On December 25, 2022, the Asia Practice Committee, along with the Membership, Student Outreach, Women’s, and Young Lawyers Committees, partnered to host a Christmas dinner and gift exchange event at 99 Flavor Taste in Manhattan Chinatown. Fourteen attendees filled the upper level of this Chinese restaurant to enjoy hotpot and BBQ.
After all guests arrived, each attendee gave a one-minute self-introduction, which gave the guests a good opportunity to learn more about each other. While enjoying the delicious fare, attendees played Two Truths and a Lie, a fun icebreaker.
After everyone ate, the Christmas gift exchange took place, with order determined by lottery. To receive the gift, the recipient had to repeat the self-introduction of the gift giver.
After Christmas dinner, some attendees went on to enjoy an after-dinner karaoke party.
The event welcomed a wide range of attendees, including law students, corporate and tax law practitioners, retired professors and their significant others, who gathered to celebrate Christmas even though they do not have family around in New York, finding home and family among their AABANY friends.
Thanks to the Co-Chairs and Vice Chairs of all the co-sponsoring Committees for helping to organize and promote this enjoyable event and to everyone who came. We look forward to more fun events from these Committees in 2023 and hope you can join them!
Just in the month of July, we met with 50 clients!!! There were so many positive and a few negative feedbacks from the clients.
Based on the feedback, many clients were grateful for our services and noted that “this is a much needed service in the Asian community.” Many clients cannot afford to speak with an attorney, do not understand the legal system, and are limited English proficient. A few clients complained that the time was too short or that the attorney couldn’t answer their questions.
Many clients asked questions about immigration, housing, contracts and fraud, wills, trusts, and estates. We also met with pro se litigants who have questions about liens, wage garnishment, judgment proof, and the New York State Exempt Income Protection Act.
Thank you AABANY, our volunteers, the Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of New York (CCCNY). In fact, we were amazed to have dedicated law students joining us on July 30 even though they just finished their NYS Bar exam that week.
So…if anyone’s interested in the next round of mini-bar exams, please come join us at our next Pro Bono Clinics! To volunteer or to learn more about the Pro Bono & Community Services Committee, please visit probono.aabany.org.
From Flushing, Queens (7/23): Thank you, volunteers, for helping us meet with 19 clients. These cases covered various areas including immigration, housing, contract, and fraud. Of the 19 clients, 5 spoke Spanish, 11 spoke mandarin, 2 spoke Cantonese, and 1 spoke English.
Volunteer Attorneys
Interpreters & Observers
Beatrice Leong
Alexandra Lao^
Eugene Kim
Joy Fan^
Evelyn Gong*
Nicole Morikawa^
Hooney Heoh
Reni Axelrod^
Jackson Chin*
Sharmie Azurel^
Johnny Thach
Yvette Adiguzel^ (licensed out-of-state)
Kyoung Jung
Weiqiao Lin^
Shirley Luong
Duane Morikawa
Yaoyu Liu
Yvette Wang
Zhaohua (Josh) Huang
John Hwang (licensed out-of-state)
May Wong
Theresa Yuan
^ = non-attorney volunteers
* = remote
From Chinatown, Manhattan (7/30): Thank you, volunteers, for helping us meet with 31 clients. Majority of these cases were related to housing, contracts and fraud, and wills, trusts, and estates. Of the 31 clients, 16 spoke mandarin, 7 spoke Cantonese, 7 spoke English, and 1 n/a.
Volunteer Attorneys
Interpreters & Observers
Ailsa Chau
Alex Hwang^
Beatrice Leong
Alexandra Lao^
Chao-Yung (Kloe) Chiu
Joy Fan^
Eugene Kim
Kirin Moy^
Eun Hye (Grace) Lee
Meng Zhang^
Francis Chin
Nandar Win Kerr^
Jackson Chin
Reni Axelrod^
Kwok Kei Ng
Teresa Wai Yee Yeung^
Lindsay Hao
Yvette Adiguzel^ (licensed out-of-state)
Lulu Jing
May Wong
Meghan Liu
Min Jung Esther Choi
Theresa Yuan
Please feel free to join us at our upcoming Pro Bono Clinics in August –
Manhattan – August 20 – Cutoff time to register by 12pm, 8/17 to recruit volunteers
Location – 33 Bowery, Community Room at Confucius Plaza, New York, NY 10002
On August 4, 2022, the Membership & Career Placement Committees hosted a #RestaurantSeries dinner at Pasteur Grill and Noodles. Located in the heart of Chinatown, Pasteur Grill and Noodles’ dishes are the result of family recipes passed through generations to “bring the best of Vietnamese cuisine.”
AABANY is trying to support small, Asian-owned businesses and restaurants through our Restaurant Series. “The Membership Committee’s #RestaurantSeries gives AABANY members an opportunity to meet fellow members and to get introduced to co-sponsoring AABANY committees while also supporting local businesses,” explains Membership Director Christopher Bae. “Whether the restaurants are Asian-owned mom and pop shops, established staples of the restaurant scene, or allies of the Asian-American community, join us in supporting and celebrating the resiliency of local businesses during this post-pandemic time.”
Attendees ordered classic Vietnamese dishes including Pho, fried noodles, and spring rolls. Attendees also enjoyed refreshing drinks like Thai iced teas, mint lemonade, and beer to beat the summer heat. New connections were formed among the diverse group of attendees, with conversations ranging from law school advice to international travel.
Thank you to all those who came out! Membership Director Christopher Bae encourages everyone to join us at the next #RestaurantSeries. Keep an eye out for future dinners on our calendar at aabany.org/events.
On March 23, the LGBT Committee hosted a group dinner at Wu’s Wonton King in Manhattan Chinatown. Attendees enjoyed a delicious family-style feast featuring peking duck, Wu’s signature wonton soup, and crispy prawns, among other dishes.
The dinner honored Committee Co-Chair John Vang for his five years of service. Co-Chairs Glenn Magpantay and Jacob Chen surprised John with a bouquet and a speech thanking him for all his hard work.
The evening also included a roundtable discussion on future programming by the LGBT Committee. Attendees reflected on what queer Asian spaces could look like. The conversation engaged voices from all areas of law, from the Honorable Richard Tsai of the New York Criminal Court to students at Cardozo School of Law. Thank you to everyone who attended the event! To learn more about the LGBT Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/439.
On Friday, March 18, AABANY held its first gathering in their Restaurant Series, where AABANY members and friends gather together at Asian-owned eateries to network and support the community.
14 People came to Hop Lee, a Chinatown institution. The attendees had a traditional 8 Course Cantonese dinner. After dinner, some members went to Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for dessert. (Fun fact: Chinatown Ice Cream Factory is owned by an AABANY member, Christina Seid, who is a 1L Law student at Touro.)
Please review our weekly announcements for upcoming restaurant dates, where AABANY will be traveling all over NYC and trying out different cuisines for businesses that were affected by COVID.
It was unseasonably warm on Thursday, December 16, when the Academic Committee hosted their Annual Holiday Lunch in the outdoor dining structure at Wu’s Wonton King in Manhattan Chinatown. Although Academic Committee Co-Chair Tom Lee (Fordham) wasn’t able to make it, Co-Chairs Elaine Chiu (St. John’s), Catherine Kim (Brooklyn), and Donna Lee (CUNY) happily hosted a select gathering, including Board Liaison Suzanne Kim, for a delicious holiday lunch that included shrimp & pork wonton (naturally), as well as a whole fried fish, crispy chicken, and a variety of dim sum dishes. All were grateful to AABANY member Chris Kwok for curating the menu, and to members Francis Chin and Shirley Lin for gracing the gathering with their presence. Lunch conversation ranged far and wide, and included discussion of emojis, and particularly the yellow colored “hands” on Zoom, e.g., the thumb’s up and thank you/high five/prayer emojis. Luncheon participants discussed the importance of distinguishing between “YBD” and “YBC.” Ask yourselves and your colleagues – are you “yellow by default” or “yellow by choice”? Happy Holidays to All! To learn more about the Academic Committee go to https://www.aabany.org/page/352.
AABANY’s Pro Bono & Community Service (PBCS) Committee would like to thank the remote and in-person volunteers who assisted at the Manhattan Chinatown pro bono clinic. This was the first pro bono clinic to take place at the 2 Allen Street, Manhattan location of Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE). PBCS and AABANY would like to thank AAFE for their co-sponsorship.
Fourteen attorneys, non-attorneys, and interpreter volunteers provided 20 clients with legal information and consultation services. Volunteers performed these services in a wide variety of languages and dialects- including Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Taishanese, and Fujianese- reflecting the ability of the pro bono clinic to meet the unique needs of NYC’s Chinatown community.
A substantial number of consultations pertained to housing issues, which remain relevant amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Many clients were informed of their legal rights and choices as tenants. In one instance, a client, who is a tenant in rent-stabilized housing, discovered that landlords of rent-stabilized units could not arbitrarily raise the rent of such units for “maintenance-related issues” without the permission of the Homes and Community Renewal agency of New York. The client also discovered that they were provided with a rental lease that was not authorized for use in rent-stabilized housing units.
We would once again like to thank the pro bono clinic volunteers for their dedication and support, which make the work of the clinic possible. Everyone is encouraged to sign up to volunteer below:
On August 14, AABANY’s Pro Bono & Community Service (PBCS) Committee and Government Service and Public Interest (GSPI) Committee hosted a hybrid legal clinic and provided a “Know Your Rights” presentation for residential and commercial tenants on the topic of rent arrears and evictions. The event was held at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) in Manhattan’s Chinatown and was co-sponsored by AABANY, CCBA, Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of New York (CCCNY).
During the presentation, which was shown on Zoom and screened in-person at CCBA, Rina Gurung, an associate court attorney at the New York State Unified Court System and co-chair of the GSPI Committee; Kensing Ng, a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society in East Harlem; and Meghan Liu, a Cleary Gottlieb pro bono fellow at Legal Services NYC, discussed different types of cases that are brought in housing court, such as nonpayment, holdover, and housing part cases. They also explained which eviction moratoria are in effect due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and emphasized that these laws can change at any time. This was especially relevant, given the imminent expiration of the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act on August 31, 2021; the expiration of the CDC’s moratorium on October 3, 2021; and the U.S. Supreme Court’s August 12, 2021 opinion striking down part of the New York moratorium.
Gurung, Liu, and Ng also provided resources that tenants could contact to file hardship declarations and explained the basics of the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), which provides rental arrears, temporary rental assistance, and utility arrears assistance to low- and moderate-income households at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability. They also explained that landlords seeking to sue their tenants should hire a lawyer and for those who received a marshal’s notice to go to court. In addition, the presenters explained differences in procedures for cases involving commercial tenants and provided resources for both landlords and tenants, phone numbers for free consultations for income-eligible individuals, and a guide to landlord disputes. Bei Yang, a contract attorney at On Call Counsel, interpreted the presentation live into Mandarin Chinese.
Eighteen clients attended the clinic for one-on-one legal consultations with AABANY volunteers, including 12 who had registered beforehand, one virtual caller, and five walk-ins. Topics ranged from housing and matrimonial law to immigration, fraud, medical malpractice, and personal injury. All available client consultation slots were successfully filled.
One client, an older man who only spoke Cantonese, came to the clinic because he had been scammed by a woman who claimed to be interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with him online. She then asked him to send her a significant sum of money, and he did so before realizing that she was a fraud. Such occurrences are not uncommon, especially among elders, and individuals who have been or who know victims of similar types of fraud should not feel ashamed to tell their stories or speak to an attorney. Sharing these stories promotes awareness of these types of scams and helps others avoid them.
While AABANY volunteers were conducting one-on-one consultations, several clients watched the presentation in the CCBA sitting area. One client asked for the PBCS email to see if she could get a recording of the presentation and re-watch it, as she missed a portion of the live presentation. She also was impressed by clips from the Anti-Asian Violence PSA that explained what hate crimes were and how they can be reported, and asked for the link to the YouTube video, even though she spoke no English. After the one-on-one consultations concluded, volunteers debriefed the clinic and got to know each other over a post-clinic meal at Canton Lounge.
The PBCS Committee thanks Rina Gurung, Kensing Ng, and Meghan Liu for lending their expertise in rent arrears, eviction moratoria, and landlord and tenant rights and Bei Yang for providing a live interpretation of the presentation. The Committee would also like to thank Beatrice Leong, Francis Chin, Guiying Ji, Jae Hyung Ryu, Judy (Ming Chu) Lee, Karen Kithan Yau, Kwok Ng, Samantha Sumilang, and Shengyang Wu for providing clients with legal information and resources during one-on-one consultations; Kloe Chiu and Esther Choi for providing language interpretation during one-on-one consultations; Luna Fu and Wai Yip from AAFE for language interpretation and other assistance; Zhixian (Jessie) Liu and Poonam Gupta for acting as standby consultants for immigration-related questions; and Asako Aiba, Karen Lin, Kevin Hsi, Kwok Ng, May Wong, Megan Gao, and Olympia Moy for coordinating and staffing the clinic. AABANY would also like to thank CCBA, CCCNY, and AAFE for co-sponsoring this event. We are also grateful to the staff at Charles B. Wang for providing video resources on mental health and anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To learn more about the PBCS Committee and its work, click here and here. The PBCS Committee is tentatively planning to hold its next hybrid legal clinic on Saturday, September 18, 2021 between 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM. For up-to-date details about the clinic and registration information, please click here.
On May 21, in observance of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, AABANY’s Legal Referral and Information Service (LRIS) hosted an event titled “A Brief History of Anti-Asian Racism in America and Call to Action” to raise funds for Welcome to Chinatown’s Longevity Fund. Welcome to Chinatown is a grassroots initiative working to preserve New York City’s Chinatown by supporting small businesses and amplifying community voices. In 2020, they launched The Longevity Fund, a small business relief program, to support small businesses where cultural and socioeconomic barriers have prevented them from applying for assistance programs.
The first part of the fundraising event consisted of a presentation from Chris Kwok, AABANY Board Director, Asia Practice Committee Co-Chair, and Issues Committee Chair, on the history of anti-Asian racism in America. He provided an overview of the history of sinophobia and anti-Asian violence in the United States, highlighting the passage of laws including the Naturalization Act of 1790, the Page Act of 1875, and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Chris also shared the common themes of how Asian Americans have been perceived throughout history and are still seen today as “forever foreign.”
The presentation was followed by an informal Q&A session between Moderator Tiffany Miao, and William Ng, AABANY President-Elect and LRIS Panel Member, on the importance of AAPI representation in the legal profession and how AAPI lawyers can play a role in preserving Asian cultures and communities for future generations. After listening to Chris’ presentation, William spoke about how the history of sinophobia in the U.S. was never taught in school and how it is important to push towards adding it to school curriculums. Chris added that it’s critical for individuals to understand how race works with Asian Americans—although there’s similarity with how African Americans and Jews experience race, there are still differences and nuances. As for how AAPI lawyers can support AAPI communities, William stated, “While it’s a good career opportunity to do meaningful work, this time in particular, Asian Americans have an opportunity to do more, push certain initiatives.” In addition to representing Asian American clients at work, AAPI lawyers can donate to organizations such as Welcome to Chinatown, and join AABANY’s LRIS to provide legal assistance to the Asian American community.
To join AABANY’s LRIS, please email joinlris@aabany.org for an application. To learn more about Welcome to Chinatown, please visit welcometochinatown.com and check out their Instagram account @welcome.to.chinatown
At the conclusion of the fundraiser, AABANY was able to raise $2000 for The Longevity Fund. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the event, and thanks especially to all the donors for their support.
On Friday, July 3, 2020, the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee of the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) launched a flyering campaign to promote the new Remote Pro Bono Legal Clinic in Chinatown and Koreatown. The event was organized by William Lee, Associate at Alston & Bird and an active member of the Pro Bono Committee. The goal of the campaign was to ensure that Asian American small businesses had access to the Pro Bono Clinic’s various resources during this time of great need. Many law students from local APALSAs, including Fordham, Cardozo, and Columbia, volunteered at the start of the 4th of July holiday weekend to assist in distributing the flyers to local businesses.
The Chinatown volunteers were led by Dianna Lam and May Wong, frequent volunteers for the Pro Bono Clinic, and those in Koreatown were led by Will Lee. Both campaigns were very successful, and Dianna Lam and May Wong were even interviewed for the “Around the Boroughs” segment of Spectrum News NY1. Dianna and May emphasized the importance of the Remote Pro Bono Legal Clinic, especially for smaller businesses impacted by COVID-19. Both groups ended the day with a volunteer appreciation lunch at the West New Malaysian Restaurant on Bowery Street. The group was able to sit at tables set up outside the restaurant, spaced out so that they could maintain a social distance.
We thank the Pro Bono Committee members, including Will Lee, Dianna Lam, and May Wong, for their leadership during this campaign. We also thank the students and volunteers who took the time to help the Remote Clinic reach more individuals and businesses in need of legal information. The Pro Bono Committee will be organizing similar campaigns in Flushing, Queens and Bay Ridge, so if you are interested in volunteering, please add your name to this document. Read AABANY’s press release about the Remote Pro Bono Clinic here. For more information on the Pro Bono Committee, see https://www.aabany.org/page/117. To find out more about AABANY’s pro bono resources, visit aabany.org/probono.
