On June 4, 2022, AABANY’s Membership Committee hosted an Inter-Bar Association Summer Family Day with the Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York (KALAGNY) and the South Asian Bar Association of New York (SABANY). Over fifty members and their friends and families gathered at the Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center in Brooklyn to participate in spirited sports games and enjoy snacks and refreshments.
Three full courts were available for AABANY, KALAGNY, and SABANY to utilize, as well as many seating areas on the courts, and an upstairs conference room overlooking the courts. With the AC on high, it was a great way to escape the heat and socialize with other members.
The teams kicked off the afternoon of fun with an engaging game of half-court basketball, before some members pivoted to a lively game of volleyball. In both sports, new alliances were formed, and very quickly, the games went from competitive in nature to collaborative and centered in team building for all those involved, even spectators. Following volleyball, a rallying game of dodgeball ensued, before the afternoon wrapped up with prizes and raffles. Throughout the afternoon, AABANY, KALAGNY, and SABANY members also enjoyed sandwiches, chips, and beverages while networking in the upstairs conference room featuring a full-glass wall overlooking the exciting sports games below. What a truly spectacular way to spend a Saturday afternoon!
Shoutout to the Membership Committee for organizing such a fun social event and to our sister bar associations KALAGNY and SABANY for co-sponsoring. Make sure to sign up for upcoming AABANY events at aabany.org/events.
The 44th Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) rolled into town on August 11, billed as “the nation’s first and longest running festival dedicated to celebrating independent Asian, Asian diaspora, and Pacific Islander cinema.” Because we are not yet entirely out of the pandemic, AAIFF is being presented as a hybrid event with some screenings held in person and others made available on demand. One of the in-person programs took place on the third night, August 13, an evening featuring AAPI comics performing stand-up, fittingly called “Comedy Night.”
In a part of Brooklyn that the current generation calls Gowanus, nearly two dozen AABANY members joined a standing room crowd at Littlefield, a performance space that once was a warehouse (probably back in the days when this part of town was still known as Park Slope). The show was produced and hosted by Claire Yoo, an Events Coordinator for AAIFF who also happens to be President of Harvard College Stand Up Comic Society. Before you can say, “What? Harvard Students know how to laugh?” Claire took to the stage and launched into a profanity-laced opening monologue that filled the room with appreciative laughter, getting the entire audience properly riled up for the hilarity to come. (And don’t worry, Claire, we won’t tell your dad — who was in the audience — about your foul mouth.)
The line-up featured an assortment of top comedy talent, including award-winning writers from popular shows such as “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Patriot Act with Hasan Minaj,” and NPR’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me.” The diversity of the comedians reflected East Asian, South Asian, and HAPA voices as well as LGBTQ+ perspectives that we rarely hear from in mainstream media. As one of our attendees, Lauren Kim of Fordham Law School, deftly summarized, “It was excellent, tons of fun, and every single comic was hilarious.” Indeed, they were! None of our performers bombed on stage. If anything, the level and quality of the comedy seemed to go higher and higher from one comic to the next. (Apologies to Moss Perricone, the first comic to go. We don’t mean to say you weren’t funny or that the other comics were funnier than you. Oh, wait … maybe we are saying the second part.)
By the way, we should mention that our host, Claire, was an AABANY intern during Fall 2020. During her internship she learned that AABANY is a community partner of AAIFF and asked how she could get involved with Asian CineVision, the non-profit that organizes AAIFF each year. We hooked her up, and just a few months later … she is the producer and host of the largest comedy show she has ever put together. Congrats, Claire! Great job! (And Asian Cinevision, you are welcome!)
Thanks to all the AABANY members and friends, including President Terry Shen and his wife, Stella, who joined us. We hope everyone will support AAIFF and its mission to promote and spotlight AAPI artists, writers, performers, producers, and filmmakers. Read about the AAIFF films we are co-sponsoring this year here.
AABANY’s Pro Bono Committee held its third Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic on Thursday, January 16, 2020, at A Plus Academy located at 6802 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. The clinic brought out 18 volunteers who volunteered their time to help 10 clients.
The Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic has allowed AABANY’s Pro Bono Committee to service a new community in need of pro bono legal services and indicates our efforts to grow and expand these services to more New Yorkers in need.
We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinics 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 karen.yau@aabany.org.
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 Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!
Lawyers:
Tina Y. Song Yifei He May Kay Wong Francis Chin Veronica Louie
Interpreters:
Teri Chou Go-eun Son Ru Hochen Alicia Chan Jonathan Wong Jing Chu
Special thanks to Coordinator Xinyi Shen, Coordinator Roger Chen, Vice Chair Kwok Kei Ng for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Pauline Yeung-Ha, Judy Lee, Karen Kithan Yau, and Asako Aiba for their leadership. We also thank our “On-Call Expert” Beatrice Leong for offering advice by phone. The Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic will be a bi-monthly clinic occurring on the fourth Thursday of every other month. The next clinic will be held on Thursday, March 26, 2020, from 6:30 pm to 8:30pm. If you are interested in volunteering at future Pro Bono Clinics, please contact Asako Aiba at asako.aiba@aabany.org.
AABANY’s Pro Bono Committee held its second Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic on Thursday, November 21, 2019, at A Plus Academy located at 6802 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. The clinic brought out 27 volunteers who volunteered their time to help 13 clients.
The Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic has allowed AABANY’s Pro Bono Committee to service a new community in need of pro bono legal services and indicates our efforts to grow and expand these services to more New Yorkers in need.
We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinics 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 karen.yau@aabany.org.
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 November Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!
Lawyers:
Kenneth C. Louis May Kay Wong Thomas Hou Victoria Cheng Eric Ng Kevin Hsi Beatrice Leong Tina Y. Song Yifei He Ting Poon Michelle DeSousa-Fiore Francis Chin Andrew Mickler
Interpreters:
Tian Ma Lawrence Ho Erica Zou Chao-Yung Chiu Teri Chow Xinyi Shen Amy Zhou Shun-Hsiang (Steven) Chen Henry Man
Other Volunteers
Francisco Yau-Smith, Usher Runlan Hwang, Usher
Special thanks to Coordinator Xinyi Shen, Coordinator Amy Zhou, Coordinator Shun-Hsiang (Steven) Chen, Coordinator Henry Man, Vice Chair Kwok Kei Ng for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Pauline Yeung-Ha, Karen Kithan Yau, and Asako Aiba for their leadership. The Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic will be a bi-monthly clinic occurring on the fourth Thursday of every other month. The next clinic will be held on Thursday, January 23, 2020, from 6:30 pm to 8:30pm. If you are interested in volunteering at future Pro Bono Clinics, please contact Asako Aiba at asako.aiba@aabany.org.
On Thursday, Oct. 17, at the 40th anniversary gala for Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) Brooklyn Community Services, held at Affable Eatery in Brooklyn, Pro Bono Committee Co-Chair Karen Yau was honored for her work in support of the community. Many AABANY members and leaders came out to celebrate with Karen, including Pro Bono Committee Co-Chairs Pauline Yeung-Ha and Asako Aiba, Government Service and Public Interest Committee Co-Chair Kevin Hsi, AABANY Director of Technology and Professional Development Committee Co-Chair Francis Chin and Executive Director Yang Chen. Karen’s family, including her parents, were also in attendance.
AABANY also congratulates the other honorees at the gala dinner:
Dr. Gabriel Rincon, DDS Board of Trustees Chairman, The Family Health Centers at NYU Langone
Elizabeth Culkin, Principal, PS 176K
Hewett Chiu, Executive Director, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene President and CEO, Academy of Medical and Public Health Services
Karen, in her acceptance speech, accepted the award on behalf of the Pro Bono Clinic, which has grown in number of clients served and number of volunteers participating, and which started serving clients in Brooklyn last month, in September. The next Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic will take place on November 21. Please help us spread the word. More details here: https://www.aabany.org/events/event_details.asp?legacy=1&id=1291193 If you are able to volunteer there, contact Asako Aiba at asako.aiba@aabany.org.
AABANY’s Pro Bono Committee organized and held its first ever Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic was held on Thursday, September 26, 2019 at A Plus Academy located at 6802 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY and it was quite the successful event. With a total of 30 volunteers in attendance, including attorneys, interpreters and a benefits counselor, we were able to provide legal assistance and referrals to 27 clients from the New York community.
The Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic has allowed AABANY’s Pro Bono Committee to service a new community in need of pro bono legal services and indicates our efforts to grow and expand these services to more New Yorkers in need. Clients local to Brooklyn were able to attend, but clients traveling from Queens and other surrounding areas also made the trip, with some clients stating that they traveled an hour or more just to receive the help they have been looking for.
The evening started off with a community presentation by AABANY’s Membership Director and GSPI Committee Co-Chair, Beatrice Leong, Esq. which focused on family law, specifically matrimonial & divorce law. The presentation alone provided the answers that one client needed. This client was able to leave the presentation knowing what their next steps were without needing any further legal assistance. The remaining 26 clients were all able to sit down with an attorney, and an interpreter when needed, for a consultation session to receive the legal help and resources they were seeking. Common legal issues at this clinic included family, immigration, and elder law matters.
In just a few years, our Manhattan clinic has assisted hundreds of low-income clients and the new Brooklyn clinic provides us the opportunity to grow those numbers and ensure that many more will be able to receive free legal advice and referrals to high-quality, culturally sensitive, and linguistically competent legal services. In order to continue to provide and expand our pro bono services to other New York communities in need, we continue to ask every member to actively support AABANY’s Pro Bono Clinics.
If you know family members, friends, colleagues or businesses, such as your firm, who would like to support the Pro Bono Clinics, please help us connect with them by contacting Karen Yau at karen.yau@aabany.org. Financial contributions can also be made directly by texting APAPROBONO to 443-21 to make a donation through Give Lively.
Thank you to our volunteers:
Lawyers:
Beatrice Leong May Kay Wong Michelle Yeung Jen Rasay Gina Kim Chai Park Francis Chin Michelle DeSousa-Fiore Kwok Kei Ng Zhixian Liu Pauline Yeung-Ha Judy (Ming Chu) Lee Karen Kithan Yau Asako Aiba
Interpreters:
Ruth Poon Wai Yee Chan Shuping Deng Xiaoxiao Pan Guanlan Shen Bo Hu Meng Zhang Steve Mei Alex Hwang
Intake Coordinators/Interpreters:
Breanna Andree-Couturier Henry Man Jay Tang Gary Chen Xinyi Shen Yuying Zhu
Benefits Counselor:
John Colon, NY Connects
Special thanks to Co-Chairs, Pauline Yeung-Ha, Judy (Ming Chu) Lee, Karen Kithan Yau, and Asako Aiba, and Vice Chairs, Kwok Kei Ng and Zhixian (Jessie) Liu, for coordinating this clinic. Additionally, thank you to the various community leaders and organizations whose help made this clinic possible.
AABANY’s Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic is conducted in collaboration with: NYS Assemblyman, Peter J. Abbate Jr., NYS Senator, Andrew Gounardes, and NYC Councilman, Justin Brannan. Special thanks to our community sponsors: A+ Academy, Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC), Chinese American Social Services Center (CASS), Homecrest Community Services, Academy of Medical & Public Health Services (AMPHS), Brooklyn Community Improvement Association (BCIA), Parent Child Relationship Association, and the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn (UCA).
The Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic will be a bi-monthly clinic occurring on the fourth Thursday of every other month, except for November which would be Thanksgiving Day. The next clinic will be held on Thursday, November 21, 2019 from 6:30 pm to 8:30pm. If you are interested in volunteering at future Pro Bono Clinics, please contact Asako Aiba at asako.aiba@aabany.org.
AABANY President James Cho alerted us to this wonderful training opportunity for junior lawyers:
EDNY Bankruptcy Court Announces Junior Lawyer Workshop at the Brooklyn Courthouse on November 27,2018, 6:00 – 7:30 PM
Register Today! [Follow the link in the title]
The EDNY Bankruptcy Court will conduct a workshop for junior lawyers at the Brooklyn Courthouse on November 27 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. The workshop will give junior and less experienced lawyers the opportunity to gain experience and training in courtroom skills by arguing motions that were filed in chapter 7,11 and 13 cases. The motions will be argued without opposition. They will be on a teaching calendar called and argued in Court with an EDNY Bankruptcy Judge presiding. Participating lawyers will each be assigned a motion in advance, will argue it and receive feedback from the Bankruptcy Judge and more experienced bankruptcy lawyers present who are members of the EDNY Chapter 11 Lawyers’ Advisory Committee. Approximately ten minutes will be set aside for each participant to present argument and receive individual feedback. After the motions on the calendar have been argued, there will be time for questions and discussion.
The workshop will not be a competition or moot court exercise. It is designed to provide a “safe” environment for junior and less experienced lawyers to practice argument and improve their courtroom skills.
The workshop is offered to help implement the policy recently adopted by the Court that, “where junior lawyers are familiar with the matter under consideration, but are not experienced in arguing before a court, they should be encouraged to participate.” In these circumstances, “where it creates an opportunity for a junior lawyer to argue, this Court is amenable to permitting more than one lawyer to argue for a party.” The new policy is highlighted on the Court’s web site: http://www.nyeb.uscourts.gov/news/edny-bankruptcy-court-policy-provide-opportunities-courtroom-skills-development
There will be a limited number of lawyers in the workshop. The Bankruptcy Judges are volunteering their time to prepare for and preside at the workshop. Please register only if you are able to commit to participate. The deadline to register is November 9, 2018.
Junior lawyers, including first year associates who have taken the Bar exam as well as lawyers who have practiced for a number of years but have limited or no courtroom experience, may register for the workshop by following the link posted in the “News & Announcements” section of the Court’s web site home page. The participants will receive detailed instructions for the workshop and their assigned motion a few weeks in advance of the workshop.
Participants will receive by November 16 the assignments of the motions they will argue and will be contacted one week before the workshop to answer any questions they may have and confirm their appearance. If you must cancel your appearance, give at least 48 hours advance notice to the EDNY Chapter 11 Lawyers’ Advisory Committee by sending an e-mail to mhennessv@westermanllp.com and mbunin@farrellfritz.com.
In addition to junior and less experienced lawyers, all members of the Bar are invited to register attend the workshop as an observer by following the link posted in the “News & Announcements” section of the Court’s home page.
Pauline Yeung-Ha, Co-Chair of AABANY’s Pro Bono Committee, has been recognized by the Brooklyn Daily as a Woman of Distinction. The newspaper chronicled her journey from her start as an immigrant to the United States with her family to her achievements as the first member of her family to graduate from high school, college and law school.
Here is a short excerpt on Pauline from the article:
Neighborhood: Park Slope.
Occupation: Elder law and estate planning lawyer.
Company: Grimaldi & Yeung LLP, started with my partner, Judith D. Grimaldi, in 2008.
Claim To Fame: First Asian elder law attorney.
Favorite Brooklyn Place: Park Slope.
Woman
I Admire: My mentor and now my partner, Judith D. Grimaldi. I wouldn’t
have been where I’m at without her continuous support.
Motto
or Life Saying: Often when I meet people, they’ll say “I wish I’d known
you earlier.” And I think, “I wish I could have helped you earlier.”
Congratulations again, Pauline, for the well-deserved recognition!
The Brooklyn Legal Pipeline Initiative (BLPI), will be a professionally moderated program designed to give diverse students who live or attend college in Brooklyn direct instruction on how to successfully apply to and fund a law school education. The program is being jointly run by the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association (BWBA), the Brooklyn Bar Association(BBA) and the Defense Association of New York (DANY). Each participant will be matched with an attorney mentor. Participants who attend all sessions will be offered an opportunity to obtain a non-paying summer internship. Stipends may be available to defray certain transportation and ancillary costs associated with the internships.
Selected students will attend five (5) two-hour classroom sessions, once a month, starting February 27, 2017 that will be moderated by Paula Edgar, an attorney, diversity and inclusion coach and former law school administrator.
Classes will be held at the Brooklyn Bar Association’s landmark building located at 123 Remsen Street in downtown Brooklyn. These classes will be held from 5:30- 7:30 PM and will address the following topics:
February 27, 2017 – The Legal Profession – What is a lawyer? What do they do? – Panel discussion with judges and attorneys describing the areas in which they practice.
March 13, 2017 – Applying to Law School – Course selection- Time management – Writing skills – IRAC – The LSAT’s – Paying for law school – Guided questions and answer session with a college career counselor and a law school admissions officer.
March 27, 2017 – Networking and Mentoring – Each participant will be paired with an Attorney Mentor – Developing a resume and cover letter.
April 24, 2017 – Internships –Interview Skills – Professionalism.
May 22, 2017– Mock Interviews – Each participant will participate in simulated interviews and will receive immediate constructive feedback.
June -August 2017 – Summer Internship Program
Application deadline is February 10. Click HERE for the brochure containing additional information.
