant Communities

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For Immediate Release: 
Date: March 11, 2024 		Contact: Rahat N. Babar, Deputy Executive Director

WASHINGTON/INDIANAPOLIS – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (“NAPABA”) and Indiana Legal Services, Inc., (“ILS”) are proud to welcome two dedicated legal interns who will provide direct legal support for ILS programs serving Indiana’s diverse and underserved populations. Niran Al Naili and Emmanuel Amponsah will be joining ILS for the spring semester in support of the its Immigrants’ and Language Rights Center and LGBTQ+ Project. Both come to ILS with compelling backgrounds: Niran is a recent L.L.M. graduate of the Indiana University McKinney School of Law (“McKinney”) and previously worked as an investigator for the Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq, and Emmanuel is a J.D. candidate at McKinney who has extensive community advocacy experience with vulnerable populations and is training to be a chaplain candidate with the United States Army. 

This partnership between NAPABA and ILS represents NAPABA’s ongoing commitment to meaningfully engage with the community in Indiana leading up to, during, and beyond the 2023 NAPABA Convention in Indianapolis as outlined in NAPABA’s Advocacy Action Plan.

The ILS Immigrants’ and Language Rights Center provides direct legal representation on immigration matters and language access cases to Indiana residents. The Center provides direct representation of non-citizens in a variety of matters, including asylum cases before the Chicago Asylum office, immigration court cases, lawful permanent resident and naturalization applications, petitions under the Violence Against Women Act, and petitions for immigration benefits for immigrant minors and for survivors of serious crimes who cooperate with law enforcement. The ILS LGBTQ+ Project is a statewide legal assistance program providing legal advocacy and representation to LGBTQ+ people in Indiana designed to address the disproportionate rates of poverty and violence in the LGBTQ+ community. The Project includes, among other items, representation to those seeking name and gender marker changes in Indiana courts and advocacy to protect LGBTQ+ students’ rights. 

Financial support for these legal internships is generously provided by the NAPABA Law Foundation’s Underserved Communities Fellowship, which is designed to increase legal services and advance equal justice for underserved AANHPI communities, especially in areas where such populations lack sufficient resources due to geographic isolation. For more information about the application process for interested law students, please visit here.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.

Indiana Legal Services, Inc. (ILS) is a statewide, not-for-profit law firm that provides free legal services to eligible clients in civil cases through 8 branch offices. ILS is funded by the Legal Services Corporation, Indiana Civil Legal Aid Fund, United Ways, Area Agencies on Aging, and approximately 60 other funding sources.

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Intellectual Property Committee Hosts Dinner at Barn Joo Nomad

On Wednesday, March 6th, the AABANY IP Committee gathered once again to enjoy a delightful evening of Korean cuisine at Barn Joo Nomad near Koreatown. The spacious table, accommodating 20 attendees, sparked meaningful conversation accompanied by an array of family-style Korean dishes. Dinner commenced, accompanied by yuzu and sesame-infused drinks, beers, and more. As conversation flowed, a variety of dishes filled the table, featuring spicy fried chicken, dumplings, squid ink pasta, kimbap, and salads.

The dinner sparked connections beyond intellectual property law, as law students, recent graduates, and attorneys specializing in various disciplines engaged in discussions ranging from building their law firms to pursuing careers in government-related IP roles. Beyond the topic of law, committee members took the opportunity to share personal endeavors and shared insights with the younger generation on navigating their careers.

The IP Committee continues to welcome new faces and nurture connections with existing members through casual dinners and other activities. If you are interested in IP law or wish to bond over Asian delicacies and shared professional experiences, please be on the lookout for future events from this committee!

To learn more about the IP Committee and how you can get involved, go here.

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TRANSCRIPT: Majority Leader Schumer Remarks at Senate Judiciary Committee Introducing Sanket Bulsara, Nominee To Be District Judge For The Eastern District Of New York

For Immediate Release

Date: March 6, 2024

CONTACT:  Alex Nguyen (Schumer), [email protected]

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke before the Senate Judiciary Committee, introducing Magistrate Judge Sanket Bulsara, nominated by President Biden to serve as District Judge for the Eastern District of New York. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank you Ranking Member Graham, my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee. As you know, I enjoyed serving my time on the committee, both for sixteen years in the House and sixteen years in the Senate on the Judiciary Committee

So, I’m honored to come before the committee today to introduce a truly remarkable nominee, Sanket Bulsara, who I was proud to recommend to President Biden to serve as a District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, which includes Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island. That’s seven million people in that one district.

Judge Bulsara made history in 2017 as the first South Asian American judge to serve in any court within the Second Circuit when he was appointed the Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District.

New York’s South Asian population is one of the fastest growing in New York and in America, I think. We’re very proud to have more South Asians in the New York metropolitan area than anywhere else, and they’re great, hard-working, family-oriented, law-abiding, great people and we love them. I try to make the bench look more like New York and more like America, and this is one example of that.

Before I begin, I want to take a moment to recognize Judge Bulsara’s wife, Chrissy DeLorenzo, a professor at one of the great medical schools in New York, Stony Brook, and she is with us here this morning, as you can see.

Judge Bulsara is – I’ll forgive him – a Bronx boy, but Chrissy is from Brooklyn so he likes to say he married into Brooklyn.

I also understand that Judge’s Bulsara’s parents, Jay and Aruna, are watching the hearing live from Los Angeles.

And Judge Bulsara’s in-laws, Tom and Loretta, are also watching live from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I’m sure they’re proud too.

Judge Bulsara is the epitome of the American Dream: a proud son of hard-working immigrant parents from India and Kenya who taught him the value of public service at an early age. His father was an engineer for the City of New York for 33 years, who not only raised his son to be a good Yankees fan, but even worked on the renovations of the original Yankee stadium in 1974. Before the renovations, I often got the cheap seats where you sat behind a pole, but they didn’t have that in the new stadium. His mother went to community college at night to become a nurse working with patients in low-income communities.

So, Judge Bulsara’s parents dedicated their lives to public service. I know he’s proud to be following in their footsteps. These are the great American Dream stories. We hear them every day in New York and around the country. It makes us so proud and so optimistic about the future of our country, which I am.

Judge Bulsara has all the qualities of a first-rate jurist. His colleagues and peers have praised his “excellent judgment” and he has been described by those who know him well as brilliant, ethical, even-keeled, energetic, hard-working. Those are some of the words my judicial panel used when they met him.

His credentials are undeniable: he’s a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law, he clerked for Judge John Koeltl of the Southern District of New York. After years in private practice, he worked to protect investors and our community’s financial markets at the SEC, where he served as Acting General Counsel in 2017.

Judge Bulsara also has a broad range of pro-bono work, and has been recognized for his outstanding representation of victims of domestic violence. He’s also worked to defend the rights of the incarcerated and individuals on death row.

And, again, he made history in 2017 as the first South Asian American federal judge on any court in the Second Circuit when he was appointed the Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of New York, where he served honorably since. I’ve appointed great people to that bench.

In short, Mr. Chairman, our courts need more people like Sanket Bulsara.

The Democratic Majority has been very proud of confirming scores of highly qualified, diverse judges– nearly 180 judges in fact –to the federal bench. Thank you, Chairman Durbin and Ranking Member Graham, and everyone else who has cooperated to help us reach that number.

These judges are reshaping the judiciary for the better, not only by making our courts look more like America, but by restoring trust and balance on the bench through their broad range of experience. I am confident that Judge Bulsara will serve with distinction. That’s why I’m proud to support his nomination.

I want to thank the Judge and his wife for being here. I want to thank the members of the committee once again and my colleagues on the committee for the opportunity to be here today. And I look forward to working with you to confirm more judges in the weeks and months ahead. Thank you.

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