Author: Ephany Wang

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AABANY President and Immediate Past President Listed Among City & State’s 100 Most Influential Asian Americans in New York Politics and Policy

Sapna Palla (top) and Brian Song (bottom)
Sapna Palla (top) and Brian Song (bottom)

AABANY is excited to announce that Immediate Past President Brian Song and President Sapna Palla have been included in the 2020 Power List of the 100 Most Influential Asian Americans in New York Politics & Policy, released by City & State. Song and Palla are jointly recognized as 52nd on the list. 

City & State wrote: 

The Asian American Bar Association’s mission is to ensure “the meaningful participation of Asian-Americans in the legal profession.” It has made strides under Sapna Palla, a partner at Wiggin and Dana LLP, who is the president for the 2020-2021 term, and under her immediate predecessor, Brian Song, a partner at the top law firm Baker & Hostetler LLP. The organization recently surpassed 1,400 paid members.  

Congratulations and thanks to Brian and Sapna to bringing AABANY to these new heights.

In addition to Brian and Sapna, several others among the honorees have worked with or been associated with AABANY, as members, community partners, or sponsors, to whom we also wish to extend our congratulations.

Among the top 10, AABANY has worked with Grace Meng, New York’s first Asian American US Congress Member; John Liu, State Senator and first Asian American to serve on the City Council; Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition; Ron Kim and Yuh-Line Niou, both state Assembly Members; and Margaret Chin, New York City Council Member.

From the top 11-50, AABANY congratulates:

  • Wayne Ho, President and CEO of the Chinese-American Planning Council, which has partnered with AABANY on the Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic;
  • Jo-Ann Yoo, Executive Director of the Asian American Federation, one of our community partners;
  • Frank Wu, President of Queens College, who co-authored our most performed trial reenactment, Building Our Legacy: The Murder of Vincent Chin; 
  • Preet Bharara who, as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was a regular speaker at our annual Prosecutors Reception and an honoree at our Annual Dinner in 2015; 
  • John Park, Executive Director of the MinKwon Center for Community Action, one of our community partners; 
  • Margaret Fung, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, one of our community partners; 
  • Faiza Saeed, a Presiding Partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, a Gold Sponsor of AABANY for many years;
  • Honorable Denny Chin, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and past AABANY President (1992-93), who currently helps lead our trial reenactments project.

From 51 – 100 on the list, we extend our congratulations to 

  • Jayasri Ganapathy, President of the South Asian Bar Association of New York (SABANY), one of our sister bar associations and past AABANY member; 
  • My Chi To, Executive Deputy Superintendent of the Insurance Division at the New York State Department of Financial Services, and past AABANY member; 
  • Nancy Yao Maasbach, President of the Museum of Chinese America, one of our community partners; 
  • Wendy Cai-Lee, President and CEO of Piermont Bank, a Bronze Sponsor of the 2019 NAPABA Northeast Regional/AABANY Fall Conference; and 
  • Justin Yu, Chair of the New York Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which has partnered with us for many years for our walk-in Pro Bono Clinic.

AABANY is privileged and honored to have worked closely with so many of New York’s most influential Asian American in politics and policy. Congratulations to everyone who made the list, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration and to partner in the future.

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From the Chinese-American Planning Council: Applications for New York COVID-19 Rental Relief Program Now Open Until July 30, 2020

Founded in 1965, the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) is the largest Asian American social service organization in the nation. With the aim to promote the social and economic empowerment of Chinese American, immigrant, and low-income communities of New York City, the CPC responds to critical needs of community members during COVID-19. In line with its mission, CPC is providing critical up-to-date information and resources in various languages. CPC now shares news of an emergency Rental Relief Program (RRP) introduced by New York State to provide one-time rental assistance to New Yorkers burdened by rent during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Someone may qualify for the COVID-19 Rental Relief Program if the four specifications below are met: 

  • You are a renter living in NY State. 
  • You have lost income between April 1, 2020 and July 30, 2020.
  • You paid more than 30% of your household income for rent before March 1st. 
  • Your household income (including unemployment benefits) is below 80% of HUD’s area medium income. 

Please note, the deadline to apply for the program is Thursday, July 30, at 6 PM ET. For further program overview and eligibility information, please see here. 

Below is an information flyer in simplified Chinese answering frequently asked questions about New York State’s COVID-19 Rent Relief Program. Applications are also available in Traditional Chinese, Korean, Bengali, Spanish, Russian, and Haitian-Creole.

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AABANY Co-Sponsors: Combating Anti-Asian Racism and Discrimination in the Workplace in the COVID-19 Era

On July 10, AABANY co-sponsored a CLE Program on anti-Asian racism and discrimination in the workplace in the COVID-19 era. The panel focused on how COVID-19 is causing an increase in anti-Asian sentiment and detailed the current state of workplace discrimination laws. Speakers included Helen Park, Counsel at Cozen O’Connor, and William Li, Principal and Founder of William K. Li Law PLLC. The program was moderated by Yoojin DeNiro, Co-Chair of the AABANY Labor & Employment Law Committee. 

The panel began with historical background on anti-Asian discrimination in the United States, with a focus on the recurring villainization of minority groups. Significant examples include the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the internment of Japanese during World War II, and the murder of Vincent Chin (mistaken for Japanese) by white auto-workers. 

Discussion also centered on the model minority myth as a barrier to recognizing the existence of workplace discrimination against Asians. Stereotypes perpetuating the image of Asian American children as math and musical geniuses may appear positive, but actually encourage a damaging narrative that deems Asians as a minority group not suffering from discrimination. The many repercussions include, for example, the separation of Asians from the rest of America by lumping them into one homogenous group and the characterization of all Asians as being polite and submissive. 

The panel then outlined the current state of workplace discrimination laws and provided tips for Asian employees to keep in mind when reporting such conduct in the workplace. According to William Li, legal protections against workplace discrimination exist at both federal and state levels. Some states, such as New York, will have a more extensive list of those protected from workplace discrimination than the Federal law. Tips to keep in mind when reporting workplace discrimination include maintaining an extensive paper trail, remembering that harassment need not be severe or pervasive in order for the employer to be liable, and that a complainant does not have to complain to their employer or file a formal grievance in order to establish liability. 

While discriminatory incidents against Asian Americans have increased in public since COVID-19, it is important to keep in mind that because most work remains remote, the full impact may not be seen until later. 

Thank you to speakers Helen Park and William Li for their time and insight, and Yoojin DeNiro for moderating. Additional thanks to the Cozen O’ Connor firm for hosting the webinar. Those interested in learning more about AABANY’s Labor and Employment Law Committee can do so here. 

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Asia Practice Committee Hosts First Event of the Year

On July 15, 2020 the Asia Practice Committee (APC) hosted their first event of the year, with around 20 participants attending the virtual happy hour. Attendees dialed in from across the country, with co-chair Jian Wu calling in from Beijing. Together with co-chair Conlyn Chan and Vice Chair Wen Zhang, they posed the icebreaker question: “What is your favorite activity to do during COVID?” Answers included biking, dancing, playing guitar, bread baking, and horseback riding. 

Participants were also polled about their motivations to attend APC events and what future content they would like to see. Guided by feedback, APC will look into hosting talks with Fortune 500 executives, general counsels, and law firm partners. Additionally, over the course of the next year, there are plans for events related to China-US business relations, COVID-19 impacts and solutions, and those that expand social networking opportunities for New York-based Asian Americans. 

The Asia Practice Committee was established in 2015 and provides a forum to network, learn, and attend events related to cross-border, international, and Asia-based law practice. For those who missed the event but would like to participate, please visit the committee’s webpage here. Feel free to reach out to the co-chairs to be added to the listserv and find out how to get more involved with the committee. 

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Congratulations to AABANY Recipients of the New York Law Journal’s 2020 Rising Stars Award!

On June 26th, the New York Law Journal announced the winners of the coveted 2020 Rising Stars category. This award recognizes the region’s most promising lawyers who are no older than 40 by the submission date. AABANY is proud to announce that three of the twenty seven recipients are members.

AABANY congratulates Ting S. Chen of Cravath, Swaine, & Moore, Jeffery Mok of Fish & Richardson P.C., and Ji Hye You of Schulte Roth & Zabel for impressive professional achievements and promise they have demonstrated thus far in their careers. Ting leads AABANY’s Corporate Law Committee as Co-Chair and Jeff leads AABANY’s Intellectual Property Committee as Co-Chair.

For further details and to read the official announcement, click here (subscription required).

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AABANY Co-Sponsors 4th Annual APAC Conference With Consilio on June 24

On Wednesday June 24th, Consilio held a virtual webinar for the 4th Annual APAC Conference, co-sponsored by AABANY. The event was moderated by AABANY member, Mengyi “Jason” Ye and Consilio Director, Brent Stevens. Discussion was led by three panelists, including Farhat Jabeen, Managing Director at Consilio; Geoffrey Sant, Partner at Pillsbury; and Meg Utterbeck, Partner at King and Wood Mallesons. 

Topics discussed included: 

  • Article 177 from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). This newly-issued ruling precludes Chinese companies listed offshore that are under investigation from transferring any information offshore for the purposes of responding to a US regulator. 
  • Cross Border Balancing Test. This test addresses the proper application of the Aerospatiale balancing test. 
  • Discovery constraints and logistics. The panel discussed how to properly execute discovery that aligns to ever changing regulatory pressures in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. 

For those who couldn’t attend the virtual conference but are interested, click here to view the recorded event.

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Intellectual Property Committee Holds its First Zoom Mixer on May 27th

On Wednesday May 27th, the AABANY Intellectual Property Committee kicked off the season with our first ever Zoom mixer.  The session started off with some TV and movie-based Rebus puzzles, which were easily crushed by the codebreaking attendees.  There will be more challenging games to come.   We followed with learning a bit about each other and finding out what people have literally been cooking with more time at home.  Fun ideas and plans for future events and activities were discussed, so there will be more to come this year in the form of intro to IP sessions, career track discussions, case study discussions and ways to provide practical knowledge to artists, creators and inventors in New York City.

To learn more about the IP Committee and how to get more involved, go to https://www.aabany.org/page/145