The American Arbitration Association® (AAA®) is now accepting applications for the 2026 A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Fellows Program.
The Higginbotham Fellows Program is a one-year professional development experience designed to support emerging leaders from diverse backgrounds and perspectives in the field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Fellows engage in training, mentorship, and connection with experienced ADR practitioners, including a five-day in-person program in New York during the week of May 4, 2026.
The Program is open to lawyers, arbitrators, mediators, and other ADR practitioners who demonstrate interest in the field.
Legal internships in the New York State Courts are programs for law students to gain experience in public service. Interns research and analyze legal issues and are responsible for drafting orders, proofreading opinions, verifying citations, preparing jury charges, and verdict forms. The internship program provides hands-on experience, professional development, and opportunities to work on projects that promote access to justice. Legal Interns, appointed in the Civil Term by Justices of the Supreme Court, are assigned to Judges designated as Acting Supreme Court Justices. This internship position is assigned to Hon. Mary Lynn Nicolas-Brewster, Supreme Court Justice in Bronx County Supreme Court – Civil Term.
This is an unpaid, in-person, eight-week legal internship program for law students interested in becoming a judge or public interest attorney. Interns are expected to participate for 12 hours weekly. Legal interns will receive rare opportunities to develop legal research, oral advocacy, and writing skills. Additional features of the program include weekly lunch-and-learn sessions with attorneys and judges across practice areas, individualized mentorship, and practical advice for law school success. The Internship program is designed to be a pipeline program for law students interested in careers in the courts and public service.
The in-person legal internship will be hosted from February 16, 2026, through April 10, 2026 (internship location – Bronx Supreme Court – Civil Term, 851 Grand Concourse, Bronx, New York). The application deadline is January 9, 2026.
Interested students should email: BXSUPCIV-IA11@NYCOURTS.GOV.
The subject line should be “Legal Internship – Spring 2026″
You must include the following documents as one attachment:
A cover letter addressed to Hon. Mary Lynn Nicolas-Brewster, Acting Supreme Court Justice, Bronx Supreme Court, Civil Term.
Please highlight previous public service work or work involving equal justice issues.
Your resume.
A writing sample – please respond to the essay prompt below:
ESSAY PROMPT: In this personal injury action involving a motor vehicle accident, Plaintiff has failed to provide responses to discovery demands and Defendant ABC Holding has moved for an order dismissing the action in accordance with the Court’s prior April 10, 2025 order. That self-executing order granted dismissal of Plaintiff’s complaint unless within sixty (60) days of the order, Plaintiff provided responses to Defendant ABC Holding’s discovery demands. The Court directed dismissal of Plaintiff’s complaint, pursuant to CPLR 3126, if there was a failure to comply with its Order. Plaintiff failed to provide the discovery contemplated by the April 10, 2025 order and Defendant ABC Holding has now moved to dismiss the complaint based on Plaintiff’s failure to comply with this Court’s self executing order of dismissal issued on April 10, 2025. Please draft the analysis and conclusion/determination section of the proposed decision and order (please limit to 500 words or less). Please limit your research to First Department case law.
On Tuesday, February 11th, 2025, AABANY held its Annual Meeting of Members at King & Spalding. President Joseph Eng called the meeting to order and established a quorum. The main order of business was conducting the election for the 2026 Fiscal Year Board of Directors and Officers.
Once all ballots were collected, President Eng called up President-Elect Ben Hsing and Immediate Past President Karen Kim to receive them as the Tellers. They departed to a separate room to count up the votes cast, both at the Annual Meeting and via electronic voting prior to the Annual Meeting.
While the votes were being tallied, President Eng invited the Membership Director, Alysha Naik, to present the Membership Director’s report. He then invited Treasurer Jasmine Ball to give the Treasurer’s Report, sharing information about AABANY’s financial performance during the past fiscal year.
President Eng then gave the Annual Report of the Board, summarizing AABANY’s major events for the past fiscal year, covering April 1, 2024, to date. He thanked the Board members for their service during the past year and asked those present in the room to stand and be recognized.
Executive Director Yang Chen then gave the Annual Report of the Committees, giving thanks to the Vice Presidents of Programs and Operations Ashley Shan and Jeffrey Mok, and the Committee Chairs for their hard work. Yang also went over a few highlights from committee events over the past year. Yang then presented the Awards for Committees of the Year, Program of the Year, and Member of the Year.
Committee of the Year: Professional Development Committee
The Committee of the Year Award was presented to the Professional Development Committee for their many years of volunteer service to the association, accreditation of numerous continuing legal education programs over the years that benefited our members and the profession, and making sure that the association complies with New York State CLE board rules, along with other programming to support professional development.
Program of the Year: Pre-Holiday Multi-Association Gathering
The Program of the Year Award was presented to the Pre-Holiday Multi-Association Gathering for bringing together numerous bar and judicial associations to promote wellness and well-being in the legal profession during a time of the year that may prove challenging for many.
Member of the Year: Gary Yeung
The Member of the Year Award was presented to Gary Yeung for his many years of active and dedicated involvement, participation, and leadership in service to the association, to its members, and to the wider community.
After the presentation of the awards, Joseph announced the election results. The following officers were elected to serve a one-year term for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2025, and ending March 31, 2026 (the “2026 Fiscal Year”):
Varuna Bhattacharyya
President-Elect
Pei Pei Cheng de Castro
Vice President, Programs and Operations
Tai Chien
Vice President, Programs and Operations
P. Bartlett Wu
Treasurer
David Mou
Secretary
Alysha Naik
Membership Director
Beatrice Leong
Development Director
The following candidates were elected as Directors to serve two-year terms beginning on the first day of the 2026 Fiscal Year:
Glenn D. Magpantay Katherine Loanzon Jeffery Mok
The night concluded with a bittersweet goodbye to Deputy Executive Director, Alice Biagini. February 11 was Alice’s last day at AABANY. She accepted a position as a business development and marketing manager at a law firm. During her eight months with us, she made a great impact on our operations and activities and supported our Board members and Committee Chairs as well as our membership. Alice will be missed by everyone she has touched. Yang presented her with some parting gifts from AABANY, which included a cookbook entitled The Woks of Life as well as a personalized apron with the AABANY logo. We wish her well in her future endeavors and hope to continue seeing her at AABANY events, as a participant.
We thank everyone who attended the Annual Meeting and everyone who voted, whether by proxy or in person. Congratulations to all the award recipients and the newly elected Officers and Directors.
Special thank you goes out to AABANY President Joseph Eng and the wonderful staff at King & Spalding for hosting AABANY’s 2025 Annual Meeting.
