On Wednesday May 8, the Brooklyn Bar Association held its annual meeting on Wednesday and honored nine members of the local legal community during a ceremony at the Brooklyn Bar Association building on Remsen Street. AABANY is proud to note that its member, Hon. Lillian Wan, received the Diversity Award. Read the full article in the Brooklyn Daily Eaglehere.
From Yang Chen, Executive Director:
“AABANY congratulates Justice Wan on being honored with the first-ever Diversity Award from the Brooklyn Bar Association,” states Executive Director Yang Chen. “We have followed Justice Wan’s path to the bench and her rise over the years, and we commend the Brooklyn Bar Association for recognizing her with this well-deserved honor, recognizing her role as a trailblazer in the Asian American community and as a champion of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession and the community.”
A recent Law360 article entitled “Why Are Law Clerks So White” reported:
Take any five federal law clerks, and at least four of them would probably be white. And nobody can be certain why.
California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu has some guesses about the reasons black, Asian and Latino lawyers are largely shut out of these prestigious positions that can turbocharge a lawyer’s early career. But he says it’s impossible to pinpoint reasons or patterns because so little data exists.
“We actually don’t even know the most basic things about those opportunities,” Justice Liu told Law360. “It would be interesting if we could know even basic things, like do women judges get more women clerks? We have impressions of that, but we don’t know with any precision whether these things are true.”
The article went on to talk about how Justice Liu plans to address these questions in Portrait Project 2.0. AABANY is supporting this research as a Silver Sponsor. AABANY challenges its members to donate to Portrait Project 2.0. AABANY will match member donations up to $5,000. Join AABANY in advancing the work of Portrait Project 2.0. Read more at https://www.aabany.org/page/PortraitProject20
May’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, May 8 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 14 lawyers and 6 interpreters who volunteered their time to help 15 clients.
We are asking every member to
actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic by making donations that are
vital to its continuing operation. In a few short years, with the tireless and
generous assistance of our volunteers, we have helped hundreds of low-income
clients with free legal advice and referrals to high-quality, culturally
sensitive, and linguistically competent legal services. Together we have helped
expand access to justice for underserved Asian American New Yorkers.
If you know family members, friends,
or businesses, such as your firm, who would like to support the Clinic, please
help us connect with them by contacting Karen Yau at karen.yau@aabany.org.
Or please urge them to make a
donation directly. They can visit the website of Asian American Law Fund of New
York (AALFNY), AABANY’s 501(c)(3) affiliate: https://www.asianamericanlawfund.org/donate/ AALFNY
is accepting charitable donations on the Clinic’s behalf and can issue any
donor a tax receipt. Any contribution, large or small, would help. Please be
sure to indicate in the memo field that the donation is intended for the Pro
Bono Clinic.
Thank you to all of the May Pro Bono
Clinic Volunteers!
Lawyers:
Christopher Chin Francis Chin Thomas Hou Mayumi Cindy Iijima Satoshi Kurita Chris M. Kwok Eun Hye (Grace) Lee Beatrice Leong Nelson Mar Samantha Sumilang Annie Tsao Anna Jinhua Wang Shengyang (John) Wu Jiayun Zhang
Interpreters:
Carteneil Cheung Tianlin Liu Ruth Poon Serene Su Laura Tsang Hao Zhang
Special thanks to Kwok Kei Ng and
Zhixian Liu for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service
Committee Co-Chairs Karen Kithan Yau, Judy Lee and Asako Aiba for their leadership.
If you are interested in
volunteering at future Pro Bono Clinics, please contact Asako Aiba at asako.aiba@aabany.org.
AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to
8:30 PM.
Accepting Nominations for Officer Candidates and Applications for At-Large Board Members for NAPABA’s 2019-20 Bar Year
The NAPABA Board of Governors consists of nine Officers who are elected by the membership, ten Regional Governors who are chosen by the NAPABA Regions, and four At-Large Board Members who are appointed by the Board of Governors. Now through July 8 at 5 p.m. EDT, the NAPABA Nominating & Elections Committee will be accepting nominations for members who want to stand for election as Officers and applications from members who want to be considered for At-Large Board Member positions.
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is conducting a survey to assess Asian Pacific American attorney and law student engagement with bar associations and in particular affinity bar associations. The results of the survey will aid NAPABA in measuring our reach and effectiveness and assessing our priorities.
We need a few minutes of your time to complete a survey. Your feedback will help guide us as we strive to further NAPABA’s mission to:
Be the national voice for the Asian Pacific American legal profession;
Promote justice, equity, and opportunity for Asian Pacific Americans; and
Foster professional development, legal scholarship, advocacy, and community involvement.
The survey should take approximately 10-18 minutes to complete. Responses to the survey will be kept strictly confidential. The last day to complete this survey is May 13, 2019.
To show our appreciation to those that complete the survey, we will enter you into a drawing for one of the following prizes:
Complimentary registration for the NAPABA Convention in Austin, Texas from November 7-10, 2019;
Complimentary room upgrade to a Junior Suite at the Convention hotel, JW Marriott Austin; or
One of three $100 Amazon gift cards.
We would greatly appreciate your candid, thoughtful, and detailed responses.
Should you have any questions about the survey or need help completing it, please contact membership@napaba.org
From Everett Lo, Project Manager, Social Security Administration:
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), recognizing the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the United States. May is also Mental Health Awareness Month, when we shine a light on mental health. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, Social Security is there for you and your family, providing financial protection and vital services for all Americans, including AAPIs.
The 2019 APAHM theme, Unite Our Mission by Engaging Each Other, affords a unique opportunity to work together to ensure access to Social Security’s programs and benefits for AAPIs experiencing mental illness. Please join us for an informative call as we discuss Mental Illness in the AAPI Community, and How Social Security Can Help, on Thursday, May 23, 2019, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT. You must register by Monday, May 20, 2019 by 5:00 p.m. EDT to participate in this call. Registrants will receive conference call dial-in information in a separate email on Wednesday, May 22, 2019.
Leading advocates in AAPI mental health will share personal insights, and representatives from Social Security will explain how we evaluate mental illness for Social Security Disability benefits, including resources available to help you.
We hope you can participate in this important call. You may learn more about how Social Security is with AAPIs through life’s journey on our Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders page. For more information, contact Everett Lo, Project Manager, Social Security Administration, Everett.Lo@ssa.gov
On Sunday, April 28, AABANY co-sponsored the annual Asian Pacific American Women’s Conference at Pace University. Hosted by the Organization of Chinese Advocates and Families with Children from China, the Conference was a full day of fruitful panel discussions that revolved around the sociopolitical issues that affect the Asian Pacific American woman–from #MeToo to mental health. As part of the conference, AABANY hosted a pro bono clinic and the following members gave community presentations on their areas of practice:
Tsui H. Yee (Law Offices of Tsui H. Yee P.C.): Immigration Law
Karen Kithan Yau (Kakalec Law PLLC): Protection from Wage Theft and Employment Discrimination
Beatrice Leong (Parmet and Zhou LLC): Family Law
Samantha Sumilang (Lazarus, Karp & Kalamotousakis LLP): Landlord-Tenant Law
Beatrice Leong delivers a community presentation about Family Law
AABANY also had the opportunity to table at the resource fair and spread awareness about our monthly pro bono clinic. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and said hello!
Thank you to all of the APA Women’s Conference Pro Bono Clinic volunteers! 24 volunteers in total showed up and provided valuable pro bono assistance.
Lawyers:
Kelly Diep Kathy Yung Angela Wu Grace Pyun May Wong Dianna Lee Elyssa Kates Samantha Sumilang Beatrice Leong Cindy Mayumi Iijima Nelson Mar Gloria Tsui-Yip Tsui Yee
Interpreters:
Henry Man Justina Chen Haruka Mori Charles Tan Carteneil Cheung Alicia Chan
Special thanks to Pro Bono Committee Co-Chairs Karen Kithan Yau, Pauline Yeung-Ha, Judy Lee, Asako Aiba, Vice-Chairs Kwok Kei Ng and Jessie Zhixian Liu for their leadership!
If you are interested in volunteering at future Pro Bono Clinics, please contact Asako Aiba at asako.aiba@aabany.org. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in the Community Room at 33 Bowery Street .
The Honorable Dora L. Irizarry, Chief U.S. District Judge
for the Eastern District of New York, is currently accepting applications for
three (3) Fall 2019 internships.
Qualifications:
Must be a second or third year law student.
Must have good grades.
Must have strong research, writing, and
analytical skills, although participation in Law Review or a Journal is not a
prerequisite.
Military and/or other life/career experience is
a plus.
Interested law students should forward via U.S. Postal
Service or Fed Ex the following materials [Emails will NOT be accepted]:
One-page cover letter setting forth why you are
interested in an internship.
Resume
Law school transcript.
One writing sample no longer than 10 pages.
Journal or research articles will NOT be accepted.
A list of 2-3 references with their contact
information.
To: Chief Judge Dora L. Irizarry
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of N.Y.
225 Cadman Plaza East
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201
The deadline for receipt of materials is June 3, 2019.
Please note that, while these are not paid internships, the
Chief Judge will participate in any school sponsored program that provides
academic credit.
If you have further questions, please contact chambers at:
718-613-2150.
AABANY’s 2018 Year End Report, covering our activities for the fiscal year that ran from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019, is now available. Click on the cover image to download the report in PDF.
AABANY thanks its Board Officers and Directors, Committee Chairs, sponsors, community partners and most of all its members for making FY 2018 a strong, successful and active year for us. Thank you for Serving Our Community, Advancing Our Profession during FY 2018, and we look forward to working with you all in FY 2019 in pursuit of our theme, United in Action and Vision: Towards 2020 Together.
