Author: Joyce Liu

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Statement of Asian American Judges Association of New York on AAPI Underrepresentation in the New York State Judiciary

July 20, 2021 

As Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) jurists in the New York State court  system we celebrated AAPI Heritage month in May for the first time in our Courts by  participating in panels, co-hosting events, and acknowledging the many jurists that blazed the  trail for us. We also recognized the work that remains for the Courts to be inclusive of the AAPI  experience.  

Our fairly young history in the New York State Judiciary began only 38 years ago with  the appointment of the Hon. Randall Eng to the New York City Criminal Court bench in 1983. It  continued with the historic elections of the Hon. Peter Tom and the Hon. Dorothy Chin Brandt to  the New York County Civil Court in 1987. Judges Eng and Tom were the first Asian Americans  appointed to the Appellate Division and even served simultaneously as Presiding Justice and  Acting Presiding Justice in 2016. Equally historic was the election of the Hon. Anil Singh in  2002, the first elected South Asian judge, and his subsequent appointment to the Appellate  Division in 2017. The Hon. Raja Rajeswari became the first South Asian judge appointed in  New York in 2015.  

While we are proud to celebrate our “firsts,” many of us remain the “only,” and the AAPI  community remains underrepresented in the judiciary. Secretary Jeh Johnson highlighted this  fact in his October 1, 2020 report on equal justice in the New York State Courts, where he noted that AAPIs comprise 8.5% of New Yorkers and only 2.6% of the judiciary. Currently, there are  only 39 AAPI judges in all of New York State, and that is out of 1,227 jurists. Secretary Johnson  also reported that in New York City, AAPI people comprise 14.1% of the population and only  6.3% of the judiciary, and that the AAPI community remains underrepresented among judges  chosen by election. 37 of the 39 AAPI judges preside in New York City, and there are only two elected AAPI judges north of New York City. There has never been an AAPI judge elected in  Brooklyn, Staten Island or the Bronx. Only two out of the 86 Court of Claims judges are AAPI, and there are no South Asian jurists. No AAPI jurists currently sit on our intermediate appellate  courts in the Second, Third, and Fourth Departments. No AAPI has ever been appointed to the Court of Appeals.  

Of the 63 supervisory or administrative judicial positions in New York State, there are  only two AAPI jurists. None of the 12 Administrative Judges in New York City, 10  Administrative Judges outside New York City and 21 Supervising Judges outside of New York  City are AAPI jurists. These statistics show that Asian American and Pacific Islanders lack a full voice in the administration of justice in New York State.  

We call upon public officials, the Office of Court Administration, bar associations and  judicial screening committees to place a greater emphasis on diversity and inclusion that  recognizes and includes the AAPI community across all levels of the New York State Courts.  We also call upon our own AAPI community to be more proactive in all of the different stages of  the judicial appointment and electoral processes so that we can ensure that there is a multitude of  qualified candidates available for consideration. We hope to look back in the near future at the  progress we expect to achieve.

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Notice to the Bar: Preliminary Notification of Intent to Request Expansion of the E-Filing Program in the NYC Civil Court

On July 7, 2021, the Hon. George J. Silver, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge of the New York City Courts and Interim Administrative Judge of the New York City Civil Court and the Hon. Carolyn Walker-Diallo, Supervising Judge of the New York City Civil Court, Kings County, and Alia Razzaq, Chief Clerk of the New York City Civil Court sent a notice to all New York City local bar associations and other interested individuals. The notice announced that Judge Silver, Judge Walker-Diallo, and Chief Clerk Razzaq were submitting a request for e-filing for actions brought by a provider of health services specified in Insurance Law Sec. 5102(a)(1) against an insurer for failure to comply with the rules and regulations promulgated by the Superintendent pursuant to Insurance Law Sec. 5108(b) to the Chief Administrative Judge. They are requesting that this program, if authorized, be effective in the late summer or early fall of 2021. 

The Chief Administrative Judge is required by statute to post this proposal on the UCS website and invite comments from attorneys and all affected parties. This request and any public comments received will be presented for consultation to the NYC Civil Court Advisory Committee on E-Filing, which will then report its review of the proposal to the Chief Administrative Judge. The Chief Administrative Judge will then consider the request and may issue an Order after.

The NYSCEF Resource Center training staff will offer free virtual CLE training for attorneys, their staff, and other interested filers. For additional information, please see the notice linked here.

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In the News: AABANY Member Anna Mercado Clark Featured in The FilAm Article: “Lawyer Anna Mercado Clark’s Fork in the Road”

On June 30, The FilAm published a profile about AABANY Member Anna Mercado Clark, her decision to pursue the law, her professional background, and her Filipino identity. Born in the Philippines, Anna immigrated to the United States as a twelve-year-old and initially planned to pursue a career as a physician, even graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biology. However,  she became interested in the law after learning about Bush v. Gore following the 2000 presidential election. Curious about the law and its “impact on society,” Anna attended Fordham University School of Law, where she interned for the Hon. Denny Chin, who was then a judge at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and who now serves in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. After graduating law school, Anna worked as a criminal prosecutor in the Queens District Attorney’s Office and then as an attorney for a private law firm, where she represented health care providers in medical malpractice cases. She currently is a partner at Phillips Lytle LLP, where she leads the Data Security and Private Practice Team and the eDiscovery and Digital Forensics Team. Anna also serves as an adjunct professor at her alma mater, Fordham Law School.

Anna, who has described herself as “decidedly Filipino,” has always found ways to promote her Filipino identity. During her time at Rutgers, she served as president of the Rutgers Association of Philippine Students and helped plan the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue’s 2000 Conference. Currently, Anna serves in leadership roles in her law firm, in minority bar associations, and in the greater community. She credits her father, Dr. Daniel Mercado, for encouraging her to remain connected to and take pride in her Filipino identity. To read the full article, please click here.

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AABANY Members: Join Directory of Neutrals from Underrepresented Communities

The New York City Bar Association ADR Committee and New York State Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section are committed to increasing the selection of ADR professionals from historically underrepresented communities. To promote this goal, the two groups are compiling a directory of association members who are ADR professionals and self-identify as a member of a historically underrepresented community including but not limited to: a person of color, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, as having a disability, or identify as a woman.

The directory is being built in partnership with the following bar associations (list in formation): The Asian American Bar Association of New York, The Caribbean Attorney Network, The Dominican Bar Association, The Hispanic National Bar Association, NY Chapter, The Macon B. Allen Black Bar Association, The Metropolitan Black Bar Association, The Puerto Rican Bar Association, and The Women’s Bar Association.

If you are a City Bar member, AABANY member, or member of any of the partnering bar associations, and self-identify as a member of a historically underrepresented community and wish to be included in the directory, please fill out the following survey on or before July 23, 2021.

If you have any questions regarding this initiative or if you are a bar association leader and wish to participate in this initiative, you may contact Robyn Weinstein at [email protected] or Catherine Carl at [email protected]. 

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NAPABA Applauds Nomination of Jennifer Sung to the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and Shalina Kumar to the District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

WASHINGTON – On June 30, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Jennifer Sung to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Shalina D. Kumar to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. If confirmed, Ms. Sung would be President Biden’s first Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) to serve on the appellate court and the first AAPI to serve on the Ninth Circuit in Oregon. Judge Kumar would be the first AAPI Article III judge on the federal courts in Michigan.

“NAPABA congratulates Jennifer Sung on her nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Judge Shalina Kumar on her nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan,” said A.B. Cruz III, President of NAPABA. “It is indeed a historic slate for the AAPI legal community. If confirmed, Judge Kumar would be the first AAPI Article III judge in the state of Michigan. President Biden’s intent to nominate Ms. Sung is critical for our community to increase the visibility of AAPI jurists on the appellate bench. Of the 179 authorized federal appellate court judges, there are only 10 AAPIs who are actively serving.”

Ms. Sung is currently a member of the Oregon Employment Relations Board, where she adjudicates disputes involving labor relations for an estimated 3,000 Oregon employers and 250,000 workers in the public and private sector covered by collective bargaining laws. Prior to her appointment to the Board, she was a partner at McKanna Bishop Joffee, LLP in Portland. Earlier in her career, Ms. Sung was an executive board member of the New York chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. She is a graduate of Oberlin College and earned her J.D. from Yale Law School.

Judge Kumar currently serves as Chief Judge of the Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court in Michigan. She has been on the bench since 2007, has served as presiding judge of the Adult Treatment Court, and was appointed Chief Judge by the Michigan Supreme Court in 2018. Judge Kumar previously practiced at the Weiner & Cox law firm and served on the executive board of the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association and as a member of the Women’s Bar Association. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, and her law degree from the University of Detroit-Mercy.

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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.

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In the News: Judiciary Committee Co-Chair William Wang Quoted in Democrat and Chronicle Article about the New York State Judiciary’s Lack of Diversity

On June 17, 2021, Judiciary Committee Co-Chair William Wang (and former AABANY President, 2015) was quoted in a Democrat and Chronicle article titled “New York’s judges aren’t as diverse as the state is. Here’s why that matters.” A report commissioned by Chief Judge Di Fiore in June 2020, which was released in October 2020, found that communities of color were underrepresented in New York State’s judiciary. Out of the 78% of state-paid judges who responded, only 14% identified as Black, 9% said they were Hispanic or Latino of any race, and 3% said they were Asian American. Sixty-nine percent of judges indicated they were white. In contrast, New York State’s population is 18% Black, 20% Hispanic or Latino, and 9% Asian. Citing the recent rise in hate crimes committed against the Asian American community, Wang argues that increased representation of Asian Americans in the judiciary will help members of the community feel more confident that they can attain justice when they are the victims of such violence. Wang states, “It’s very important for communities of color to be able to go into the court system, a system where they are trying to get and obtain justice and to see someone that potentially can look like them.”

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).