AABANY at Chinglish, Jan. 20

Thanks to all the AABANY members and friends who joined us on Friday night, January 20, to catch David Henry Hwang’s latest play, Chinglish, which played at the Longacre Theater on Broadway.

Members of the New York chapter of NAAAP (National Association of Asian American Professionals) and their friends also held a theater outing to see Chinglish that same night, and we got together with them before the show at Hurley’s, a bar next door to the Longacre Theater, for a pre-show networking reception.

The show featured a talented cast of mostly Asian American actors, telling the story of a hapless American businessman trying to close a business deal in China.  He encounters linguistic and cultural barriers along the way, resulting in numerous comedic incidents.

At the show’s conclusion, playwright David Henry Hwang joined the cast for a talkback, and both the AABANY and NAAAP groups got to stay and ask questions of Mr. Hwang and the cast.

Following the talkback, members of our two groups took photos with Mr. Hwang and got autographs from him and the cast on Chinglish posters that we all received.  After that, we headed next door to Hurley’s for a post-show hangout.  We got to meet some of the cast members there and also got to mix and mingle with each other.

Thanks to Lily Fan, an AABANY member and one of the show’s producers, for helping to bring about this wonderful evening.  Sadly, Chinglish will have its final performance on January 28.  It’s a funny, well-written and well-performed show, so if you have a chance to catch it before it leaves New York, go!

Chinglish poster 

My name is Amelia Clark, and I serve as the tournament director for the Yale Mock Trial Association. It is my pleasure to invite you to join us at the 2012 New Haven Regional Mock Trial Tournament, to be held Saturday and Sunday, February 11th and 12th at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Mock trial is an undergraduate student organization in which competitors from around the nation prepare and present a fictional case to attorney judges such as you. Past judges have reported it to be an engaging and rewarding experience, and are frequently impressed by the level of competition. In fact, many of our past judges choose to return year after year. This tournament, hosted by Yale University, serves as the first round of competition leading to the American Mock Trial Association’s National Championship Tournament, held in April.

Furthermore, as a law-related student organization, we are a certified provider of CLE credits to attorneys in New York and Connecticut. For just a few hours of your time, you would be able to earn 3 CLE credits free of charge. No mock trial experience is necessary. The success of this and all our tournaments depends on the generosity of legal professionals such as yourself who donate their time and energy each year. This year, the rounds will be as follows:

Saturday, February 11th

9:00 am: Complimentary Breakfast
9:45 am: Judge’s meeting
10:30 am – 1:30 pm: Round 1

*Complimentary Lunch after Round 1

2:45 pm: Judge’s meeting
3:30 pm – 6:30 pm: Round 2

Sunday, February 12th

8:00 am: Complimentary Breakfast
8:45 am: Judge’s meeting
9:30 am – 12:30 pm: Round 3

*Complimentary Lunch after Round 3

1:45 pm: Judge’s meeting
2:30 pm – 5:50 pm: Round 4

** We are particularly looking for people who are available to judge on Sunday, as we tend to have far fewer registrations for those rounds. Note that we are only certified to offer 3 CLE credits, even to those judges who choose to judge in multiple rounds. However, we do encourage judging multiple rounds, and in the past, many of our judges have chosen to evaluate both rounds in a given day.

To register, please fill out the form located on our website, http://www.yale.edu/mocktrial/judges.html. Upon registration, you will receive more information regarding event logistics.

If you have questions not answered on our website, please do not hesitate to contact me! Feel free to forward this information to any interested colleagues. The Yale Mock Trial Association depends on the generosity of volunteers like you for the success of this event, and we would greatly appreciate any help you could provide.

Thank you!

Amelia Clark

Yale University ‘14

Tournament Director

[email protected]

347-782-6546

Yale Mock Trial Association

PO Box 200440

New Haven, CT 06520

www.yale.edu/mocktrial

WSJ: Vinoo Varghese Secures Plea Deal in Art Fraud Case

WSJ: Vinoo Varghese Secures Plea Deal in Art Fraud Case

Applications Now Being Accepted for 2012 Public Interest Law Fellowship

The Paul M. Dodyk Fellowship for Economic Justice has been established by generous donors to the National Center for Law and Economic Justice in honor of Paul M. Dodyk, past Chair of NCLEJ and a great champion of using the law to promote economic justice and fair and dignified treatment for everyone in our society, regardless of their means. The Fellowship is designed to foster the next generation of lawyers working for economic justice while enhancing NCLEJ’s capacity to serve those who have the least in our society.

Dodyk Fellows will participate in a variety of high-impact legal and policy matters at NCLEJ and assist in developing new matters and areas of work. Candidates with expertise or interest in specific issues are encouraged to inquire about pursuing that work through the Fellowship.

Get more details on the Fellowship here.

You can see a video launching the Dodyk Fellowship in which a recent Skadden Fellow at NCLEJ describes her experience (go to www.nclej.org). A description of a recent Equal Justice Works Fellowship at NCLEJ may be seen at http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/node/2058.

Lunar New Year at the Met

Lunar New Year at the Met

a4 Festival: Locating the Sacred

a4 Festival: Locating the Sacred

Volunteers needed for National Trial Competition (NTC)

Hofstra Law School is hosting the local regional version of the National Trial Competition (NTC) and is looking for attorneys and judges to volunteer their time. CLE credits will be available to all those who serve as “presiding judge” or “evaluator.”

The competition will be held on February 9-11, 2012, at the Nassau County Supreme Court, 100 Supreme Court Drive, Mineola, NY. There will be a total of 33 trials over the three days in February, each requiring a presiding judge and at least two other individuals to serve as evaluators, to score the performances of the student competitors, three volunteers per trial for 33 trials.

Following is the schedule of trials:
Thursday, Feb. 9, 1:00 pm: Preliminary Round 1 (nine trials)
Friday, Feb. 10, 9:30 am: Preliminary Round 2 (nine trials)
Friday, Feb. 10, 2:30 pm: Preliminary Round 3 (nine trials)
Saturday, Feb. 11, 9:30 am: Semifinal Round (four trials)
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2:30 pm: Final Round (two trials)

If you have any questions about the NTC or would like to discuss the competition, please contact Jared Rosenblatt by email, [email protected].

AALDEF SEEKS VOLUNTEER INTERPRETER – MALAYALAM

AALDEF’s Economic Justice project seeks a volunteer interpreter who is fluent in Malayalam to conduct a 2 ½-hour consultation between AALDEF attorneys and a potential client in the coming week.  The consultation may take place at AALDEF’s New York office during the afternoon in a workweek, or by telephone during the weekend.  Interested volunteers should contact Jennifer Weng at [email protected] regarding their availability.