Tag: Christopher Kwok

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AABANY Visits the High School of American Studies

On October 21, AABANY Executive Director Yang Chen and Board Director Chris Kwok visited the High School of American Studies on the campus of Lehman College of the City University of New York, in the Bronx. The trip was arranged through Jonathan Halabi, a teacher at the school, and was done as part of the New York State Bar Association’s request to bar leaders to visit local high schools to speak about the Constitution and Citizenship as part of this year’s Constitution Day, which was marked on September 17.

Mr. Halabi gave Chris and Yang a tour of the school, which has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the number 6 high school in New York. He also introduced Chris and Yang to a number of the school’s faculty. Chris and Yang spoke to two classes of seniors about Korematsu v. United States to teach about the Constitution and Citizenship. Both classes had heard the name Korematsu and knew the basic facts and context of the case. Chris and Yang provided additional details about how Fred Korematsu fought for justice and ultimately had his wrongful conviction overturned. The students engaged Chris and Yang in thoughtful and well-informed discussion about Korematsu’s case and how it relates to the Constitution, citizenship and current issues facing immigrants and the nation.

The visit concluded with Chris and Yang being called into the principal’s office to meet with the school’s principal, Alessandro Weiss. Principal Weiss thanked Chris and Yang for coming in and speaking with the students. They talked about the possibility of returning to the High School of American Studies for future visits on other topics of interest to the students. AABANY looks forward to meeting again with teachers and students at the High School of Asian Studies, and we thank the school for its warm hospitality on the occasion of this first visit. (Thanks to Mr. Halabi for the photos.)

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Congratulations to AABANY’s New Co-Chairs of the Issues Committee for 2015-2016!

AABANY is proud to announce the appointments of three new Co-Chairs of the Issues Committee for the 2015-2016 term!

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Christopher Kwok is the Supervisory Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Coordinator for the Mediation Program at the US EEOC – New York District Office. Mr. Kwok graduated from UCLA Law School, where he served on the Asian American Pacific Islander Law Journal, and from Cornell University, where he majored in Government and minored in Asian American studies. He is also a graduate of Stuyvesant High School.

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Song Kim is a Staff Attorney and former Kirkland and Ellis Fellow of the Anti-Trafficking Initiative at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, where she represents victims and survivors of human trafficking on immigration and civil matters. Song is a graduate of New York University School of Law, and the University of Southern California, where she received her B.A. in Sociology.

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Yan Cao is a Skadden Fellow at South Brooklyn Legal Services where she represents low-income clients on student debt matters.  She is a 2013 graduate of NYU Law School where she was a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar and served as the first Asian-American Editor-in-Chief of the NYU Law Review.  After graduating, she clerked for Judge J. Paul Oetken of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and Judge Raymond J. Lohier Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  Yan grew up in Gainesville, Florida and lives in Brooklyn.

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AABANY’s Issues Committee examines and considers a variety of issues that impact, directly or indirectly, the APA community and provides recommendations to AABANY’s Board on whether or not the association should, consistent with its mission, take action on the issues, and if so, in what way and to what extent. AABANY’s Issues Committee continues to seek motivated legal talent to join this committee in expanding AABANY’s activity in accordance with its stated mission of advocating for the APA community.

AABANY is excited to work with the new Co-Chairs and looks forward to a collaborative year!