For Immediate Release I December 30, 2019 For More Information, Contact: Jill Werner, Interim Executive Director, jwerner@napaba.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) extends its gratitude to Tina Matsuoka for her dedicated service as executive director of NAPABA for more than eleven years. NAPABA flourished under her tenure, which was marked by significant financial and programmatic growth.
“The NAPABA Board is grateful to Tina for her leadership and vision,” said Bonnie Lee Wolf, president of NAPABA. “NAPABA is recognized on the national stage for its effective advocacy and policy work and emulated by peer organizations in large part because of Tina’s efforts.”
Tina was the longest-serving executive director in NAPABA’s history. Before she joined NAPABA, she was a practicing attorney with experience in government and private practice.
In announcing her departure, Ms. Matsuoka said, “It has been an honor to have worked with dedicated and talented NAPABA staff, board members, and volunteers to support the Asian Pacific American community and diversity in the legal profession. Although I am looking forward to spending more time with my family, I will truly miss the NAPABA community of lawyers who have become friends and mentors.”
Jill Werner, who is now serving as NAPABA’s Interim Executive Director, has served in various roles at the American Bar Association, including as director of member retention and staff director of the National Association of Bar Executives and the National Conference of Bar Foundations.
The NAPABA Board of Governors is working to ensure a smooth transition and has begun the recruitment and selection process for the next executive director.
On December 19, 2019, many were on hand to celebrate E. Grace Park being sworn in as a judge in the Manhattan 4th Municipal Court District of the Civil Court of the City of New York.
Judge Park was born in Seoul, Korea where she lived through the second grade when she immigrated to the United States to join her mother in Chicago, Illinois. Thereafter, Judge Park moved to Boston, Massachusetts for her high school years. She attended Dartmouth College, where she received her B.A. magna cum laude in Government & Asian Studies. Judge Park holds two Master’s degrees: the first in Regional Studies – East Asia from Harvard University and the second in Public Administration from Columbia University. Judge Park received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1999, where she served as Senior Editor of the Journal of Constitutional Law as well as President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association. After graduating from law school, Ms. Park clerked for the Hon. Jacob Mishler in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, followed by five years in private practice. Judge Park then embarked on a career in public service with the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice, representing children in Family Court.
Congratulations, Judge Park, for your hard fought election and well deserved induction ceremony. AABANY wishes you the best of luck in your new career on the bench.
AABANY congratulates My Chi To on her appointment as Executive Deputy Superintendent of the Insurance Division at the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). In this role, she will oversee more than 1,400 insurance companies with $4.7 trillion in assets. My Chi To is an AABANY member and was a Partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, in the Restructuring Group and Global Insurance Practice.
According to the DFS Press Release which announced her appointment in November,
My Chi was awarded the Kathryn R. Heidt Memorial Award by the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. She also received the Best Lawyers Under 40 Award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. An advocate for women in law and business, she is a member of the Steering Committee of the U.S. 30% Club, a group of business leaders focused on improving the representation of women at all levels of U.S. organizations, including corporate boards. My Chi will join New York state’s Committee for the Advancement of Women in Leadership in Financial Services, which was announced by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in September.
She received an M.Phil. in Politics from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She received an LL.L. and LL.B. in Civil Law and Common Law from the University of Ottawa and was a law clerk to the Hon. Claire L’Heureux-Dubé of the Supreme Court of Canada, the highest court of Canada.
On Tuesday, December 17, the Academic Committee hosted their Annual Holiday Lunch at Dim Sun Palace in the East Village. Academic Committee Co-Chairs, Prof. Elaine Chiu (St. John’s), Prof. Suzanne Kim (Rutgers), and Prof. Donna Lee (CUNY) played hosts to a full table of members of friends who came to meet the Committee’s leadership and find out what events and plans they have in store for the balance of the 2019 fiscal year and beyond. Elaine, Suzanne, and Donna encouraged everyone to to save the date for a Pathways to Academia program being planned for January 24. They also asked for ideas and suggestions on how to get law students more involved with community service, such as by volunteering at the Pro Bono Clinic.
The fare at Dim Sum Palace was plentiful, varied, and delicious, and everyone enjoyed the dishes that were served. The weather outside was gloomy and damp but around our very full table, we were able to share a warm and satisfying meal among good company.
To learn more about the Academic Committee and how you can get more involved with it go to https://www.aabany.org/page/352 .
On December 16, new and regular members of IP Committee gathered to celebrate the end of 2019 at Nom Wah – Nolita. The group, comprised of a mix of members who are in-house, in private practice, and in law school, networked over juicy pork dumplings, shu mai, and scallion pancakes, among other dim sum delicacies. Members discussed issues they face in their practice, updates on their careers, and plans for the holidays.
Please look out for upcoming IP Committee events in 2020, including a panel on video streaming services, a Careers in IP event for those looking to enter the field, and additional social events. For more information about the IP Committee or to get involved, please see https://www.aabany.org/page/145, and contact one of the co-chairs – Greg Pan, Ben Hsing, or Jeff Mok.
December’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, December 11 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 22 volunteers who volunteered their time to help 23 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.
To make it easier for our members and our community to donate to the Pro Bono Clinic, we have set up a page on Give Lively where you can make a donation by texting APAPROBONO to 44321. It takes seconds to donate, and we hope you will take a moment today to support the Pro Bono Clinic and help it meet its fundraising goals. Please donate today!
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 December Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!
Lawyers:
Sye-Eun Ahn Jonathan Hernandez Beatrice Leong Jayashree Mitra Yan Sin Chizuko Ueno Anna Jinhua Wang Bart Wu
Interpreters:
Nanako Arai Ami Ishida Kenny Moy H. Anthony Park Ruth Poon Go-eun Son Xin Zhou
Other Volunteers:
Eugene Kim, Research & Administration Linda Liang, Research & Administration
Special thanks to Kwok Kei Ng for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Pauline Yeung-Ha, Karen Kithan Yau, Asako Aiba, and Judy Lee for their leadership. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. The next clinic will take place on January 8, 2020. If you are interested in volunteering at future Pro Bono Clinics, please contact Asako Aiba at asako.aiba@aabany.org.
On Friday, December 13, AABANY held its Annual Holiday Party once again at rent24, the site of last year’s holiday party. The venue, near Bryant Park, serves as a co-working space during the day. Over 100 AABANY members and their guests took over rent24 on Friday night to celebrate the holiday season. We enjoyed a variety of Korean dishes plus sushi and sashimi. A well-stocked bar staffed by two bartenders kept the drinks flowing. Many AABANY Board Officers and Directors were in attendance, along with several Committee Co-Chairs.
Pro Bono Committee Co-Chair Karen Yau addressed the attendees to ask for donations to the Pro Bono Clinic. Karen thanked her fellow Co-Chairs and Pro Bono Clinic supporters for all they have done to make a positive difference in the lives of many low-income Asian American New Yorkers who were in need of quality legal services but were barred by cultural, linguistic or financial barriers. Karen encouraged attendees to text-to-donate via a Give Lively account set up by AALFNY, the 501(c)(3) affiliate of AABANY. We projected on a wall the Give Lively site showing progress of donations. By the end of the party, we were able to raise another $900 to exceed $2500 in donations, reaching the 10% mark of our $25,000 goal.
We thank all the donors for their generous donations, and we encourage everyone to continue giving between now and the end of February. We are aiming to reach our goal by the time of the 2020 Annual Dinner. You can give now by sending a text to 44321 with the word “APAPROBONO.” Please help us reach our goal during this season of giving.
Thanks to Vice President of Programs and Operations David Sohn for leading the organization of the holiday party. Thanks also to our volunteers, Bryan Cheah and Grace Kang, our intern, Jessie Rong, and our Administrative Assistant, Margaret Langston, for all their assistance to make the party a success. And, of course, thanks to all our members for your support of AABANY, its mission and our community in 2019.
WASHINGTON – Today,
Patrick J. Bumatay was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit.
“NAPABA congratulates
Patrick Bumatay on his historic confirmation to serve on the U.S. Courts of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuits,” said NAPABA President Bonnie Lee Wolf. “Judge
Bumatay is the first Filipino American to serve as a federal appellate judge and
the first openly gay judge on the Ninth Circuit. We are proud to have supported
Judge Bumatay’s nomination.”
Patrick J. Bumatay is
an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Southern District of California. He currently serves in the Office’s Appellate
Section, representing the United States before the Ninth Circuit Court of
Appeals. Bumatay has held numerous positions in public service throughout the
Department of Justice, including the top three leadership offices. He clerked
for Judge Timothy M. Tymkovich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth
Circuit and Judge Sandra L. Townes of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of New York. He is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law
School. He is an active member of NAPABA, our affiliated bar—the National
Filipino American Lawyers Association, and the Tom Homann LGBT Law Association.
NAPABA thanks
President Trump for nominating Patrick Bumatay to the bench.
###
The National Asian
Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian
Pacific American (APA) attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students.
NAPABA represents the interests of over 50,000 attorneys and over 80 national,
state, and local bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners,
large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal services and non-profit attorneys,
and lawyers serving at all levels of government. NAPABA engages in legislative
and policy advocacy, promotes APA political leadership and political appointments,
and builds coalitions within the legal profession and the community at large.
NAPABA also serves as a resource for government agencies, members of Congress,
and public service organizations about APAs in the legal profession, civil
rights, and diversity in the courts.
NAPABA | 1612 K St. NW, Suite 510 | Washington, DC 20006 | www.napaba.org
AABANY’s Prosecutors Committee was founded in September 2008 to enhance the advancement and professional development of Asian Pacific American (APA) prosecutors, the establishment of a network between former and current APA prosecutors, the recruitment of APA law students to become prosecutors, and the cultivation of trust and communication between the APA community and the local prosecutors’ offices.
Our membership is comprised of current and former prosecutors of Asian American, Pacific Islander and South Asian heritage from all five local New York City District Attorney’s offices, Nassau and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Offices, Assistant Attorney Generals from the New York State Attorney General’s Office, as well as federal prosecutors from both the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
Each year, the Committee hosts an annual reception to honor those who have contributed to the criminal justice system as well as to promote diversity within the APA community in New York City.
On December 3, 2019, at its 11th Annual Reception, the Committee honored Gurbir S. Grewal, Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, and Gilbert C. Hong, Acting Justice of the New York State Supreme Court, for their exemplary and established record of public service and their commitment to diversity and inclusion in the profession.
Approximately 150 Prosecutors Committee members and guests filled to capacity the main auditorium at the New York County Lawyers Association, 14 Vesey Street, to celebrate this special event. The evening featured distinguished guests and speakers who provided congratulatory remarks to the Committee and the honorees.
The speakers at the daïs included the following representatives from state, local and Federal prosecutors’ offices:
Joseph Alexis, Executive ADA, Kings County
Geoffrey Berman, US Attorney, Southern District of NY
Bridget Brennan, Special Narcotics Prosecutor
Catherine Christian, Special ADA for External Affairs, NY County
Mark Lesko, Chief AUSA, Eastern District of NY
Derek Lynton, Chief ADA, Bronx County
John Ryan, Acting District Attorney, Queens County
Anthony Scarpino, District Attorney, Westchester County
Hon. Marilyn Go, Retired Judge, District Court, EDNY
Hon. Lorna Schofield, District Court, SDNY
Hon. Don Leo, Brooklyn Criminal Court
Hon. Danny Chun, Brooklyn Supreme Court
Hon. Phyllis Chu, NYC Criminal Court
Hon. John Hecht, Brooklyn Supreme Court
Hon. Dean Kusakabe, Queens Family Court
Hon. Judy Kim, NYC Criminal Court
Hon. Daniel Lewis, Queens Supreme Court
Hon. Richard Tsai, NYC Criminal Court
Hon. Cori Weston, Judge, NYC Criminal Court
Distinguished guests included:
Agnes Chan, first Asian woman detective in NYPD history
Yang Chen, Executive Director of AABANY
Sherry Cohen, Chief of Legal Recruitment, Bronx County
Lila Kirton, Bureau Chief, Westchester County
Jesse Sligh, Executive ADA, Queens County
Brian Song, President, AABANY
In addition, the family of NYPD Det. Wenjian Liu, who made the ultimate sacrifice when he was killed in the line of duty in 2014, made a special visit to the Reception. Det. Liu’s family received the Prosecutors Committee’s posthumous award on Det. Liu’s behalf at the 2015 reception. The family was recognized with a heartfelt standing ovation and a message that Det. Liu will not be forgotten.
When AABANY President Brian Song delivered his welcome remarks at the start of the reception, he passed along the word from Queens County District Attorney-elect Melinda Katz’s transition team that her office is inviting applications, especially from diverse candidates at all levels. Many of the other speakers at the daïs lost no time in announcing that their offices were also hiring. We anticipate that prosecutors’ offices may see an uptick in applications coming out of this Reception.
AABANY thanks Prosecutors Committee co-chairs Myongjae M. Yi and Maria Park as well as vice-chairs Michael Leigh and Emily Ching for organizing the event. The Committee also thanks Kin Ng, Brian Lee, David Chiang, Catherine Christian, Francis Chin, Giyang An and the planning members for their assistance. AABANY thanks the New York County Lawyers Association for providing the beautiful venue again for this special celebration.
The American Arbitration
Association is now accepting applications for the 2020 AAA Higginbotham Fellows
Program, which will be a milestone year – our 10th year. The
training component of the Program will be hosted in New York during the week of
May 3, 2020. During the Program, Fellows
will engage with leading ADR practitioners for an intensive week of training,
seminars, and networking events.
Interested candidates can visit https://www.adr.org/HigginbothamFellowsProgram to download a copy of the Program Guidelines and Application or to apply online. This year, AAA will be offering limited scholarships. The deadline for applications has been extended to Monday February 17, 2020.
The AAA created
this highly visible, extremely successful one-year program in 2009 to provide
training, networking, and mentorship for up-and-coming diverse ADR
practitioners, who historically have not been included in meaningful
participation in the field. Since its inception, the AAA Higginbotham
Fellowship Program continues to exceed expectations with past Fellows making
gains in their ADR careers, including those who have successfully advanced to
the AAA’s Roster of Arbitrators and Mediators.
