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 [email protected]
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, [email protected]
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 [email protected]. 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.
NAPABA election season has kicked off! Below is information about nominating Officer candidates and applying for At-Large Board Member positions. Please share with your networks!
Remember, you must be a NAPABA direct member OR activate your affiliate membership online by July 1 to be eligible to vote in this year’s elections. Click here to join/renew today.
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.
On April 30, AABANY and Cleary Gottlieb co-hosted An Evening with Preet Bharara, at which former Acting US Attorney and current Cleary Partner Joon Kim engaged Preet in conversation about his new book Doing Justice. The event took place at Cleary and the room was filled to capacity, with those attendees who were not able to find seats standing along the sides.
After welcome remarks from Cleary by Managing Partner Michael Gerstenzang, AABANY President Brian Song offered some introductory remarks on behalf of AABANY and kicked off Joon Kim’s conversation with Preet Bharara. Preet spoke about his departure from the US Attorney’s office and the befuddling manner in which the President-Elect initially asked him to stay on as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, followed a few months later by his perplexing request, as President, for Preet to resign. Preet was confused by this request because he had been asked to stay on shortly after the 2016 election. When Preet received confirmation from the White House that the President indeed wanted him to resign, Preet refused, which led to his firing.
Despite starting the talk with President Trump’s firing of Preet, Preet pointed out that his book was not about President Trump. Preet stated that, in fact, the name Joon Kim shows up far more often in the index than Donald Trump. Preet spoke about his reasons for writing the book. He stated that for many years, he had wanted to write a sort “how to” manual for prosecutors who were at the start of their careers. He quickly realized that such a book would not make the bestseller list. Preet broadened his horizons and wanted to write a book that tackled questions like “What is justice? What is fairness? What is truth?” He realized that issues of truth and bias occur everywhere and affect everyone, not just in the law, but in society as a whole. He thus came up with Doing Justice, which is subtitled A Prosecutor’s Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law.
The conversation covered numerous subjects and stories from Preet’s storied career as US Attorney in the Southern District, one of the nation’s leading prosecutor’s offices. During the Q&A that followed, Preet was asked what his inspiration was for becoming a lawyer. Preet responded that when he was in high school, he entered a public speaking contest and had to memorize and present a speech by legendary lawyer Clarence Darrow. This speech was Darrow’s summation in the case of People v. Henry Sweet, in which Darrow defended a black man accused of murder during an attack by white neighbors who did not want black people living in their neighborhood. Preet committed the following passage from Darrow to memory:
After all, every human being’s life in this world is inevitably mixed with every other life and, no matter what laws we pass, no matter what precautions we take, unless people we meet are kindly and decent and human and liberty-loving, then there is no liberty. Freedom comes from human beings, rather than from laws and institutions.
Preet admits that he might not have fully appreciated the meaning of those words as a teenager but understood it better every day as US Attorney.
We thank everyone who came out for An Evening with Preet Bharara, and we especially thank Cleary for providing the space, food, refreshments, drinks and copies of Doing Justice. It was a wonderful event, filled with inspiring ideas and stories. For the many young lawyers and lawyers-to-be in the room, there was ample reason given to devote at least some part of their legal careers to serve the public interest, and we thank Preet and Joon for providing us that inspiration.
Congratulations to the Honorable Dorothy Chin Brandt, former justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Queens County, who was honored at the Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration hosted by the Queens District Attorney’s Office of Immigrant Affairs on May 2, 2019.
Justice Chin Brandt made history as the first Asian American female judge and the first elected Asian American public official in New York. She began her legal career as an Assistant Dean of Graduate Legal Studies at Harvard Law School and then as an associate at Shearman & Sterling. She joined the firm Dilworth & Paxson in Washington, D.C. and worked in private practice until her election to Civil Court in 1987. After 30 years of public service on the bench, Justice Chin Brandt retired in 2016.
As AABANY President Brian Song stated: “AABANY congratulates Justice Chin Brandt on being honored at the Queens County DA’s Office’s Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration,” states AABANY President Brian Song. “During the month of May, when we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage, it is most fitting that we recognize and celebrate the achievements of trailblazers like Justice Chin Brandt who has paved the way for generations of lawyers and judges that have entered the profession and achieved success by following her example.”
Please join AABANY in congratulating Hon. Dorothy Chin Brandt.
