Bharara’s Deputy Wall Street Cop Brings CV Pairing Citi, Gotti
Bharara’s Deputy Wall Street Cop Brings CV Pairing Citi, Gotti
Joon H. Kim, who was honored at AABANY’s Annual Prosecutors Reception, was recently profiled by Bloomberg Business’s “Bharara’s Deputy Wall Street Cop Brings CV Pairing Citi, Gotti,” by Greg Farrell and Patricia Hurtado. The article points out how Joon’s unique background as white collar defense attorney and mob prosecutor may be exactly what high-profile U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara needs during the final phase of his tenure. As quoted in the article, [Benjamin Lawsky] said “He’s not afraid to say, even to a good friend like Preet, that this is a good idea or not a good idea.”
To read more, click on the link in the title.
Federal Magistrate Judge Vacancy – Eastern District of New York
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2015
Shared By: Linda Lin, Co-Chair of the Judiciary Committee
PUBLIC NOTICE: FEDERAL MAGISTRATE JUDGE VACANCY
There is one (1) full-time United States Magistrate Judge position vacancy at the Brooklyn
Courthouse of the Eastern District of New York located at 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, NY
11201 effective October 1, 2015.
The duties of the position are demanding and wide-ranging, and will
include:
- conduct of preliminary proceedings in criminal cases;
- trial and disposition of
misdemeanor cases; - conduct of various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation
from the judges of the district court; - trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants;
and - assignment of additional duties not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United
States.
The basic jurisdiction of a United States Magistrate Judge is specified in 28 U.S.C., section 636.
To be qualified for appointment, an applicant must:
- be a member in good standing of the bar of the
highest court of a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin
Islands for at least five years; - have been engaged in the active practice of law for a period of at least
five years (with some substitutions authorized); - be competent to perform all the duties of the office,
of good moral character, emotionally stable and mature, committed to equal justice under the law, in
good health, patient and courteous, and capable of deliberation and decisiveness; - be less than 70
years old; and - not be related to a judge of the district court. An applicant should have federal court
experience and be knowledgeable in federal civil and criminal practices and procedures.
A Merit Selection Panel composed of attorneys and other residents of the district will review all
applications and recommend in confidence to the judges of the district court the five persons whom it
considers best qualified. The Court will make the appointment following an FBI and IRS investigation
of the appointees. An affirmative effort will be made to give due consideration to all qualified
candidates, including women and members of minority groups. The salary of each position is now
$185,012 per annum. The term of office is eight years.
Please note that the application form can be accessed on-line at the district’s website:
www.nyed.uscourts.gov. Application forms also may be obtained from the Clerk of Court at 225
Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York 11201, (718) 613-2270. Applications must be personally
prepared by potential nominees and must be received no later than SEPTEMBER 11, 2015. An email
with a copy in Word or PDF sent to NYED-APPLICATIONS@nyed.uscourts.gov and eight (8) paper
copies of the completed application must be mailed or delivered to the office of the Clerk of Court at the
above address.
Press Release: NAPABA Applauds Nomination of Jennifer Choe Groves to U.S. Court of International Trade
For Immediate Release
July 30, 2015
WASHINGTON – Today, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) applauds President Barack Obama’s nomination of Jennifer Choe Groves to the U.S. Court of International Trade. If confirmed, Groves will be the first Asian Pacific American (APA) judge to serve on this court.
“We commend President Obama for his continued commitment to judicial diversity with this historic nomination,” said NAPABA President George C. Chen. “As a longtime NAPABA member and a NAPABA Law Foundation Board member, Ms. Groves is an esteemed leader in the APA legal community. NAPABA looks forward to continuing to support her nomination.”
The U.S. Court of International Trade, an Article III court, has nationwide jurisdiction over civil actions arising out of U.S. customs and international trade laws.
Groves is currently the chief executive officer of Titanium Law Group PLLC and Choe Groves Consulting LLC, where she provides consulting and legal services in the areas of international trade and intellectual property. Previously, she was a partner at the law firms of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC, and Hughes Hubbard and Reed LLP. Groves also has served as the Senior Director of Intellectual Property and Innovation in the Office of the United States Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President. Earlier in her career, she was an attorney at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Fisher & Neave LLP (now Ropes & Gray LLP) and the District Attorney’s Office of New York County.
For More Information, Contact:
Brett Schuster, Communications Manager
(202) 775-9555, bschuster@napaba.org
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and approximately 70 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American 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 continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, 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 color in the legal profession.
To learn more about NAPABA, visit www.napaba.org, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter (@NAPABA).
Everything Before Us & Closing Ceremony of AAIFF ‘15, Aug. 1
AABANY is pleased once again to be a Community Partner for the Asian American International Festival (AAIFF). As such all our members get 25% off online ticket orders by using promo code aabnyaaiff15. (That’s AABNY – AABANY without the third A!)
You might be interested in seeing Everything Before Us and attending the Closing Night Awards Ceremony on August 1:
Everything Before Us takes place in the near future when all romantic relationships are overseen by the D.E.I (The Department Of Emotional Integrity). By assigning everyone a “Relationship Score,” this system is meant to promote responsibility, happiness, and order within the chaotic process we know as falling in love. Born from the realization that scores tend to pivot our decisions today, EVERYTHING BEFORE US is a playful response to our world run by systems and ratings. With a focus on two couples, Wong Fu Productions foreshadows our possible future if such an institution were to exist.
When Ben reconnects with his ex-girlfriend, Sara, to fix his damaged score, they’re forced to reconcile their past. While it seems as though one chapter of their lives has officially ended, their reunion turns out to be the beginning of many more as they must choose to either comply with the rules of the D.E.I or reject it all for the sake of love. Seth and Haley, recent high school graduates, are in their first registered relationship together. With bright eyes and innocent hearts, they experience the challenge of not only being each other’s first loves, but also each other’s first heartbreaks.
The AAIFF 2015 Award Ceremony will precede the screening of Everything Before Us at the Museum of the Moving Image. The Closing Night Reception will take place immediately after the film. For more information about the movie, click here. To purchase tickets, click here.
Please support AAIFF and Asian Americans in the arts, film and entertainment industries who are creating works about Asians and Asian Americans! Help us spread the word.
E3! Ambassadors: Educate, Engage, and Empower Young AAPI Leaders — Apply by Aug. 9
The E3! Ambassadors Program equips young leaders with the opportunity to work with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to brainstorm and implement their own unique ideas to help improve the overall quality of life for AAPIs across the country in the areas of education, mental health, pathways to public service, and immigration. E3! Ambassadors work to highlight key federal programs and resources in which AAPIs may be underserved. Selected E3! Ambassadors are encouraged to conduct outreach within their campuses and communities – whether it’s setting up a table to share resources at a campus fair, facilitating a workshop during a conference, or even utilizing social media.
The 2014 inaugural class of 31 E3! Ambassadors came from 29 different cities and hosted more than 55 events during the 2014-2015 year to educate, engage, and empower their campuses and communities.
The application can be found HERE. The deadline to apply is August 9, 2015 at 11:59 PM ET. Please note that late applications may not be considered.
If you have any questions about the E3! Ambassador program, please contact WhiteHouseAAPI@ed.gov.
I Will Not Be Silent: A Comfort Woman’s Road to Activism
I Will Not Be Silent: A Comfort Woman’s Road to Activism
Please join the Kupferberg Holocaust Center, KACE and KALAGNY on this special evening as we welcome Korean Comfort Woman Survivor Young Soo Lee to Queensborough Community College from Korea. She will share her story and journey to activism with the community. KALAGNY has been a leader and ongoing supporter in raising awareness on this issue. We extend a warm invitation to our members and friends to join us for this special program.
For more information, click here.
Press Release: NAPABA Files Amicus Brief in Federal Circuit Case Affecting Trademark Registration of Disparaging Marks
For Immediate Release
July 28, 2015
For More Information, Contact:
Brett Schuster, Communications Manager
202-775-9555, bschuster@napaba.org
WASHINGTON – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the South Asian Bar Association of Washington, D.C., (SABA-DC) and the Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality (Korematsu Center) jointly filed an amicus brief to support the U.S. government’s denial of trademark registration to an Asian American rock band in a case before the Federal Circuit. Amici were represented by Charanjit (Charan) Brahma, Michael Hobbs, and Daniel Sharpe at Troutman Sanders LLP.
Simon Shiao Tam applied to register a federal trademark for his band, “The Slants.” The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied his application based on Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act that permits it to deny registration of disparaging marks. Though Tam’s appeal was rejected by a panel of the Federal Circuit, the en banc court on its own accord vacated that decision and ordered an en banc hearing on whether Section 2(a) violates the First Amendment.
“Asian Pacific Americans are all too familiar with the harm, including violence, that often accompanies racial slurs and epithets,” said NAPABA President George C. Chen. “Although I recognize the band’s intent to reclaim a historically disparaging term, as an intellectual property attorney, I also am cognizant that changing the U.S. trademark regulations to allow the registration of ‘The Slants’ could result in the trademarking of offensive terms by individuals and groups without similarly positive intentions.”
“SABA-DC deplores the use of racial slurs and epithets, and while the particular epithet involved in this case is not one that is usually directed to our South Asian constituency, we believe slurs against any racial or ethnic group are damaging to us all,” added SABA-DC President Habib F. Ilahi. “The First Amendment protects free speech, but it does not entitle those who wish to use such derogatory terms for branding purposes to receive the stamp of government approval that comes with federal trademark registration.”
The amicus brief urges the court to recognize that federal registration of a disparaging mark implicates the government. It argues that the federal registry can be compared to county deed recording systems, under which property owners were permitted to record racially restrictive covenants. Until the 1948 case of Shelley v. Kraemer, courts enforced these private acts of discrimination. The amicus brief urges the Federal Circuit to not make the federal trademark registry a place where racism is recorded and authorized, and to not require our government to perpetuate racism.
Robert Chang, executive director of the Korematsu Center, commented, “While Mr. Tam seeks to embrace a derogatory racial term and to subvert it, a laudatory goal, a ruling against the government in this case would leave the government powerless to deny federal registration of trademarks to hate groups.”
“Troutman Sanders is pleased to be able to lend our experience in intellectual property and Federal Circuit appellate issues to aid NAPABA, SABA-DC and the Korematsu Center in this important case,” added Charan Brahma, a partner in Troutman Sanders’ Intellectual Property practice in the San Francisco office, and former president-elect of SABA-DC.
The case, In re Tam, will be heard en banc by the Federal Circuit on Oct. 2, 2015.
The amicus brief is available HERE.
Contacts: DC)
Kaamil@kmkhan.com
571-483-0074
Brett Schuster, Communications Manager (NAPABA)
bschuster@napaba.org
202-775-9555
Robert S. Chang (Korematsu Center)
changro@seattleu.edu
206-398-4025