WE Blog @ AABANY

January 22, 2013

NAPABA Applauds the Appointment of Judge Carla Wong McMillian To The Georgia Court of Appeals

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal appointed Judge Carla Wong McMillian to be a judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals. Judge McMillian is the first Asian Pacific American state appellate court judge to be appointed in the Southeast Region of the United States.

“We applaud Governor Deal for this historic appointment,” stated Wendy Shiba, president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). “Judge McMillian has distinguished herself on the Georgia trial court bench, and we believe that all of Georgia benefits from having a highly qualified and diverse Court of Appeals.”

Judge McMillian has been a state court judge in Fayette County, Georgia since 2010. In 2012, she became the first Asian Pacific American female judge to be elected in Georgia. Prior to Judge McMillian’s appointment to the bench, she was a partner at the law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan LLP, where she focused on complex litigation. She has been listed as a “Rising Star” in Georgia Super Lawyers in 2007 and 2010. NAPABA recognized her as one of its “Best Lawyers Under 40” in 2012. Judge McMillian is a proud Georgian, whose grandparents immigrated to the United States from China in the 1920s and whose mother is from Hong Kong.

NAPABA congratulates Judge McMillian on her appointment and commends Governor Deal for his initiative in diversifying the judiciary.

January 22, 2013

Governor Nominates Jenny Rivera, Professor at CUNY Law School, to Serve on NYS Court of Appeals

State of New York | Executive Chamber
Andrew M. Cuomo | Governor
For Immediate Release: January 15, 2013

GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES NOMINATION FOR COURT OF APPEALS

Governor Nominates Jenny Rivera, Professor at CUNY Law School, to Serve on NYS Court of Appeals

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today nominated Jenny Rivera, Professor at the City University of New York School of Law, to serve on the New York State Court of Appeals.

Professor Rivera, a longtime Bronx resident and New York native, has had a long and distinguished career in public service. She has held many varied positions, as a staff attorney at Legal Aid Society of New York City, as an Associate Counsel for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (renamed Latino Justice PRLDEF), and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was Commissioner of the NYC Commission on Human Rights from 2002 to 2007. In 2007 she joined the Office of New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as Special Deputy Attorney General for Civil Rights.

“Throughout her career, Professor Rivera has worked to defend the legal rights of all New Yorkers and make our state a fairer, more just place to live,” Governor Cuomo said. “As a Judge on the Court of Appeals, Professor Rivera’s legal expertise and passion for social justice will serve all New Yorkers well, and I am proud to send her nomination to the Senate today.”

Professor Rivera said, “I am deeply honored to be nominated by Governor Cuomo to serve on our Court of Appeals. As a lifetime New Yorker, this nomination is a special opportunity for me to continue to serve the people of New York. As a member of the Court of Appeals, I will work each day to uphold the laws of the state and advocate for fairness and justice, and I thank the Governor for this opportunity.”

This year, Professor Rivera will receive the Spirit of Excellence Award from the American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession. In 2012, she received the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Diversity Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2011 received the NYSBA Kay Crawford Murray Award. She is a graduate of Princeton University, and received her J.D. from the New York University School of Law and her LL.M, from Columbia University School of Law.

U.S. Representative Nydia Velazquez said, “The nomination of Jenny Rivera to serve on the Court of Appeals is great news for all New Yorkers. Professor Rivera is a true public servant, and has spent her entire career as a strong, committed advocate for justice and fairness. Her legal knowledge, talents, and vast expertise will be highly valued on the Court of Appeals, and I commend Governor Cuomo for this nomination.”

Seymour W. James, Jr., President of the New York State Bar Association, said, “Jenny Rivera would bring to the Court of Appeals her keen intellect, insightful legal scholarship and a commitment to equal justice for all New Yorkers. The State Bar Association has rated her as well qualified for the position. In 2012, she won our Diversity Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award and, in 2010, she was the recipient of our Kay Crawford Murray Award. Her professional achievements also are being recognized in February by the American Bar Association with its prestigious Spirit of Excellence Award.”

Peter M. Reyes, Jr., Hispanic National Bar Association National President, said, “By appointing Jenny Rivera to serve on the Court of Appeals, Governor Cuomo is selecting one of New York’s sharpest legal minds to the highest bench in the state. Professor Rivera’s qualifications, lifetime dedication to public service, and reputation as a legal scholar and neutral advocate render her the right choice for the Court of Appeals. We commend the Governor for this nomination.”

Elena Goldberg Velazquez, President of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, said, “I commend Governor Cuomo for nominating Jenny Rivera to serve on the State Court of Appeals. Professor Rivera is one of New York’s most gifted legal minds, and with this appointment, Governor Cuomo is nominating an extraordinarily qualified Latina to New York State’s highest court. Professor Rivera has been one of the most active and longstanding members of the Puerto Rican Bar Association and we are very proud of her. Throughout her career, Professor Rivera has fought for justice and social inclusion, and all New Yorkers will benefit from her voice and commitment to fairness.”

Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor of the City University of New York, said, “We commend Governor Cuomo for the inspiring appointment of CUNY Law School Professor Jenny Rivera, a highly regarded scholar and teacher who will bring an impressive breadth of professional experience and judgment to the New York State Court of Appeals. On behalf of the entire community of The City University of New York, we extend our warmest congratulations.”

Michelle J. Anderson, Dean of the CUNY School of Law and Professor of Law, said, “Professor Rivera’s deep understanding and grasp of the law, as well as her temperament and integrity, make her an ideal selection to serve New Yorkers on the state’s highest court. For the years she taught our students at CUNY School of Law, Professor Rivera was a role model and example of an individual who put service to others before all else, and whose passion for equality, justice, and fairness was evident in everything she did. We commend Governor Cuomo for nominating Professor Rivera to the Court of Appeals, and look forward to her swift confirmation.”

John Sexton, President of New York University, said, “The nomination of Professor Jenny Rivera, a 1995 graduate of NYU Law School where she was a Root Tilden scholar and a former law clerk to Justice Sonya Sotomayor, does us all proud. I have known Jenny since her time at NYU where she was a student of mine in the Root Tilden Scholarship Program, which I directed. Back then, Professor Rivera was an impressive student who possessed a first rate intellect and a deep sense of compassion. Since her graduation from law school, Professor Rivera has been a distinguished member of the bar, a champion of civil rights and social justice, and at various times a dedicated public servant. If confirmed, her addition to the New York Court of Appeal as an Associate Justice will benefit all the People of this State as well as those who look to our Courts for justice. NYU commends Governor Cuomo for his excellent selection and congratulates Professor Rivera and her family.

January 22, 2013

Competition THRIVE

View this email in your browser January 11, 2013
Competition THRIVE feature image

Empowering and Rewarding New York City’s Immigrant Entrepreneurs

Enter Competition THRIVE – it’s a unique competition seeking original, innovative strategies and programs that help immigrant entrepreneurs succeed in business. Your submission could be a winner.

Round I: $25,000 awarded to five semi-finalists to pilot their program and create a business plan
Round II: $100,000 to one grand prize winner plus promotional services to further scale their program

Submission Period: Feb 1 – March 7, 2013

For more information and to download proposal guidelines, visit www.nycedc.com/thrive, email [email protected] or call Lendynette Pacheco-Jorge at 646-312-4799. Additionally, an information session will be held on Feb 7, 2013 for potential applicants to learn more about the competition.

January 14, 2013

NYSBA: Empire State Counsel Program

Passing along some important information from NYSBA:

Office of the President

Dear Jean:

I write in my capacity as the President of the New York State Bar Association to tell you about the Empire State Counsel® Program and cordially invite you to join the ranks of this elite group. The Empire State Counsel® Program is a purely voluntary initiative which seeks to recognize those who perform significant pro bono service.

The Empire State Counsel® designation is reserved exclusively for NYSBA members who, during the calendar year, performed 50 hours or more of free legal assistance either through direct legal representation of a low-income individual; or by donating free legal services to an organization whose services are designed primarily to address the legal and other basic needs of persons of limited financial means; or by providing free legal services to an organization dedicated to increasing the availability of legal services to vulnerable and/or low-income populations. The program is open to NYSBA members even if they are employed in another state or overseas. If you are not currently a member of the Association, but otherwise meet the criteria, we hope that you will consider becoming a member. If you join the Association by February 28th, you will receive a free membership to the section of your choice and a free NYSBA tote bag. Click here to access the Membership Application.

To date, more than 6,897 NYSBA members, located in virtually every state in the United States, as well as in Europe, Indonesia, Africa, Canada and India, have achieved this distinction. Since the program was launched by then President Mark Alcott approximately six years ago, Empire State Counsel® members, collectively, have donated 1,001,924 hours of free legal services to individuals and families. Our members’ pro bono contributions have provided critical legal assistance in the areas of mortgage foreclosure, landlord-tenant issues, bankruptcy, immigration, asylum, domestic violence, child custody, and vital government benefits.

In recognition of the significant contributions our members make to pro bono through their law firms, the Association plans to award a plaque to the law firms enrolling the largest number of Empire State Counsel® for service during 2012. An award will also be presented to two individual attorneys whose pro bono contribution made a significant difference during 2012.

Individual honorees will receive a certificate suitable for framing and the signature Empire State Counsel® lapel pin. Honorees may use this honorific designation as a credential on their resume and the names of the individual honorees will be published in a variety of Association publications. Empire State Counsel® honorees will be recognized during the Association’s Annual Meeting at the complimentary Justice for All Luncheon which will be held on Thursday, January 24th at the Hilton New York, from 12:30 to 2:00pm.

Kindly share this letter with the attorneys at your firm who are actively involved in pro bono. Hopefully they will find the program worthwhile and wish to register. Enrollment is open now through the end of February 2013. The 2012 Verification Form is a fillable PDF form that is available online at www.nysba.org/2012ESCVF and may be submitted directly to the Department of Pro Bono Affairs for processing. Alternatively, if it is more convenient, the firm’s pro bono coordinator may submit a list of attorney names and their respective pro bono hours, together with a single completed verification form attesting to the accuracy of the list. The Department of Pro Bono Affairs will be responsible for determining the membership status of each attorney and will relay that information back to the firm pro bono coordinator. Any questions about the program may be directed to Gloria Herron Arthur, Director, Department of Pro Bono Affairs, at [email protected] or by telephone at (518) 487-5641.

Thank you for your consideration of this program.

Sincerely,

Seymour W. James, Jr., President

January 14, 2013

Korea Society Lunar New Year Celebration

You’re Invited to Celebrate the Lunar New Year at our Annual Appreciation Party

Meet and mingle with others with a shared interest in Korea, and stay for makgeolli, mandu, and much, much, more!

The Korea Society, 950 Third Avenue, @ 57th Street, 8th Floor, NYC

Members (including one guest per member): Free. Register by Monday, January 28, 2013

Not a member? Click here to join. Non-Members: $20
For more information, please email Jiyoung Suh or call 212-759-7525 ext. 311

January 7, 2013

Service in the Obama Administration

SERVICE IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Many NAPABA members have expressed interest in serving in the second term of the Obama Administration. NAPABA has assembled the information below as an introduction to the process, and important information about how to facilitate pursuit of a position is included. Current NAPABA members should submit application materials as outlined below.

Career Versus Non-Career Positions

There are two ways to serve in the Administration: through a career position or through a non-career position. Career positions are civil service positions that have a traditional application process, while non-career or “political” positions are appointed by the president. Some non-career appointments require Senate confirmation while others will not, and there are often considerable delays involved in the Senate confirmation process.

Those who may be interested in career positions should search for vacancies using www.usajobs.gov, where all career civil service positions with the federal government are posted by the Office of Personnel Management. All applicants should follow the instructions contained in each posting of interest to them. Most career positions are not replaced during an administration change and interested individuals may apply for these jobs at any time.

How to Seek a Political Appointment

For those who may be interested in non-career positions, NAPABA strongly recommends that such members carefully and thoughtfully educate themselves about the available positions sought, their qualifications for such positions, and how they intend to navigate through the application, interview, and, if applicable, the Senate confirmation process. It is important to neither oversell nor undersell your qualifications in the process. A good starting point is to review the “Plum Book”, which is available online at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-PLUMBOOK-2008/content-detail.html, and is also available as an app here: http://m.gpo.gov/plumbook/. NAPABA members interested in non-career positions should also review the Council for Excellence in Government’s unofficial guide to selected presidential appointments, which is called the “Prune Book” and available online at www.excellenceintransition.org.

Applications that identify non-career positions of interest with the greatest degree of specificity possible (e.g., “Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative”) are more likely to reach the appropriate decision-makers in the Obama Administration, and to have greater success in the process. Conversely, applications that are not specific in the position sought (e.g. “I want to do something in trade.”) may be at a relative disadvantage in the process. There is no official list available of positions that are currently open or likely to become open. Interested parties should list the positions that they are interested regardless of the availability of this information.

Whether or not assistance from NAPABA is sought, everyone seeking a non-career position with the Obama Administration must visit and follow the application instructions posted on www.whitehouse.gov/blog_post/apply_for_a_job/. As with other competitive opportunities, NAPABA members pursuing positions in the next Administration – especially non-career positions – are highly encouraged to apply early and to promote their applications through all networks available to them, in addition to seeking any desired assistance from NAPABA.

Selection for career positions and appointments for non-career positions is an ongoing process that will continue year-round.

How NAPABA Can Help

NAPABA will try to answer members’ questions about service in the Obama-Biden Administration that were not addressed or not fully addressed by the information provided herein. Questions should be emailed to [email protected], using the subject line “POLITICAL APPOINTMENT APPLICATION QUESTION.”

NAPABA may be able to provide a limited number of current members with mentors who can directly answer questions about pursing political appointments and provide guidance about the appointment process. If you would like to request a mentor, please send an email to [email protected] containing the subject line “POLITICAL APPOINTMENT APPLICATION–MENTOR REQUEST” and a brief description of your needs and why you believe that you would particularly benefit from mentorship. We will try to fulfill as many matches as possible and appropriate. To ensure an accurate mentor match, NAPABA requests that each NAPABA member seeking a mentor to have already reviewed the Plum Book, the Prune Book, and/or usajobs.gov and have narrowed his or her areas of interest based upon the information learned from the Plum Book, the Prune Book, and/or usajobs.com.

Where appropriate, NAPABA may try to facilitate an individual NAPABA member’s application for a position with the Obama Administration. Those interested in this type of assistance should submit their resumes and bios to [email protected] using the subject line “POLITICAL APPOINTMENT APPLICATION MATERIALS.” Resumes and bios should be given filenames based on one’s last name, first name, and type of document. For example, a resume submitted by Pia Rivera would be saved as “Rivera Pia Resume” and her bio would be saved as “Rivera Pia Bio.” Please identify positions of interest using the greatest degree of specificity possible (e.g., “Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative”, “U.S. Attorney, San Francisco”). NAPABA’s direct efforts to facilitate any specific application may be subject to review and approval by the NAPABA board and/or Co-Chairs of the appropriate committees.

Note that although NAPABA may be able to support its members during this process, submitting materials to NAPABA is not an essential component of one’s application. All applications for career or non-career positions with the Obama-Biden Administration can be submitted using only www.usajobs.gov or www.whitehouse.gov, as described above.

NAPABA wishes the best of luck to all applicants!

January 2, 2013

SDNY NOTICE: CJA Mentoring Program Seeks Candidates

COURT NOTICE TO THE BAR
CONTACT: Peter Quijano, 212-686-0666; Anthony L. Ricco, 212-791-3919

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK SEEKING CANDIDATES
FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT MENTORING PROGRAM

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is seeking candidates for its Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Mentoring Program. Ideal candidates are attorneys with five or more years of experience litigating in state court, with fifteen felony trials to verdict as lead counsel or comparable in-court experience under their belt. Under the supervision of a member of the CJA Panel, CJA Mentees would represent defendants in federal court who qualify for appointed representation under the Criminal Justice Act.

For more information about the CJA Mentoring Program and how to apply, please see the attached PDF file.

December 28, 2012December 4, 2018

December 28, 2012

JOINT DIVERSE BAR ASSOCIATION JUDICIAL SCREENING PANEL REPORTS QUALIFICATION RATINGS OF NEW YORK COURT OF APPEALS NOMINEES

The Joint Diverse Bar Association Judicial Screening Panel (the “Panel”) has interviewed and rated judicial candidates nominated by the New York State Commission on Judicial Nominations to fill the vacancy on the New York State Court of Appeals, which was created by the retirement of Associate Judge Carmen B. Ciparick. The Panel was comprised of members of various affinity bar associations including the Asian American Bar Association of New York, the Association of Black Women Attorneys, the Black Bar Association of Bronx County, the Dominican Bar Association, the Korean Lawyers Association of Greater New York, the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, the Puerto Rican Bar Association, and the South Asian Bar Association of New York.

Last week, the Panel was convened to determine whether the candidates were qualified for the judicial office using a three-tiered rating system of “qualified,” “well qualified,” and "exceptionally well qualified."

A candidate was rated “Qualified” if found to meet the basic criteria required for the judicial position sought; a rating of “Well Qualified” was given if the candidate met the basic criteria and demonstrated a level of skill, experience, sound judgment, and excellence in his or her professional career, which would sustain or improve the quality of the bench or judicial position sought; and an “Exceptionally Well Qualified” rating was given to candidates fulfilling the requirements necessary for a “Well Qualified” rating and further demonstrating outstanding accomplishments.

The ratings were decided during a closed-door vote after review of the each candidate’s background, professional ability, experience, character, judicial temperament, and other pertinent qualities. The Panel’s findings were as follows:

• Hon. Sheila Abdus-Salaam – Exceptionally Well Qualified

• Hon. Rolando Acosta – Exceptionally Well Qualified

• Kathy Chin, Esq. – Exceptionally Well Qualified

• Hon. Eugene Fahey – Exceptionally Well Qualified

• Jenny Rivera, Esq. – Exceptionally Well Qualified

• Margarita Rosa, Esq. – Well Qualified

• David Schulz, Esq. – Exceptionally Well Qualified