On Monday, February 14, AABANY attended the Knicks vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder game at Madison Square Garden. The night’s theme was Celebrating Lunar New Year – the Year of the Tiger. The stadium banners featured red lantern designs to observe the holiday. The lively halftime show featured lion dancers and folk dancers.
AABANY cheered on the Knicks in custom Knicks Chinese New Year t-shirts. The game was suspenseful, as the Knicks built a lead in the fourth quarter but fell back to a tie with less than a minute left. In a finale that left audiences on the edge of their seats, the game went into overtime and ended with the Thunder winning 127 – 123.
Thanks to everyone who came, especially to Membership Director Beatrice Leong for organizing the event. To learn more about the Membership Committee, please visit http://www.aabany.org/?page=130.
On February 3, AABANY co-sponsored the SDNY Chapter of the Federal Bar Association’s third edition of the Talking with Trailblazers series. The series presents conversations with legal professionals who were the first to break representational ceilings in their field. The February 3 edition featured the first Federal judges of Asian descent in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. The panelists, all AABANY members, were:
Hon. Ona T. Wang, the first Asian-American Magistrate Judge in the SDNY.
Hon. Diane Gujarati (EDNY), the first Indian-American to serve as an Article III judge in New York.
Hon. Sanket Bulsara (EDNY), the first Indian-American judge within the Second Circuit.
Attendees were welcomed to join both in-person at the offices of Dunnington Bartholow & Miller in midtown Manhattan and on Zoom. All three judges were present in person, surrounded by an audience of lawyers and law students. The moderator was Padmaja Chinta, who is a partner at Chinta & Fratangelo LLP and the SDNY Chapter’s Chief Diversity Officer.
The panelists discussed a variety of subjects, from how they started their careers to the impact of mentorship. The judges had joined the legal industry from unexpected backgrounds. For example, prior to attending law school, Judge Wang had first obtained a Ph.D. in Zoology from Duke University. The judges also discussed the challenges they faced climbing the upper rungs of their careers. Finally, the conversation closed with a reflection on how the judges’ experiences shape their philosophies and practices on the bench.
Following the moderated panel, attendees both in-person and virtual were eager to ask questions. The event was expected to end at 7:00 pm, but due to the number of questions and the liveliness of the discussion, it did not formally end until 7:30 pm. At closing, in-person attendees also took the opportunity to meet the judges and members of the SDNY Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
Thanks to Judge Wang, Judge Gujarati, and Judge Bulsara for sharing their stories and their insights. Thanks also to the Federal Bar Association’s SDNY Chapter for organizing this series and including AABANY as a co-sponsor.
AABANY is starting a project that records the stories and memories of its founders and early members. Its goals are to help connect AABANY members across generations, generate research about the history and experience of Asian American lawyers, help younger lawyers and law students develop interviewing skills, and create shareable content. The project aims to post one story per day during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month on AABANY’s social media and have recordings for the AABANY Youtube Channel, presented in “Humans of New York” style of storytelling.
The project kicked off on February 16th with a training on how to conduct a journalistic interview. Led by former journalist and current attorney Stephen Lee, the virtual training gave pointers on how to capture stories that will resonate with people.
The training opened with examples of digital storytelling through Stephen’s online initiative, Our APA Heritage. Stephen launched Our APA Heritage to help share the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The website provides resources on how to gather and create visual content. Stephen also shows examples through memories collected from his own family members.
To help AABANY document its history, Stephen shared the following tips to conducting a good journalistic interview:
Research beforehand to understand the context
Prepare an outline, not a script
Ask specific questions
Make your subject comfortable; for example, the interviewer could share something about herself to establish rapport
Do not talk over pauses or break silences during the interview
Listen actively
Ask follow-up questions, especially to clarify details
Thank you to Stephen Lee, the Membership Committee and the Intellectual Property Committee for putting this event together. If you are interested in participating in this project, please fill out this Google Form: https://forms.gle/WeGB3ZRw8aoh6JdP6
On February 24, AABANY co-sponsored a hybrid Women’s Leadership panel, together with the Asian Financial Society, the Chinese Finance Association, East West Bank, and MSCI which hosted the event and the reception afterwards. Around 30 attendees joined in-person, with the rest participating by Zoom.
The panel of industry leaders were:
Jennifer Wu Partner, Paul, Weiss and AABANY Women’s Committee Co-Chair;
Janny Cheung, FVP-CRE Manager, Eastern Region CRE, East West Bank;
Chengying Xiu, Shareholder of Becker & Poliakoff, Chairwoman of AFS;
Angelene Huang, Executive Director, VisWise Global and board member of TCFA; and
Jigar Thakkar, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Engineering, MSCI.
The panel was moderated by Cara Chen (Executive Director, Client Coverage (Hedge Funds), MSCI).
The discussion focused on allyship and how women of color can meaningfully advance in their careers including through the support of bar associations like AABANY. Jigar talked about his practice of communicating with diverse people not just about what they have done right but the challenges of running a company; Janny Cheung talked about the diverse and supportive environment at East West Bank that treats everyone like individuals and that has allowed women like her to succeed; Chengying Xiu talked about the importance of speaking from the heart and being true to yourself; Angelene Huang talked about starting an organization that brings together Asian American professionals and how much she values toughness; and Jennifer talked about her journey from a premed student to a litigation partner and how as a first generation lawyer, other people had dreams for her that she did not have for herself.
Thank you to Asian Financial Society for inviting AABANY to co-sponsor and to Jennifer Wu for representing the Women’s Committee as a panelist. To learn more about the Women’s Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/122.
On February 22, Sudha Setty was named dean of the CUNY School of Law, the nation’s leading public interest law school and New York City’s only publicly funded law school. An exceptional scholar and legal leader, she is the first person of South Asian descent to lead a CUNY school.
“Dean Setty boasts a sustained record of accomplishment as an antitrust litigator, pro bono civil rights counsel, scholar of constitutional law and legal education leader, as well as a pioneering administrator and leader,” said Chairperson William C. Thompson Jr. “We are thrilled to welcome her to CUNY Law.”
Setty has been the dean of the Western New England University School of Law since 2018, when she became the first woman of South Asian descent in the U.S. to serve as dean of an American Bar Association-accredited law school. At Western New England University School of Law, Setty’s deanship has focused on enhancing the social justice work at the school and its commitment to racial justice and diversity, equity and inclusion. Projects she has overseen include the creation of the Center for Social Justice in 2019 and the inaugural Workshop for Asian-American Women in Legal Academia.
She is also a leader outside of the university. Currently, she serves on the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Standing Committee on Alternative Pathways to the Bar (co-chairing one subcommittee), on the Bipartisan Advisory Committee on Massachusetts Judicial Nominations to the U.S. District Court, on the Advisory Committee for the ABA Legal Education Police Practices Consortium, on the Deans’ Steering Committee of the Association of American Law Schools, as a board member for Community Legal Aid, and on the editorial board of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy.
Join us for a discussion on the politics of representation in the cultural field and the problematics of visibility organized around hegemonic constructions of racial identities.
The Asian American Arts Movement, including the renowned art collective known as Godzilla (1990-2001), centered on representation and inclusion.
Today, with more Asian Americans in the arts, does inclusion conceal the transformative work that still needs to be done?
Photograph and information courtesy of the Museum of Chinese in America
The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), in celebration of receiving a generous donation from Mackenzie Scott, is open with free admissionfor all throughout the run of the Responses exhibition, ending March 27, 2022.
Responses is an offering to our country in a moment of crisis. Chinese and Asian Americans are being blamed as the genesis of the coronavirus and targeted in assaults across the country, harming their bodies as well as their sense of belonging. To help us navigate what is happening, the exhibition explores the lessons of history and raises a collective voice against the rising tide of anti-Asian hate and violence.
As part of Responses, MOCA has commissioned new music composers ARKAI (Philip Sheegog and Jonathan Miron) and modern dance company J CHEN PROJECT to create new time-based works responding to and interpreting the exhibition’s themes. Visit MOCA’s website (mocanyc.org) for live, in-person performance schedules.
No reservations needed for individual visits.
The Museum is open during the following hours:
Sunday 11AM – 6PM
Monday – Wednesday CLOSED
Thursday 11AM – 9PM
Friday 11AM – 6PM
Saturday 11AM – 6PM
The museum is located at 215 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013.
About MOCA
The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) aims to engage audiences in an ongoing and historical dialogue, in which people of all backgrounds are able to see American history through a critical perspective, to reflect on their own experiences, and to make meaningful connections between: the past and the present, the global and the local, themselves and others.
On February 9, AABANY’s Student Outreach & Bankruptcy Committees hosted a virtual panel discussion on legal careers in bankruptcy and restructuring. The event, part of the Student Outreach Committee’s Students Meet Mentors Series, ran from 6:00 pm to 7:15 pm on Zoom. The panel was moderated by Student Outreach Committee Co-Chair Long Dang (Columbia Law School ‘22) and AABANY Student Leader Sharon Yang (Fordham Law School ‘23) and featured the following distinguished bankruptcy attorneys:
Panelists discussed their day-to-day lives as bankruptcy attorneys, recommended classes for interested law students (e.g., Secured Transactions, Basics of Bankruptcy), and shared their perspective on the bamboo ceiling in the industry. The discussion was followed by a participant Q&A, where audience members asked questions about the use of technology in bankruptcy law. The evening ended with a gift card raffle for attendees. Congratulations to Maggie Fang of the University of Pennsylvania Law School for winning the raffle!
AABANY thanks the Student Outreach & Bankruptcy Committees for organizing the event and all panelists, moderators, and students who attended. To learn more about the Student Outreach Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/121. To learn more about the Commercial Bankruptcy and Restructuring Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/353.
Contact: Mary Tablante, Associate Strategic Communications & Marketing Director
WASHINGTON –NAPABA welcomes the announcement that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will be ending the “China Initiative.” The program created an environment that placed heightened scrutiny on persons of Chinese ancestry in academic and research environments. For the past seven years, NAPABA has expressed concern about the profiling of Chinese American researchers and scientists and worked with partners in Congress to speak out against impermissible racial profiling.
“NAPABA applauds the end of the China Initiative,” said A.B. Cruz III, acting president of NAPABA. “We are pleased that the Department of Justice heard the concerns of members of the Asian American community, researchers, and scholars, that the program was creating a chilling effect and air of suspicion around scholars of Chinese ancestry. While NAPABA recognizes legitimate national security risks exist, with the increase in anti-Asian hatred, ending programs that create an impression of anti-Asian discrimination is even more important. We thank the Administration for putting an end to this counter-productive program and Rep. Judy Chu, Rep. Ted Lieu, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus for their leadership on this issue.”
During a speech on Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen announced changes that the DOJ is making to end the “China Initiative.” The China Initiative was established in 2018 to bring the DOJ’s economic espionage and national security investigations involving China and persons of Chinese ancestry under one umbrella. The program resulted in a number of cases in which charges were dropped or dismissed by the Courts, including the cases of Dr. Xiaoxing Xi, Sherry Chen, and Dr. Anming Hu.
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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 APA 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.
On Tuesday, February 8, 2022, AABANY held its Annual Meeting of Members for the second time on Remo. President Terrence Shen called the meeting to order and established quorum. The main order of business was conducting the election for the 2022 Board of Directors and Officers.
President Terrence Shen presented the Annual Report of the Board and thanked the Board members for their service during the past year. Treasurer William Hao and Membership Director Beatrice Leong presented the reports for their respective offices.
Executive Director Yang Chen presented highlights from the Committee Reports. Following the reports, awards were presented to honor AABANY leaders and committees for their dedication to AABANY over the past year. While these presentations were occurring, Immediate Past President Sapna Palla and President-Elect William Ng tallied the votes.
The following awards were presented:
Committee of the Year: The Membership Committee
The Membership Committee received the Committee of the Year Award for its outstanding contributions in promoting AABANY’s membership engagement and in recruiting new members. The Committee successfully transitioned from virtual mixers to in-person events. The most popular events include a visit to Little Island (New York’s newest public park attraction), live stand-up comedy as part of the Asian American International Film Festival, and a screening of “Shang Chi – Legend of the Ten Rings” in a private theater in Times Square.
Program of the Year: Turning the Tide (T3) Project
The Program of the Year Award was given to the Turning the Tide (T3) Project, a joint project of AABANY and AALFNY, for providing a holistic and practicable action plan to address anti-Asian hate and violence. AABANY established an Anti-Asian Violence Task Force, composed of leadership from several AABANY committees, to leverage diverse skills and talents towards turning back the rising tide of hate and violence against AAPIs.
Member of the Year: May Wong
The Member of the Year Award was presented to May Wong, for her prodigious contributions, not just but especially, this past year to further the mission of AABANY through the Pro-Bono and Community Service Committee as well as her collaboration with other AABANY Committees. At a time when committees were unable to plan regular events due to the COVID surge, May was forging ahead to come up with new ways for the PBCS Committee to successfully continue to serve and assist the AAPI community with their legal needs. As Vice-Chair of the Committee, she initiated many projects, liaised with law students and firms, led planning meetings, and often was the first to show up and the last to leave.
Congratulations to all the honorees for the recognition of their achievements and hard work during the 2022 fiscal year.
After the presentation of awards, Terry announced the election results. The following officers were elected and will begin their term one-year terms on April 1, 2022:
Karen Kim
President-Elect
Joseph Eng
Vice President, Programs and Operations
Beatrice Leong
Vice President, Programs and Operations
Evelyn Gong
Treasurer
Shirley Bi
Secretary
Christopher Bae
Membership Director
Anna Mercado Clark
Development Director
The following candidates were elected as Directors to serve two-year terms starting on April 1, 2022:
Grace Fu
William Hao
Gigio Ninan
Won Shin
Kazuko Wachter
Lawrence Wee
After the election results were announced, all the attendees were invited to stay and network in Remo. We thank everyone who came and participated in the Annual Meeting and the election. Congratulations to all the Officers and Directors who were elected to the Board to serve in the 2023 fiscal year that begins on April 1, 2022.
