Registration for the 2021 NAPABA Convention is now open! Join NAPABA at the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C. from December 9-12 as we celebrate our 33rd anniversary. Whether you are looking to network with others, earn continuing legal education credits, learn the latest legal insights and trends, or find your next career or business opportunity, the NAPABA Convention is sure to have something for you! Register by September 20 to receive up to an additional $150 off.
Book Your Hotel We have a room block at the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C.! Take advantage of our $199/night discounted room rate. Apply for a Scholarship NAPABA offers a scholarship to defray the cost of the Convention. Learn more about our scholarship and apply today!
Don’t miss this opportunity to come together and connect with other AAPI leaders and legal professionals!
Your Safety at the 2021 NAPABA Convention NAPABA remains committed to the safety and well-being of its members and invited guests at its annual Convention. As such and given the continued existence of COVID-19, NAPABA will observe a COVID-19 safety protocol at this year’s Convention. To learn more about our COVID-19 Safety Protocol for the 2021 NAPABA Convention, click here.
The 2021 NAPABA Convention is generously supported by our Title sponsor:
AABANY encourages its members to participate in the New York State Attorney Emeritus Program (AEP), a New York State Court system initiative through which senior attorneys offer pro bono civil legal service. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Yorkers are in urgent need of legal assistance. Our membership is acutely aware that COVID-19 has not only severely exacerbated anti-Asian hate but also highlighted the reluctance to prosecute anti-Asian hate crimes; more broadly, COVID-19 has widened and drawn attention to the civil justice gap in New York State. Volunteering through AEP could be life-altering for New Yorkers in need, whether they are struggling with housing, consumer debt and bankruptcy, access to unemployment and subsistence benefits, end-of-life planning, and domestic matters, among other issues. AEP, helmed by former Court of Appeals Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman and endorsed by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, presents a substantive opportunity for AABANY members to give back and look out for its New York community.
To volunteer, AEP seeks lawyers aged fifty-five or older, retired or still in practice, in good standing, and with ten years experience. Attorney Emeritus volunteers commit to performing 60 hours of pro bono work with an approved legal services organization or court program over the two-year attorney registration period.
Attorney Emeritus volunteers also receive benefits including up to 15 CLE credits and special recognition from Chief Judge Janet DiFiore and Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Justice Initiatives Edwina G. Mendelson.
On July 22, 2021, the Membership Committee held a mixer at City Winery, Rockefeller Center. 30 attendees gathered for a casual meet and greet. In attendance to greet new and long-time members were President Terry Shen and Director David Sohn. Many of the attendees were students who were summer associates and interns from around the country, in New York City for the summer. Please keep an eye out for future Membership Committee events on the AABANY calendar. Save the date for Yankees Games, a Membership Cruise on the Hudson, and Arcades and Billiards Night. To learn more about the Membership Committee, click here. Not a member? Join here.
AABANY is excited to announce that President Terrence (Terry) Shen was featured in the 2021 Power of Diversity list of New York’s Top 100 Asian American Leaders published by City & State on July 19, 2021. Terry was recognized as 53rd on the list.
City & State wrote:
As partner at the law firm Kramer Levin, Terrence Shen represents New York’s top corporate interest clients like MVC Capital in its merger with Barings BDC, which represents more than $1.5 billion of assets. Shen is also the president of the Asian American Bar Association of New York. Under his leadership, the association released Know-Your-Rights literature, hosted public forums on rising anti-Asian hate crimes and organized candidate forums for New York’s district attorney races.
Congratulations and thank you to Terry for representing AABANY among New York’s most influential Asian American leaders.
In addition to Terry, several others featured on City & State’s list have worked with or been associated with AABANY, as members, community partners, or sponsors. We extend our congratulations to them as well.
AABANY has had the pleasure of working with Grace Meng, number one on City & State’s list and New York’s first Asian American member of Congress. At the forefront of fighting anti-Asian hate by spearheading COVID-19 hate crimes legislation, she was a speaker at AABANY’s press conference following the release of our anti-Asian violence report A Rising Tide of Hate and Violence against Asian Americans in New York During COVID-19: Impact, Causes, Solutions in February.
Among the others in the top 10, AABANY has worked with Ron Kim (2), State Assembly Member; John Liu (3), State Senator and first Asian American to serve on the City Council; and Margaret Chin (9), New York City Council Member.
AABANY also congratulates:
Sandra Ung (16), New York City Council Primary Winner for District 20 and former AABANY treasurer;
Shekar Krishnan (16), New York City Council Primary Winner for District 25 and former AABANY member;
Faiza Saeed (34), a Presiding Partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, a Gold Sponsor of AABANY for many years;
John Park (35), Executive Director of the MinKwon Center for Community Action, one of our longtime community partners;
Margaret Fung (38), Co-founder and Executive Director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, one of our longtime community partners;
Preet Bharara (52), as the first AAPI United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, a regular speaker at our annual Prosecutors Reception and an honoree at our Annual Dinner in 2015;
My Chi To (54), Executive Deputy Superintendent of the Insurance Division at the New York State Department of Financial Services and former AABANY member;
Ruchi Shah (65), President of SABANY, a sister bar association and longtime collaborator with AABANY;
Justin Yu (80), Chair of the New York Chinese Chamber of Commerce, an AABANY partner of many years for our walk-in Pro Bono Clinic; and
Thomas and Jill Sung (88), Chair and President/CEO, respectively, of Abacus Federal Savings Bank. Thomas’s daughter and Jill’s sister, Vera, is currently an AABANY member.
AABANY is privileged and honored to have worked closely with so many of New York’s most influential AAPI leaders. Congratulations to everyone who made the list, and we look forward to continuing our collaborations and partnerships in the future.
The full City & State article can be found here, starting on page 17.
On July 15, the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s (AABANY’s) Women’s Committee hosted an outdoor networking event on the Madison Square Park lawn, offering a variety of Chinatown Ice Cream Factory ice cream flavors to attendees that ranged from classic vanilla to ginger and black sesame. The AABANY Women’s Committee planned this networking event with two main objectives in mind: to ease everyone back into in-person events in a casual, outdoor setting and to get everyone comfortable with each other so that the Committee can engage in more serious conversations and initiatives in the future. The Women’s Committee was able to secure exciting ice cream flavors thanks to Co-Chair Jennifer Wu’s friendship with Christina Seid, owner of the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory and recently admitted law student. Wen Zhang remarked that one highlight of co-chairing for the Women’s Committee was supporting other remarkable women in law, and Christina is a case in point. As a business owner and mother, Christina already has her hands full, yet she is eager to embark on a possible second career through a flex program which entails devoting her entire Sunday to law school, in person, for the next year.
Attendees welcomed meeting new faces over refreshing ice cream in the remarkably warm weather, joining together to applaud and congratulate Vice Chair Grace Jamgochian’s recent election as a partner at Shearman & Sterling. Ashley Shan, an associate at Shearman, noted that she appreciated AABANY’s efforts and events, particularly because she is the Co-Chair of her firm’s Asian affinity group. She expressed a hope to work with and be inspired by AABANY initiatives for implementation at work in the future.
AABANY thanks the Women’s Committee for hosting such a fun, summer-appropriate event and the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for providing delicious ice cream. To learn more about AABANY’s Women’s Committee, click here. To learn more about the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory Committee, click here.
WASHINGTON – NAPABA congratulates Julie Su on her confirmation to become Deputy Secretary of Labor. Ms. Su will be the first Asian American woman to serve as the Department of Labor’s second-in-command.
“Julie Su’s experience leading California’s labor department – the country’s largest in a state that ranks as the fifth largest economy in the world, makes her extraordinarily well-prepared to serve as Deputy Secretary of Labor,” said A.B. Cruz III, President of NAPABA. “NAPABA congratulates Julie Su and applauds the Senate on her well-deserved confirmation.”
In 2014, NAPABA honored Ms. Su with its prestigious Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award, which recognizes the outstanding achievements, commitment, and leadership of lawyers who have paved the way for the advancement of other Asian Pacific American attorneys. Ms. Su was recognized for her advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable, poor, and disenfranchised workers, including for her efforts to hold garment manufacturers liable for exploiting slave labor.
Prior to her role as California Labor Secretary, Ms. Su was California Labor Commissioner, Litigation Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles, and has taught at UCLA Law School and Northeastern Law School. Ms. Su was a recipient of the 2019 American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award and a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation’s “Genius” Grant. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Stanford University.
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the largest Asian Pacific American membership organization representing the interests of approximately 60,000 legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American 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 color in the legal profession.
On July 12, 2021, AABANY Membership Director Beatrice Leong was interviewed by Stefanie O’ Connell Rodriguez on Real Simple Magazine‘s “Money Confidential” podcast. During the interview, which was broadcasted on all major podcast streaming sites, Beatrice, who is a divorce lawyer, discussed the benefits of obtaining a prenuptial agreement before marriage.
The interview talks about the practicality of a “prenup” and the stigmas tied to obtaining one. To hear more about prenups, click on the following links:
On May 26, Margaret T. Ling appeared as a guest on Attorney Kenneth Landau’s Radio Show Law You Should Know to discuss “Diversity in Law.” Margaret, who currently serves on AABANY’s Board as Development Director and has been serving for many years as Real Estate Committee Co-Chair, touched on the importance of racial diversity on the bench and the resources AABANY provides for Asian Americans in law. In response to Landau’s questions, Margaret explained that she values AABANY for its advocacy work, given her own experience as a pioneer in the field of law, as one of only three Asian law students in her class. Margaret stressed that AABANY provides a beneficial space for networking and mentorship, for local and international students alike, as well as a Pro Bono & Community Service Committee and Legal Referral and Information Service that’s well-equipped to aid non-English speakers with its volunteers fluent in diverse Asian languages. Over her career, Margaret has witnessed progress regarding diversity in law, but she notes that the “Bamboo ceiling” continues to prevent Asians in law from achieving partnership or other higher-ranking roles. Now, she fondly mentors thirty students, advocating for diversity in law, in addition to her impressive case load.
Out of over 1,400 submissions, AABANY Litigation Committee Co-Chair Luna Barrington has been recognized by Law360 as one of this year’s Rising Stars under 40, as she has secured defense trial verdicts in major class action suits against companies like C&S Wholesale Grocers and Johnson & Johnson. On June 4, Law360 published an article highlighting her recent accomplishments as a trial attorney, underscoring the massive damages she saved her clients by skillfully preparing for and conducting the trial with her trial team. Now a partner at Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, she recalls successfully advocating for a group of Mexican-American students in Tucson, AZ, pro bono, as among the proudest moments of her career: in federal court, Barrington fought a state statute banning a Mexican-American studies program in Tucson’s schools, denouncing it as a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments. She is also a first-generation lawyer and the first in her family to earn a graduate degree. Please join AABANY in congratulating Luna on being selected by Law360 as one of this year’s Rising Stars under 40, a well-deserved recognition of her achievements and trial skills.
To read the full article, click here (subscription required).
The EDNY ADR Department has developed the Pilot EDNY Mediator Incubator, a mediation mentorship program designed to offer practical experience to junior attorneys (less than 15 years of experience) with a substantiated interest in mediating federal cases, but who have little experience as a mediator. To be eligible to apply, applicants must be admitted to practice in the Eastern District of New York. Applicants are also required to be admitted to the Bar of the State of New York for at least five (5) years and must have completed a total of twenty-four (24) hours of mediation training. The required twenty-four (24) hours of mediation training may be the result of attendance at several distinct programs, or at one twenty-four (24) hour training.
After admission to the program, incubator candidates will be required to attend an initial training and orientation session, observe a minimum of three (3) EDNY mediations, and co-mediate at least three (3) EDNY mediations with an experienced EDNY Mediation Panelist. Any observations or co-mediations done through the EDNY Mediator Incubator will be done on a pro bono basis. Each incubator candidate will be matched with an experienced mentor. After successful completion of the EDNY Mediator Incubator, candidates will be eligible for, but not guaranteed, admission to the EDNY Mediation Panel. Applicants must complete the enclosed application and submit one letter of reference from a person who has direct knowledge of the applicant’s interest in and experience with mediation, and one letter of reference from a person who has direct knowledge of the applicant’s legal knowledge and areas of expertise. Applicants will be assessed based on their experience with mediation, including mediation advocacy and active participation in mediation and dispute resolution organizations and associations. Availability and commitment to the program will also be taken into consideration.
