Meet AAJANY: Asian American Judges Association of New York
(Pictured above, left to right: Hon. Gilbert Hong, Hon. Marilyn Go, Hon. Denny Chin, Hon. Pamela Chen, Hon. Lillian Wan, Hon. Lorna Schofield, Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan, Hon. Kiyo Matsumoto, Hon. Toko Serita, Hon. Lydia Lai, Hon. Laurie Lau, Hon. Leslie Purificacion (seated), Hon. Dean Kusakabe)
On April 23, 2014, the newly formed Asian American Judges Association of New York (AAJANY) met with their Asian American colleagues on the federal bench and were hosted by the Honorable Denny Chin, Second Circuit Judge, for a tour of the courthouse. They later convened for dinner at Forlini’s to discuss common issues.
AAJANY was formed to address issues affecting Asian American judges, staff, and litigants in the state courts, to promote more diversity amongst the bar and the judiciary, and to advance the inclusion of judges of Asian descent at all levels of the state court system.
Three of those attending are also officers of the NAPABA Judicial Council (a national organization of state and federal judges of Asian descent): Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan (President), Hon. Denny Chin (Treasurer), and Hon. Marilyn Go (Secretary).
AAJANY is sponsoring the event, “How to Become a State Court Judge – from an APA perspective,” on April 29, 2014, 6pm, at the New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA), 14 Vesey Street. Registration has closed but feel free to attend as a walk-in. Click here for more info.
NAPABA Annual Lobby Day and APA Heritage Month Congressional Reception
NAPABA Annual Lobby Day
and
APA Heritage Month Congressional Reception
NAPABA invites you to participate in the 4th Annual Lobby Day and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Congressional Reception on May 19-20, 2014, in Washington, DC.
Lobby Day is less than a month away! This is your opportunity to educate members of Congress and congressional staffers on issues of importance to the Asian Pacific American community and to meet other NAPABA leaders from around the country.
Lobby Day Event Schedule:
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Lobby Day Training Webinar (part one of three)
Monday, May 19, 2014
Lobby Day Onsite Training (part two of three)
NAPABA’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Congressional Reception with Honorary Chair and Featured Speaker, Senator Mazie Hirono
Confirmed speakers also include Congresswoman Grace Meng and Congressman Mark Takano
Click here to RSVP for the Reception.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
NAPABA Lobby Day: Onsite Training Breakfast (part three of three)
Member Visits, Participant Debriefing & Happy Hour
*Breakfast and Happy Hour hosted by Jones Day
There is no cost to attend.
Please visit our website for more information or email Melanie Robinson at [email protected] with any questions. We look forward to seeing you in May!
Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU and Asia Society’s The Escape and Rescued Memories: New York Stories
Co-presented by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU and Asia Society
The Escape and Rescued Memories: New York Stories
Thursday–Friday, May 8-9, 2014, 8PM
by Lenora Lee Dance with Kei Lun Martial Arts & Enshin Karate, South San Francisco Dojo
Directed by A/P/A Institute at NYU Visiting Scholar Lenora Lee, the interdisciplinary performance works The Escape and Rescued Memories: New York Stories excavate the lives of early 20th century Chinese women migrants through dance, martial arts, film, and music.
The Escape is inspired by stories of women who, after being trafficked into the United States, sought refuge in San Francisco’s Donaldina Cameron House, a faith-based social service agency that today continues to serve Asian communities living in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Rescued Memories: New York Stories retraces the life of Bessie M. Lee (Bessie You Toy–b. 1894), who spent two years in indentured servitude after migrating to New York City to work for a wealthy Chinese family.
Both evenings’ performances will be followed by special conversations featuring the artists, community organizers, and scholars.
Image credit: Robert Sweeney.
Congratulations to Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan
Justice Doris Ling-Cohan, a member of AABANY’s first Board elected in 1991, has been appointed to the Appellate Term of the First Department. This court hears appeals from New York’s Civil and Criminal Courts.
Justice Ling-Cohan is the first APA woman to serve on an appellate panel in New York state. In 2002, she became the first APA woman elected to New York State Supreme Court. In 2005, she authored the groundbreaking decision in Hernandez v Robles, becoming the first New York state trial judge to rule in favor of same sex marriage.
Please join AABANY in congratulating Justice Doris Ling-Cohan on this major milestone in her judicial career.
MCGUIREWOODS/NAPABA LAW FOUNDATION SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
The NAPABA Law Foundation (NLF) is accepting applications for the McGuireWoods/NLF Internship Program. The Program will support students interested in the legal profession and will help students develop a commitment to advocacy on behalf of the APA community. The Program seeks to achieve these goals by providing undergraduate and law school students with meaningful internship experiences at the Washington DC offices of NAPABA and NLF.
About the Program
Each law clerk and undergraduate intern shall be assigned projects that will further the missions of NAPABA and NLF, including:
- Promoting justice, equity and opportunity for APAs;
- Fostering professional development, legal scholarship, advocacy and community involvement; and
- Developing and supporting programs to educate the legal profession and APAs about legal issues affecting those communities.
Please note the deadline to apply has been extended to March 21, 2014. Click here for more information.
PRESS RELEASE: NAPABA Celebrates Confirmation of Vince Chhabria to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 5, 2014
Contact: Emily Chatterjee (202) 775-9555
NAPABA Celebrates Confirmation of Vince Chhabria
to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
WASHINGTON — On March 5, 2014, the Senate confirmed Vince Chhabria by a 58-41 vote to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. He is the first person of South Asian descent to serve as an Article III judge in California’s history, and only the third South Asian American federal district court judge nationwide.
“NAPABA congratulates Vince Chhabria on his historic confirmation and is proud to have supported him in the nomination and confirmation process,” said William J. Simonitsch, president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). “We applaud President Obama, Senator Boxer, and Senator Feinstein for their continued commitment to diversity on the federal judiciary, and their support of this nomination.”
Since 2005, Judge Chhabria has served as a deputy city attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, where he is the co-chief of appellate litigation. Prior to public service, Judge Chhabria spent several years working in the private sector in San Francisco. After law school, he clerked at all three levels of the federal courts, including clerkships with Judge Charles R. Breyer on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Judge James R. Browning on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and for Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Chhabria has distinguished himself during his career, receiving honors from the California Daily Journal, the International Municipal Lawyers Association, and NAPABA. He is a longstanding member of SABA-NC, an affiliate of NAPABA, which has strongly supported Chhabria’s nomination.
Judge Chhabria’s confirmation increases the number of active Asian Pacific American Article III judges to 22 nationwide: 4 federal appellate court judges and 18 federal district court judges.
Three more Asian Pacific American Article III judicial nominees are pending in the U.S. Senate: Manish Shah, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois; Indira Talwani, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts; and Theodore Chuang, nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. NAPABA urges the Senate to move quickly to confirm these well- qualified individuals.
###
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and 67 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal service and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government. NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.
//photos.gstatic.com/media/slideshow.swf
Thanks to everyone who came out on February 26, 2014, to celebrate AABANY’s 25th anniversary with us at Cipriani Wall Street. More than 850 guests registered to attend, setting a new record. AABANY also reached its goal of exceeding 1,000 paid members. Mike Huang, in his Outgoing President’s speech, publicly announced the Don Liu Scholarship to award $15,000 to APA law students who apply and meet the requirements. Significant pledges have already been rolling in.
Congratulations to our 2014 honorees: AALDEF, recipient of the Public Advocacy Award; Randal Milch, GC of Verizon, recipient of the Corporate Counsel Leadership Award; and Vernon Jordan, recipient of the I4 (Icon, Ideals, Impact, Inspiration) Leadership Award. Congratulations also to Julie Kwon, our Mentor-Mentee Program Coordinator, for winning the AABANY MVP Award.
AABANY was joined by about 30 past honorees from past annual dinners. Each was brought up to the stage during the dinner for special recognition.
MSNBC reporter Richard Lui once again expertly took us through the proceedings as MC.
Guests continued to celebrate upstairs in the mezzanine during the after-party, with open bar and live DJ.
Happy 25th anniversary, AABANY, and we are looking forward to 2014 and the next quarter century!
From JPMorgan Chase: Networking Reception on April 7
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Legal Department is hosting a networking reception on April 7, 2014 @ 6:00PM for APA attorneys that are potentially interested in joining our Legal Department.
If you are interested in attending and meet the following criteria, please submit your resume along with a brief bio (no more than 3-4 sentences long) of yourself, expertise and/or interest, in confidence, by email to [email protected] with subject line “JPMC” by no later than March 7, 2014. If your resume is selected, you will be receiving an invitation to the event on or about March 17 directly from JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Internally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. will have about 50-60 lawyers and compliance professionals attend the event. Many in attendance will be senior managers, practice group leaders and a couple of recruiters. Senior leaders who have attended similar events in the past have included lawyers from all four lines of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s businesses: Consumer & Community Bank; Corporate Investment Bank; Asset Management and Commercial Bank. In addition, we have had litigators from our Litigation Department attend as well.
There is no guarantee of any employment as a result of this event and/or future guarantees but we hope that if there is a fit and/or a need, we will look to this group as a possibility. Of course, some in attendance may have an immediate need but there are no guarantees.
Criteria/other details for prospective guests:
- lawyers (private, government, in house, etc.) who have been out of law school and have been practicing in any area of law for 5-15 years; and
- current dues-paying member of AABANY.
There is no school or GPA requirement. For questions, please write to [email protected]. Please do not contact JPMorgan Chase & Co. unless you are selected. Thank you.