Tag: aalfny

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Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY) Awards Public Interest Scholarships for Summer 2021

For Immediate Release
Contact: Sylvia Chin, [email protected]

Please join us on Friday, June 25, 2021 at 6:30 PM on Zoom at the AABANY-AALFNY Summer Reception to congratulate the AALFNY 2021 Public Interest Scholarship recipients. Register online at https://aabany.org/aalfnysummer.

Amanda Jimenez Evelyn (Meng) Lin

Shelley Wu

Dawa Lhamo

Amanda Jimenez (CUNY School of Law, Class of 2022) will be interning with Mission to End Modern Slavery, where she will be assisting migrant workers and trafficking victims;

Evelyn (Meng) Lin (Syracuse University College of Law, Class of 2022) will be interning with the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic at Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York; and

Shelley Wu (Cardozo School of Law, Class of 2023) will be interning with the Domestic Violence Project at the Urban Justice Center.

We will also honor the recipient of the AALFNY-SABANY Public Interest Fellowship: Dawa Lhamo (CUNY School of Law, Class of 2023), who will be interning with Catholic Migration Services.

The Asian American Law Fund of New York awards Public Interest Scholarships each year to law students with a demonstrated commitment to the Asian American community. The purpose of the award is to assist law students with their tuition while encouraging them to use their legal knowledge and training to benefit the Asian American community in New York and to foster commitment by law students to public service for the Asian American community in New York.  Since 1997, AALFNY has funded more than 60 public interest scholarships to law students.

The Asian American Law Fund of New York was established in 1993 by the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) to create and support non-profit and charitable efforts to eliminate prejudice and discrimination and to defend human and civil rights.

Donations to AALFNY may be made at asianamericanlawfund.org/donate .
A copy of our latest annual report may be obtained from us at P.O. Box 161, 41 Purdy Ave., Rye NY 10580 or from the NY Attorney General’s Charities Bureau website www.charitiesnys.com. Information may also be obtained from us at [email protected] or the NYS Attorney General at 212-416-8686.

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T3 Project: Stand Together with AABANY and AALFNY in Turning the Tide Against Anti-Asian Hate and Violence

AABANY, in partnership with the Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY), is pleased to announce the Turning the Tide (T3) Project. Following the February 10, 2021 publication of AABANY and Paul, Weiss’ report A Rising Tide of Hate and Violence against Asian Americans in New York During COVID-19: Impact, Causes, Solutions, AABANY established an Anti-Asian Violence Task Force to advance the proposals outlined in the report and consider other solutions to address the surge of anti-Asian hate and violence in the community. The Task Force advances the T3 project, which aims to incorporate a three-pronged approach encompassing education and communication, advocacy, and research, to address anti-Asian hate and violence. 

Please stand together with AABANY and AALFNY in turning the tide against anti-Asian hate and violence. We are now accepting donations to support the T3 Project. Donations can be made to AALFNY and will be tax deductible to the extent permitted by applicable law.

For more details about the T3 Project, please click here. 

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Thank you to our January 8 Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, January 8 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 31 volunteers who volunteered their time to help clients.

We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic by making donations that are vital to its continuing operation. In a few short years, with the tireless and generous assistance of our volunteers, we have helped hundreds of low-income clients with free legal advice and referrals to high-quality, culturally sensitive, and linguistically competent legal services. Together we have helped expand access to justice for underserved Asian American New Yorkers.

To make it easier for our members and our community to donate to the Pro Bono Clinic, we have set up a page on Give Lively where you can make a donation by texting APAPROBONO to 44321. It takes seconds to donate, and we hope you will take a moment today to support the Pro Bono Clinic and help it meet its fundraising goals. Please donate today!

If you know family members, friends, or businesses, such as your firm, who would like to support the Clinic, please help us connect with them by contacting Karen Yau at [email protected].

Or please urge them to make a donation directly. They can visit the website of Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY), AABANY’s 501(c)(3) affiliate: https://www.asianamericanlawfund.org/donate/

AALFNY is accepting charitable donations on the Clinic’s behalf and can issue any donor a tax receipt. Any contribution, large or small, would help. Please be sure to indicate in the memo field that the donation is intended for the Pro Bono Clinic.

Thank you to all of the January Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

Lawyers:

Steven Schaefer
Eugene Kim
Simon Zhen
Bart Wu
Tina Y. Song
Yan Sin
Samantha Sumilang
Chris M. Kwok
Beatrice Leong

Interpreters:

Masako Catalina
Ya Peng
H. Anthony Park
Xin Zhou
Go-eun Son
Weixi He
Ruth Poon
Kenny Moy
Jing Chu
Limeng (Charles) Tan
Alicia Chan
Teri Chow
Sophia Catalina
Nanako Arai
Teri Chow

Other Volunteers:

Linda Liang, Research & Administration

Special thanks to Kwok Kei Ng and Zhixian Liu for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Pauline Yeung-Ha, Karen Kithan Yau, Asako Aiba, and Judy Lee for their leadership. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. The next clinic will take place on February 12. If you are interested in volunteering at future Pro Bono Clinics, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected].

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Thank you to our December Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

December’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, December 11 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 22 volunteers who volunteered their time to help 23 clients.

We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic by making donations that are vital to its continuing operation. In a few short years, with the tireless and generous assistance of our volunteers, we have helped hundreds of low-income clients with free legal advice and referrals to high-quality, culturally sensitive, and linguistically competent legal services. Together we have helped expand access to justice for underserved Asian American New Yorkers.

To make it easier for our members and our community to donate to the Pro Bono Clinic, we have set up a page on Give Lively where you can make a donation by texting APAPROBONO  to 44321. It takes seconds to donate, and we hope you will take a moment today to support the Pro Bono Clinic and help it meet its fundraising goals. Please donate today!

If you know family members, friends, or businesses, such as your firm, who would like to support the Clinic, please help us connect with them by contacting Karen Yau at [email protected].

Or please urge them to make a donation directly. They can visit the website of Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY), AABANY’s 501(c)(3) affiliate: https://www.asianamericanlawfund.org/donate/

AALFNY is accepting charitable donations on the Clinic’s behalf and can issue any donor a tax receipt. Any contribution, large or small, would help. Please be sure to indicate in the memo field that the donation is intended for the Pro Bono Clinic.

Thank you to all of the December Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

Lawyers: 

Sye-Eun Ahn
Jonathan Hernandez
Beatrice Leong
Jayashree Mitra
Yan Sin
Chizuko Ueno
Anna Jinhua Wang
Bart Wu

Interpreters: 

Nanako Arai
Ami Ishida
Kenny Moy
H. Anthony Park
Ruth Poon
Go-eun Son
Xin Zhou

Other Volunteers:

Eugene Kim, Research & Administration
Linda Liang, Research & Administration

Special thanks to Kwok Kei Ng for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Pauline Yeung-Ha, Karen Kithan Yau, Asako Aiba, and Judy Lee for their leadership. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. The next clinic will take place on January 8, 2020. If you are interested in volunteering at future Pro Bono Clinics, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected].

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Stand With Us and Support the Pro Bono Clinic on GivingTuesday, Dec. 3, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving!

GivingTuesday is being held this year on December 3. It is a global movement that began in 2012, and the idea behind it is simple: Do good and help transform your community with your generosity. During this holiday season, we ask that you support our Pro Bono Legal Advice and Referral Clinic, a project of the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) and the Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY).

The Pro Bono Clinic began in December 2015 and has since served thousands of low-income clients facing various legal hardships. The Clinic has been held in Manhattan’s Chinatown on the second Wednesday of each month since that time. The success of our Clinics in Manhattan has led to an expansion into Brooklyn, which started this fall on a bimonthly basis. We work with local elected officials and community organizations to reach Brooklyn’s Asian American community and draw upon the expertise and language skills of AABANY’s active and diverse membership to serve them. Clients have been coming not only from the five boroughs but from as far as Yonkers, Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Our Clinics provide high-quality legal services that are culturally sensitive and linguistically competent. Language and culture pose serious barriers for low-income Asian American community members to receive reliable legal advice. Our Clinics help community members overcome these barriers and seek to widen their access to justice. The Clinics now include mental health professionals and benefits counselors to help community members with their non-legal problems.

Hundreds of volunteers have dedicated thousands of hours for the Pro Bono Clinics. Month after month, they freely donate their time, expertise and legal knowledge to help community members who otherwise would not get the help they need.

Our Pro Bono Clinics can only continue to operate with the generosity of our donors. In September, we announced our goal to raise $25,000 to support the Clinic’s growing operations. We ask that you stand with us and support this vital project. Help us not only to reach our goal of raising $25,000 — through your donations on GivingTuesday – but exceed it! Your donations will support our ongoing expansion efforts and pay for much needed administrative support and supplies.

To make it easier for our members and our community to donate to the Pro Bono Clinic, you can text APAPROBONO to 44321 on your phone. That will send you to our Give Lively page, and you can follow the simple instructions there to make your contribution. You can also donate via the AALFNY website at https://www.asianamericanlawfund.org/donate/ (make sure to indicate that you are donating to the Clinic). Any amount, large or small, will go a long way towards helping us meet our $25,000 goal.

With our best wishes to you all during this holiday season,

Karen Kithan Yau
Pauline Yeung-Ha
Judy Ming Chu Lee
Asako Aiba
Co-Chairs, AABANY Pro Bono and Community Service Committee

A copy of AALFNY’s latest annual report may be obtained from AALFNY at  [email protected] or from the NY Attorney General’s Charities Bureau website www.charitiesnys.com. Information may also be obtained from the NYS Attorney General at 212-416-8686.

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AALFNY/AABANY Summer Reception at Paul Hastings LLP

On July 2nd, at Paul Hastings LLP, AABANY and AALFNY held their annual Summer Reception, featuring Hon. William Tong, Attorney General of the State of Connecticut, as the event’s distinguished guest speaker, and the recognition of AALFNY’s fellowship recipients. 

Sylvia Chin, President of AALFNY, delivered the opening remarks, introducing AALFNY’s board members and thanking all attendees for their support and contributions to both organizations. AABANY Executive Director Yang Chen followed up with the introduction of the AABANY board members as well as AABANY’s interns. 

After opening remarks, Sylvia recognized the recipient of AALFNY/SABANY Public Internship Fellowship, Vaishali S. Ramlal (New England Law School ‘20), who is working this summer with the Bronx Public Defenders.

AABANY also congratulates the law students who were selected for the 2019 Sonia and Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program in the greater New York area. AABANY proudly supports the SCSJIP as a partner bar association. Many of this year’s SCSJIP interns attended the reception.

The event’s guest speaker, Hon. William Tong, is the first Chinese-American appointed attorney general in United States history. He delivered a heartfelt address that discussed his past and the future of immigration in the United States. He discussed his humble beginnings as a cook in his family restaurant. From his own personal experiences to the current state of immigration in the United States, AG Tong invited the audience to reflect on what was happening to immigrants trying to enter the country today. He asked, “What would have happened to my family if my parents came to the U.S. under today’s laws?” The right to claim asylum, he argued, should be given to anyone seeking the aid of the United States. 

The event concluded with attendees mingling over food and drinks provided by Paul Hastings. We thank Paul Hastings for hosting the annual Summer Reception and all the attendees for joining us for a memorable evening.

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Thank you to our April Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

April’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, April 10 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 20 lawyers and 8 interpreters who volunteered their time to help 32 clients.

At this month’s clinic, we also presented videos created in partnership with AARP to prevent immigration fraud. In the videos, former Immigration Law Committee co-chairs Susan Akina and Amanda Bernardo provided tips and advice on how to avoid being a victim of immigration scams. Scammers pretend to provide quality legal advice, help with paperwork, or other tasks involved in the immigration process. The scammer usually asks for an upfront fee, takes the money, and disappears immediately. Or worse, they provide ineffective or even harmful representation by filing the wrong paperwork, using fraudulent measures, or misrepresenting facts. Susan and Amanda stressed how important it is to only work with qualified immigration lawyers.

To see Susan’s and Amanda’s videos, click on the following links:

https://blog.aabany.org/2019/02/22/preventing-immigration-fraud-in-the-chinese-community/

https://blog.aabany.org/2019/02/22/preventing-immigration-fraud-in-the-filipino-community/

We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic by making donations that are vital to its continuing operation. In a few short years, with the tireless and generous assistance of our volunteers, we have helped hundreds of low-income clients with free legal advice and referrals to high-quality, culturally sensitive, and linguistically competent legal services. Together we have helped expand access to justice for underserved Asian American New Yorkers.

If you know family members, friends, or businesses, such as your firm, who would like to support the Clinic, please help us connect with them by contacting Karen Yau at [email protected].

Or please urge them to make a donation directly. They can visit the website of Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY), AABANY’s 501(c)(3) affiliate: https://www.asianamericanlawfund.org/donate/ AALFNY is accepting charitable donations on the Clinic’s behalf and can issue any donor a tax receipt. Any contribution, large or small, would help. Please be sure to indicate in the memo field that the donation is intended for the Pro Bono Clinic.

Thank you to all of the April Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

Lawyers:

Kathy Yung
Beatrice Leong
Angela Wu
Gloria Tsui-Yip
Mayumi Cindy Iijima
Zhixian Liu
Anna Jinhua Wang
Eun Hye (Grace) Lee
Xianxiao Li (Emily)
Amanda Bernardo
Samantha Sumilang
Kevin Hsi
Barbara Hayes
Christopher Chin
Sae-Eun Ahn
Kwok Kei Ng
Pauline Yeung-Ha
Ming Chu Lee
Karen Kithan Yau
Asako Aiba

Interpreters:

Alva Lin
Justina Chen
Emily Arakawa
Derek Ting-Che Tai
Weiling Huang
Jessica Wang
Satoshi Kurita
Ruth Poon

Special thanks to Johnny Thach and Kwan Shun Jason Cheung for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Karen Kithan Yau, Pauline Yeung-Ha, Judy Lee and Asako Aiba for their leadership.

If you are interested in volunteering at next month’s Pro Bono Clinic on May 8, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected]. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

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Thank you to our March Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

March’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, March 13 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 21 lawyers and 11 interpreters who volunteered their time to help 31 clients.

We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic by making donations that are vital to its continuing operation. In a few short years, with the tireless and generous assistance of our volunteers, we have helped hundreds of low-income clients with free legal advice and referrals to high-quality, culturally sensitive, and linguistically competent legal services. Together we have helped expand access to justice for underserved Asian American New Yorkers.

If you know family members, friends, or businesses, such as your firm, who would like to support the Clinic, please help us connect with them by contacting Karen Yau at [email protected].

Or please urge them to make a donation directly. They can visit the website of Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY), AABANY’s 501(c)(3) affiliate: https://www.asianamericanlawfund.org/donate/ AALFNY is accepting charitable donations on the Clinic’s behalf and can issue any donor a tax receipt. Any contribution, large or small, would help. Please be sure to indicate in the memo field that the donation is intended for the Pro Bono Clinic.

Thank you to all of the March Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

Lawyers:

  • Samantha Sumilang
  • Kathy Yung
  • Beatrice Leong
  • Mayumi Cindy Iijima
  • Anna Jinhua Wang
  • Grace Pyun
  • Jonathan Hernandez
  • Ami Shah
  • Ricky He
  • Shengyang (John) Wu
  • Kevin Hsi
  • Kwok Kei Ng
  • Kelly Diep
  • Christopher Chin
  • Wei Li
  • Annie Tsao
  • Rina Gurung
  • Zhixian Liu
  • Pauline Yeung-Ha
  • Karen Kithan Yau
  • Asako Aiba

Interpreters:

  • Teresa Wai Yee Yeung
  • Eric W. Dang
  • Anna Chuen
  • Weiling Huang
  • Derek Ting-Che Tai
  • Satoshi Kurita
  • Bingzhen Song
  • Laura Tsang
  • Jessica Wang
  • Lindsay Hao
  • Justina Chen

Special thanks to Johnny Thach and Roger Chen for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Karen Kithan Yau, Pauline Yeung-Ha, Judy Lee and Asako Aiba for their leadership.

If you are interested in volunteering at next month’s Pro Bono Clinic on April 10, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected]. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

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Thank you to our February Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

February’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, February 13 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 14 lawyers and 6 interpreters who volunteered their time to help 27 clients.

We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic by making donations that are vital to its continuing operation. In a few short years, with the tireless and generous assistance of our volunteers, we have helped hundreds of low-income clients with free legal advice and referrals to high-quality, culturally sensitive, and linguistically competent legal services. Together we have helped expand access to justice for underserved Asian American New Yorkers.

If you know family members, friends, or businesses, such as your firm, who would like to support the Clinic, please help us connect with them by contacting Karen Yau at [email protected].

Or please urge them to make a donation directly. They can visit the website of Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY), AABANY’s 501(c)(3) affiliate: https://www.asianamericanlawfund.org/donate/ AALFNY is accepting charitable donations on the Clinic’s behalf and can issue any donor a tax receipt. Any contribution, large or small, would help. Please be sure to indicate in the memo field that the donation is intended for the Pro Bono Clinic.

Thank you to all of the February Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

Lawyers:

  • Gaye L. Chun
  • Zhixian Liu
  • Yan Sin
  • Xianxiao Li (Emily)
  • Wei Li
  • Soichiro Ishita
  • Kwok Kei Ng
  • Jonathan Hernandez
  • David Lu
  • Gloria Tsui-Yip
  • Pauline Yeung-Ha
  • Ming Chu Lee
  • Karen Kithan Yau
  • Asako Aiba

Interpreters:

  • JoJo Hwang
  • Frankie Lam
  • Satoshi Kurita
  • Hao Zhang
  • Derek Ting-Che Tai
  • Henry Man

Special thanks to Johnny Thach for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Karen Kithan Yau, Ming Chu Lee, and Asako Aiba for their leadership.

If you are interested in volunteering at next month’s Pro Bono Clinic on March 13, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected]. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

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Thank you to our December Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

December’s Monthly Pro Bono Legal Advice and Referral Clinic, held on Wednesday, December 12 at Asian Mutual Aid Group in lower Manhattan, brought out 16 lawyers, 7 interpreters, 2 logistics assistants, and 1 social worker. Together the volunteers helped 31 clients.

As you might know from a recent email to the AABANY membership, we are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic by making donations that are vital to its continuing operation. In a few short years, with the tireless and generous assistance of our volunteers, we have helped hundreds of low-income clients with free legal advice and referrals to high-quality, culturally sensitive, and linguistically competent legal services. Together we have helped expand access to justice for underserved Asian American New Yorkers.

If you know family members, friends, or businesses, such as your firm, who would like to support the Clinic, please help us connect with them by contacting Karen Yau at [email protected].

Or please urge them to make a donation directly. They can visit the website of Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY), AABANY’s 501(c)(3) affiliate: https://www.asianamericanlawfund.org/donate/ AALFNY is accepting charitable donations on the Clinic’s behalf and can issue any donor a tax receipt. Any contribution, large or small, would help. Please be sure to indicate in the memo field that the donation is intended for the Pro Bono Clinic.

Thank you to all of the December Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!

Lawyers:

• Gaye L. Chun
• Wendy Li
• Soichiro Ishita
• Beatrice Leong
• Chris M. Kwok
• Eun Hye (Grace) Lee
• Zhixian (Jessie) Liu
• Francis Chin
• Wei Li
• Christopher Chin
• Sylvia Chin
• Lord Chester So
• Kwok Kei Ng
• Asako Aiba
• Judy Lee
• Pauline Yeung
• Karen Kithan Yau

Interpreters:

• Weiling Huang
• Emma Li
• Alva Lin
• Wai King
• Teresa Wai Yee Yeung
• Derek Ting-Che Tai
• Satoshi Kurita

Social Worker:

• Ann Hsu

Logistics Assistants:

• Johnny Thach
• Roger Chen

Special thanks to the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Karen Kithan Yau, Ming Chu (Judy) Lee, Asako Aiba, and Pauline Yeung for their leadership, and Executive Director Yang Chen and President James Cho for their support.

If you are interested in volunteering at next month’s Pro Bono Clinic on January 9, 2019, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected]. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs at 3 Bowery Street, New York, NY 10002 every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

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