WE Blog @ AABANY

July 10, 2012

NAPABA Scholarship Opportunity: 2012 NAPABA Convention Scholarship Application

NAPABA strives to keep the Convention affordable for our members and offers one of the best values among legal education conferences. NAPABA also maintains a scholarship fund to help further defray costs for attendees through full or partial registration waivers, travel stipends, and lodging stipends.

Scholarship applications for the 2012 Convention are due July 31! Apply today if you need assistance with travel and registration costs. We look forward to seeing you in DC on November 15-18.

Please fill out the online form by clicking https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFoyZ0stXzRyRFlTY3daYmZtVE81N2c6MQ.

July 9, 2012

Informational Sessions on Deferred Action for DREAMers

The New York Immigration Coalition will provide several informational sessions on President Obama’s June 15^th announcement about Deferred Action for certain young people who were brought into the United States through no fault of their own.

Come get the latest news on Deferred Action. Learn what Deferred Action is and who is eligible for it under this program.

We have already received reports that notarios and other unscrupulous people are trying to scam immigrants by calling this program an amnesty or a way to get your green card. That is false. The Deferred Action program is not an amnesty. Come to one of our sessions and get accurate up-to-date information about this program. These informational sessions are not legal clinics.

Where: The New York Immigration Coalition, 137-139 West 25^th Street, 12^th Floor, New York, NY 10001 (Between 6^th & 7^thAvenues). The closest subway stops are 23^rd Street on #1, F, and M and 28^th Street on #1.

When: Thursday, July 5, 2012

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Time: Each session runs from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

These sessions are free but space is limited. Please RSVP to Jonathan Vidal to attend one of the sessions: jvidal@thenyic.org. For more information, please contact Jonathan at (212) 627-2227 ext. 227.

July 9, 2012

Are You Ready to Be the Change?

A National Day of Service coordinated by
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)
Saturday, October 6th, 2012

What is Be the Change?

Be the Change is an annual national day of service, coordinated by South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) that is held on campuses and in cities across the country. Be the Change is designed to meet Mahatma Gandhi’s inspirational challenge to “be the change you wish to see in the world” and provide opportunities for South Asian community members, advocates and allies to build community through service, develop leadership skills, and engage in social change. This year, Be the Change 2012 is on October 6th and SAALT wants you to be involved!

In 2011, over 2,500 people volunteered at over 130 service sites in 80 cities and campuses across the country. Get involved now to bring Be the Change to your community this October!

Visit the Be the Change 2012 webpage for more information!

How can I get involved now?

Mark your calendar for Saturday, October 6th and join us as a campus/city planning team member or as a national partner.

Coordinate a Be the Change event on your campus

If your campus traditionally organizes a Be the Change event or if you would like to start one on your campus, please complete this form by July 6th.
Coordinate a Be the Change event in your city

Join or start a planning team in your city! Please complete this form by July 6th.
Join SAALT as a National Partner for Be the Change

National Partners assist with volunteer outreach, commit to participating in a Be the Change event, provide a Be the Change service site and/or contribute in-kind or financial donations to Be the Change. National Partner logos appear on national materials, including the website, flyer, and t-shirt. If your organization, business, professional association, or community group would like to partner with SAALT to support Be the Change 2012, please email us at btc@saalt.org.

What does it mean to be part of a BTC planning team?

As a member of the planning team, you will be coordinating service events, recruiting volunteers and connecting with other planning teams around the country. SAALT will send you a planning guide and provide you with support from the national level.

Main roles/responsibilities of each planning team

Organize a kick-off ceremony with one or more inspirational guest speakers
Secure local service projects for your event volunteers
Recruit volunteers to participate in your Be the Change event
Coordinate logistical planning for your Be the Change event, including finding a kick-off venue, obtaining in-kind food donations, arranging for speakers, maintaining the budget, etc
Communicate regularly with SAALT

Are you ready for Be the Change 2012?

If you have any questions or inquiries, contact btc@saalt.org.

July 2, 2012December 4, 2018

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On Wednesday, June 27, AABANY’s In-House Counsel and Corporate Law Committees held the 5th Annual Winetasting and Networking Reception at the Aicon Gallery in downtown Manhattan. We had 120 attendees including in-house attorneys from 46 companies or organizations. We were delighted that the following GCs were able to attend:

Vernon G. Chu, BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc.
Pearl Hou, Sen Yu International Holdings, Inc.
Charles Kwak, GE Capital Real Estate – Global Investment Management
Carol Lee, Taconic Capital Advisors LP
Parkin Lee, The Rockefeller Group
Bobby Liu, MD Sass Investors Services, Inc.
Don Liu, Xerox Corporation
Sonia Low, Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc.
Joseph Yi, Lam Group

We thank Gail Inaba,Managing Director and Associate General Counsel in the Legal Department of J.P. Morgan, for addressing the attendees at the event. Gail is currently the Global Group Practice head for the securities financing and prime brokerage business in the Investment Bank.

Thanks to our sponsors for making this 5th Annual Winetasting and Networking Reception possible and thanks to everyone who attended. Congratulations to the In-House Counsel Committee and Corporate Counsel Committee on a successful event.

To learn more about the In-House Counsel Committee, contact the co-chairs Duane Morikawa and Vincent Hull at inhouse-chairs@aabany.org To learn more about the Corporate Law Committee, contact the co-chairs John Rogers and Stephen Kim at corporatelaw-chairs@aabany.org.

July 2, 2012

AALDEF Registers Asian American Voters in NY, NJ, and PA for Independence Day

In the week leading up to July 4th, 2012, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), a 38-year-old civil rights organization, will conduct a series of non-partisan voter registration drives for New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania residents in anticipation of the upcoming 2012 elections. The drives will take place from Thursday, June 28th through Tuesday, July 3rd in five locations.

Asian Americans are the nation’s fastest growing minority group and now account for the largest number of immigrants to the United States.

In Queens, where the Asian American community grew 300 times faster than the rest of the borough’s population to almost half a million people, AALDEF will register voters in Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Richmond Hill, and Flushing. In New Jersey, AALDEF will register voters in East Brunswick. In Manhattan, AALDEF will register voters by the World Trade Center PATH station to reach voters in both New York and New Jersey. In Philadelphia, AALDEF will register voters in Chinatown.

Translated registration forms in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Gujarati, and Bengali, as required by the Voting Rights Act or voluntarily provided by the State, will be available, as well as bilingual volunteers to assist citizens who want to register to vote.

“What better way to celebrate our nation’s birthday than by registering to vote?” said Glenn D. Magpantay, Director of the Democracy Program at AALDEF. “We intend to increase the numbers of Asians Americans at the polls in 2012.” According to AALDEF’s exit poll data from the 2008 presidential election, 30% of Asian Americans were first time voters, compared to 10% of voters overall.

Only 43% of the Asian American voting age population in New York, 58% in New Jersey, and 50% in Pennsylvania are registered to vote, based on 2008 Census estimates. However, voter turnout of those registered was 83% in New York, 93% in New Jersey, and 50% in Pennsylvania.

“These voter registration drives are crucial for engaging our community in the political process,” said Chi-Ser Tran, Voting Rights Organizer at AALDEF.

New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania Voter Registration Drives Schedule

Thurs, 6/28 in Elmhurst (5-6:30 pm) – Broadway & Whitney Ave.

Thurs, 6/28 in Jackson Heights (5-6:30 pm) – 74th St., between Roosevelt Ave and 37th Ave.

Fri, 6/29 in Richmond Hill (5-6:30 pm) – 118th St. & Liberty Ave. and 120th St & Liberty Ave.

Sat, 6/30 in East Brunswick, NJ (11 am – 3 pm) – Hong Kong Supermarket (265 State Rte. 18)

Mon, 7/2 at, Philadelphia, PA (1-2 pm) – Chinatown “Friendship Arch” at 10th & Arch Streets

Mon, 7/2 at Manhattan (4:30-6 pm) – Corner of Church and Vesey Streets near the World Trade Center PATH

Tues, 7/3 in Flushing (5-6:30 pm) – Queens Library (41-17 Main St.) near bus stops

July 2, 2012

KALCA Law Panel

Monday, July 9th
7 – 8 p.m.
Location will be emailed to the attendees.

Because most seats are reserved for KALCA students, seating is very limited and only the first 10 RSVPs will be honored.
Please RSVP to sandy.kalca@gmail.com.

KALCA Law Panelists
Joon Hong, Esq. – Partner, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP

Jean Lee, Esq. – Vice President & Assistant General Counsel, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Liza Sohn, Esq. – Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, Special Federal Litigation Division

Jimmy Yan, Esq. – General Counsel, Office of Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer

Michael Yim, Esq. – Partner, Lee Anav Chung LLP

Moderator
Judy Kim, Esq. – Associate Counsel, New York Liquidation Bureau, Bureau & Estates Litigation Division

The panel discussion topics will include the panelists’ reasons for choosing the legal field, day-to-day tasks and activities, likes/challenges of the job, and advice on how to succeed and network in the field.

June 28, 2012

Obama Healthcare Legislation Upheld

IT’S A TAX! Today, in a 5-4 ruling, the SCOTUS upheld President Obama’s health care legislation. Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion finding that Congress has the authority to require everyone to have healthcare.

Americans will have to buy health insurance or pay a penalty of 1% of their income.
Insurers will no longer be able to deny coverage to those with preexisting conditions or charge higher premiums based on one’s gender or health.
Employers who have more than 50 employees and don’t offer insurance will also begin to face a penalty.
Children may stay on their parents’ healthcare plans until the age of 26.

The law is well over 2000 pages. These are just a few changes in our healthcare system. How will it affect you? For better? For worse?

To read the 59-pages of “poetry” – http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf

June 27, 2012December 4, 2018

At the May 22 production of “Revisiting Vincent,” one of our Community Presenters that were present at the event was POV, the documentary program on PBS. They kindly took the time to edit together the video footage taken at New York Law School. For those who were there, you can relive the power and impact of the performance and the engaging talkback that followed, led by Hon. Denny Chin and Dean Frank Wu. For those who missed it, now is your chance to see what everyone has been talking about. Thanks to POV for making this happen!

(Source: https://player.vimeo.com/)

June 27, 2012

AABANY to Honor Two Asian American Trailblazers on June 28

On Thursday, June 28, 2012 at 6:00 P.M., the Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) will host the 4th annual Prosecutors’ Committee celebration at the New York University School of Law. AABANY will honor Sandra Leung, the first female Asian American prosecutor in New York County history and currently the General Counsel for Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Assistant Police Chief Thomas M. Chan, the highest ranking uniformed member of Asian American descent in the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”).

Statement from the Asian American Federation on the Pew Research Center Study on Asian Americans

June 25, 2012

The Asian American Federation appreciates the significant investment of the Pew Research Center in producing a major report, The Rise of Asian Americans. While we acknowledge the merits of this extensive report and its contribution to the public discourse on Asian Americans, we would like to express our disappointment and to point out the report’s serious shortcomings.

The portrait of Asian Americans as presented in the Pew report is glaringly incomplete and implicitly misleading. The Asian American experiences are much more complex, diverse, and of contrasts than what the report presents. Here are some cases in point:

· Both demographic studies of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice (A Community of Contrasts: Asian Americas in the United States in 2011) and the Asian American Federation (Asian Americans in New York City: A Decade of Dynamic Change 2000 – 2010) point to tremendous social and economic diversity among Asian Americans nationally and in New York City.

· Bangladeshi and Pakistani, two of the fastest growing Asian subgroups, as well as Cambodian and Hmong, who share similar immigration experiences as Vietnamese, do not fit the report’s portrait of Asian Americans. Nationally, the poverty rates of these subgroups range from 15% for Pakistani to 26% for Hmong. In New York City, two Asian subgroups have higher poverty rates than that of the overall city population of 19%: Bangladeshi (30%) and Pakistani (26%).

· Both nationally and in New York City, there has been a growing concern about poverty among Asian American seniors. Nationally, seniors of seven Asian subgroups experience significant poverty, and they are Korean (21%), Hmong (20%), Laotian (19%), Cambodian (19%), Chinese (17%), Vietnamese (16%), and Bangladeshi (16%). In New York City, the Asian subgroups with seniors having higher poverty rates than that of the overall elderly population citywide were Korean (30%) and Chinese (30%).

· According to recent studies of the Economic Policy Institute, despite having higher educational levels, Asian Americans had the highest share of unemployed workers who were out of work for more than half a year when compared with white, black and Hispanic workers during and after the Great Recession (2007 – 2011). In addition, highly educated Asian Americans continued to have a higher overall unemployment rate than similarly educated whites.

· The Pew report states that “for the most part, today’s Asian Americans do not feel the sting of racial discrimination or the burden of culturally imposed ‘otherness’ that was so much a part of the experience of their predecessors who came in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries”. This statement is totally contrary to the well-documented racial profiling and discrimination that South Asian Americans, nationally and in New York City, have continued to feel and experience since the September 11^th tragedy. In general, Asian Americans have continued to experience bias and discrimination in different forms, from being called “chinks” to mockery on television, to bullying in school, and to hazing in the military.

As an organization dedicated to the advancement of Asian Americans, we at the Asian American Federation certainly recognize many successes that Asian Americans have made as discussed in the Pew report. However, we also believe that a comprehensive narrative of the Asian American experiences should reflect certain critical challenges that the community still has to confront. Therefore, we hope that Pew will seek the insight of researchers and thought leaders with greater knowledge of Asian American experiences for any future studies.