Ng v. King Henry Realty, Inc., 16 Civ. 0013
Ng v. King Henry Realty, Inc., 16 Civ. 0013
Congratulations to our Government Service & Public Interest Committee Co-Chair Anita Wu! New York Law Journal published the decision Ng v. King Henry Realty, Inc., 16 Civ. 0013. Anita was part of a legal team that represented Plaintiff Chee Sum Ng, who lived on the 7th floor of a building in Chinatown and suffered from end stage renal disease. He needed to leave his apartment several times a week for dialysis treatment but the one elevator in the building was being taken out of service for five months. The landlord did not offer Mr. Ng any accommodation, such as a first floor apartment, that would permit him to safely exit and enter the building. After reaching a settlement in favor of Mr. Ng, Anita and her team moved for and was awarded nearly $40,000 in attorneys’ fees in the case.
She had this to share from Judge James Francis’ decision:
“Many of the defendants’ other objections to hours worked are entirely frivolous. For example, the defendants’ attorney objects to Ms. Wu’s billing entries totaling 8.6 hours on December 30, 2015 because ”[her] firm is in the public sector and I doubt that they are required to work a total of 7 full hours in 1 day.“ (Def. Memo., ¶15). The crux of the defendants’ argument is that lawyers at not-for-profit organizations are categorically unwilling to work long hours to meet their clients’ needs. This view is entirely divorced from reality and requires no further attention, except to note that it is debunked by the conduct of the plaintiff’s lawyers in this case. After learning of the planned elevator shutdown less than a week before it was scheduled to occur, the attorneys worked on a holiday weekend to file the case in time to stop the defendants from shutting the elevator down. (Wu Decl., ¶¶4, 6).”
8th Annual Asian American Community Development Conference: The Future of Collective Impact
Each year Asian Americans for Equality organizes the only annual Asian American conference in
New York City to convene more than 250 policy makers, advocates, community leaders, philanthropists, and community development practitioners from across New York City and the country to discuss emerging issues facing Asian, Asian American, immigrant, and low-income communities.
The conference will feature a day full of panels and speakers.
Conference Information:
Date: Thursday, October 1, 2015
Time: 8:00am – 7:00pm
Location: New York University’s Kimmel Center
For more information about this event and a detailed agenda of the day, please CLICK HERE.
Additionally, AABANY would like to congratulate our very own Anita Wu, who will be honored with a Pioneer Spirit Award at this event. Anita is a Co-Chair of AABANY’s Government Service and Public Interest Committee. She currently works at Manhattan Legal Services. Congratulations, Anita! Thank you for your dedication to AABANY and your service to the public!
