Category: Uncategorized

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AABANY Launches Oral History Project with “How to Conduct a Journalistic Interview” Training

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: 

  1. Research beforehand to understand the context
  2. Prepare an outline, not a script 
  3. Ask specific questions 
  4. Make your subject comfortable; for example, the interviewer could share something about herself to establish rapport 
  5. Do not talk over pauses or break silences during the interview 
  6. Listen actively
  7. Ask follow-up questions, especially to clarify details 

To view the recorded webinar, please visit: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/xfycajTu4Y-D747nhp54m2oAxvLOG9_EgF1jJmQVZueIqRLh-RJsnO5q-RUYO5s.ht0Ph6-1MuWoQbje

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

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AABANY Co-Sponsors Asian Financial Society’s 2022 Women Leadership Panel

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.

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AABANY Congratulates Sudha Setty on Appointment as Dean of CUNY Law School

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. 

AABANY congratulates Dean Setty on this most recent accomplishment in a distinguished career. To read more about Dean Setty and CUNY Law School, please visit https://www.law.cuny.edu/newsroom_post/cuny-names-sudha-setty-as-law-school-dean/

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AAS @ Hunter College Presents Beyond Representation: What the Image of Inclusion Conceals

Join AAS @ Hunter College on Wednesday March 16th at 5PM EST on Zoom for Beyond Representation: What the Image of Inclusion Conceals.

RSVP: https://bit.ly/AASMarch16

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?

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MOCA is open with FREE admission until Mar. 27

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 admission for 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.

Contact

+1 (855) 955-MOCA

info@mocanyc.org

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AABANY Student Outreach Committee and Bankruptcy Committee Present: What Do Bankruptcy Lawyers Do?

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. 

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NAPABA Welcomes End of Discriminatory “China Initiative”

Released February 24, 2022

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.

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NAPABA 2022-23 Leadership Advancement Program Now Accepting Applications Until March 30th

2022-23 NAPABA Leadership Advancement Program

August 2022 through February 2023

Application Deadline: March 30, 2022

NAPABA is now accepting applications for the 2022-23 Leadership Advancement Program (LAP) for August 2022 to February 2023. LAP is a year-long experiential program, meant to equip mid-career attorneys with a skill set that will transform them into leaders, professionally and personally, while cultivating close-knit friends and resources.  Attorneys in the program will: 

  • Assess leadership and communications styles and use exercises to gain better self-awareness
  • Train to be more effective communicators and listeners
  • Learn how to set goals and ground their career vision
  • Become better at anticipating the oppositions faced in challenge
  • Grow their executive presence 
  • Leave with a cohort of 24 advisors and friends 

This cohort of 24 individuals will launch in a virtual environment, with the possibility of concluding with in-person workshops.

Grace Jamgochian, a Partner at Shearman & Sterling, a member of AABANY and Vice Chair of its Women’s Committee, and a former participant in the LAP Program described her experience as follows:

“Although I participated in the Leadership Advancement Program almost 5 years ago, I still have constant contact with my LAP community across the nation; we regularly seek advice from each other on all kinds of matters from parenting to random legal musings. The perspective you get from a small (but not too small) group of seasoned attorneys is really incredible!”

You must become a member of NAPABA to take advantage of this exclusive opportunity

If you have any questions or wish to apply, please visit the NAPABA website for more details or contact Maureen Gelwicks, Operations Director.

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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.

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NAPABA Applauds the Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court

Released: February 25, 2022

Contact: Mary Tablante, Associate Strategic Communications & Marketing Director

WASHINGTON –Today, President Biden announced the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Jackson clerked for Justice Breyer and currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

A.B. Cruz III, acting president of NAPABA, released the following statement:

“NAPABA congratulates Judge Jackson on her historic nomination to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She is a brilliant legal scholar and is well qualified to serve on the Court.

“President Biden’s promise to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court underscores his commitment to diversifying our judiciary. Notably, women and persons of color, including Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, continue to be underrepresented on our courts.

“If confirmed, Judge Jackson will be the sixth woman and third black Justice in our nation’s history to have served on the Court.

“We thank President Biden for nominating Judge Jackson and we urge the Senate to confirm her swiftly.

“NAPABA thanks Justice Stephen Breyer for his service on the Court and his mentorship of many NAPABA members who will continue his legacy in the legal profession and on the courts.”

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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.

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AABANY Hosts Family Ski Trip at Shawnee Mountain over Presidents’ Day Weekend

AABANY’s 2022 ski trip took place over Presidents’ Day weekend on Sunday, February 20, at Shawnee Mountain.  Carpools left New York City Sunday morning for the hour and a half drive to the Pocono Mountains.  AABANY members, friends, family, and children enjoyed favorable ski conditions at Shawnee on a crisp and sunny winter day.  Skiers met for lunch by the hearth in the Hope Lodge at the base of the mountain.  The ski day concluded with an après-ski dinner at the Gem and Keystone Tavern on the grounds of the historic Shawnee Inn.

Thanks to AABANY President Terry Shen for organizing this family-friendly event, and thanks to everyone for taking part. If you would like to see more family-friendly outings like the ski trip, send us your ideas at main@aabany.org.

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