FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2017
Contact: Yang Chen, Executive Director
(212) 332-2478
NEW YORK – May 26, 2017 – The Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) is proud to recognize an historic first for the Appellate Division, First Department of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Appointed by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Justice Jeffrey Oing and Justice Anil Singh join Justice Peter Tom in the First Department, which now has three Asian Pacific American (“APA”) sitting judges for the first time. We offer our congratulations to these decorated jurists.
Justice Oing was elected in 2003 to serve as a New York City Civil Court Judge. In 2010, he was elected to the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Judicial District, and assigned to the Commercial Division. He also served as Deputy General Counsel to the New York City Council in 2002 and 2003, and also served as Deputy Director of the New York City Districting Commission. Justice Oing graduated from Columbia College in 1986 and from New York University School of Law in 1989.
Justice Singh was born in India in 1958 and immigrated to the United States in 1976. He becomes the first Indian-American elevated to an appellate court in New York State. After being elected as a New York City Civil Court Judge in 2002, he was designated an Acting Supreme Court Justice in 2010 and was elected to his current role as a New York State Supreme Court Justice, First Judicial District in 2013. In April 2015, Justice Singh was appointed to the Commercial Division. He graduated from Lawrence University in 1980 and the Antioch School of Law in 1986.
“AABANY commends Governor Cuomo on appointing Justice Oing and Justice Singh to the First Department,” says Dwight Yoo, AABANY President. “During this APA Heritage Month, we honored our newly and recently inducted APA judges as well as retired APA judges at our inaugural Judges’ Reception on May 17, and at that event, Presiding Justice Randall Eng of the Appellate Division, Second Department spoke about the strides that have been made in the past three decades for APA judges in New York. Now less than a week later, we have Justice Oing and Justice Singh joining Justice Tom, with Presiding Justice Acosta at the helm. Diversity on the bench is being strongly reflected on the First Department bench, and we are gratified to be witnessing this historic development firsthand.”
“We join in congratulating Justice Oing and Justice Singh on their appointment by Governor Cuomo,” says Linda Lin, co-chair of AABANY’s Judiciary Committee. “We also wish to recognize Justice Tom on his exemplary service as Acting Presiding Justice, during which time he cleared a significant backlog of cases despite having limited resources. We thank Justice Tom for his dedication and commitment to public service, and we congratulate Presiding Justice Rolando Acosta on his appointment.”
Governor Cuomo designated Associate Justice Rolando Acosta as Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department, and appointed Supreme Court Justices Cynthia Kern, Peter Moulton, Jeffrey Oing and Anil Singh to fill four Associate Justice vacancies. AABANY congratulates all of Governor Cuomo’s appointees.
For more information, please contact Yang Chen, AABANY Executive Director, at (212) 332-2478, or direct any inquiries to [email protected].
The Asian American Bar Association of New York is a professional membership organization of attorneys concerned with issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community. Incorporated in 1989, AABANY seeks not only to encourage the professional growth of its members but also to advocate for the Asian Pacific American community as a whole. AABANY is the New York regional affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).
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