News from NAPABA: 25th Annual Convention Follow-up

Thank you to everyone who attended 25th Annual NAPABA Convention in Kansas City, MO. Without sponsors and members like you, we could not continue to serve as the national voice for the Asian Pacific American (APA) legal profession and to promote justice, equity, and opportunity for the APA community. We truly appreciate your commitment to NAPABA and to diversity in the legal profession.

Please take a few moments to read these convention updates:

Survey: Your feedback is very important to us. Click here to take our convention survey and you may be eligible to receive an iPad mini!
CLE Credits: Click here to confirm your bar number, jurisdiction, sessions attended, and to download your certificate(s) of attendance. Please note that approval is still pending in New Hampshire and Virginia. Kansas attorneys must submit an affidavit to the Kansas Continuing Legal Education Commission. The form is available on our online CLE site. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
Attendee List: Click here for a list of the 2013 Convention attendees.
Photos: Conventions photos have been posted online on NAPABA’s Facebook Page.

I look forward to continuing our relationship as we plan our 26th Annual NAPABA Convention, which will be held on November 6-9, 2014, at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona. Stay tuned for information about how you can get involved in the 2014 Annual Convention.

I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a very prosperous 2014!

Sincerely,

Tina Matsuoka
Executive Director

From the Empire Mock Trial Association: 8th Annual Downtown Mock Trial Tournament

Earn 3 free CLE credits while educating top collegiate mock trial competitors! 

The nonprofit Empire Mock Trial Association (“EMTA”), in conjunction with NYU Mock trial, is pleased to invite you to our eighth annual Downtown Invitational mock trial tournament on January 25-27 at Kings County Supreme Court in Brooklyn. Each year the Downtown brings together sixteen of the top collegiate trial advocacy teams. This year’s field includes Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Virginia, and the defending national champion, Florida State University.

You can help teach talented, motivated college students about the law by volunteering just a few hours of your time. In exchange, we’ll provide you with free non-transitional CLE credits in the category of skills. 

I’ve included general information about the event below, and you can register to judge here:  http://www.empiremocktrial.org/site/judge.  
  • Features four preliminary rounds of competition, and you can judge as many or as few as you like—no litigation experience is required
  • Please free to invite a friend or colleague to co-judge with you at the tournament.  We’ll pair you together!
  • 16 top trial advocacy teams will compete including Harvard, Columbia, NYU, Virginia, and defending national champion Florida State University
  • We’ll serve complimentary food and beverages as a token of our appreciation
  • Registering takes less than a minute – just visit our site
We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.  Feel free to call (917-426-EMTA) or e-mail us ([email protected])

AABANY ED Speaks at “Bridge the Gap” CLE Orientation Program

On Wednesday, October 23, AABANY Executive Director Yang Chen was a panelist at a CLE Orientation Program presented by the First Department’s Committee on Character and Fitness for a group of about 240 new attorneys who were scheduled to be sworn in to the New York State bar on October 28.  The program took place at NYCLA from 9 am to 11 am, and Mr. Chen provided an overview of ethical issues confronting the new practitioner.  Mr. Chen spoke from his perspective as a practitioner for nearly 20 years working on complex commercial litigation and antitrust matters. Maria Matos, Executive Secretary of the Committee on Character and Fitness and former President of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, organized the event, which is held every few weeks throughout the year.

4th Annual NAPABA Pro Bono & Public Interest Summit

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Dear NAPABA members,

The Pro Bono Community Service Committee is pleased to invite you to the Pro Bono & Public Interest Summit on Thursday November 7 from 9-2 pm to kick off the 25th Annual NAPABA Convention. CLE credit is available.

This year’s Summit will feature panels on Health Care Reform and Immigration Reform and its impact on Asian Pacific American (APA) communities. We are pleased to have Delegate Mark Keam from the Virginia House of Delegates as our lunch speaker. Delegate Keam is the first APA immigrant to serve the General Assembly in Virginia’s 400 year history. He has a long history of community service, including a variety of local, state, and national organizations.

Pro bono is important to all of us. Each affiliate and each lawyer should be helping our communities in these efforts. Bar leaders are especially encouraged to attend. Even if you are not in bar leadership, this session will give you valuable insight into current issues, the state of the law and provide you with tools and knowledge to handle pro bono cases in your state. Many of you will want to have a clinic or other pro bono project this year—the Summit will help you accomplish that goal.

Attendance is free and lunch is available at a nominal cost. All lunch fee proceeds will be donated to Legal Aid of Western Missouri. Click here for more information on the Summit.

AALDEF Volunteer Trainings to Defend Asian American Voting Rights

Volunteer Trainings to Defend Asian American Voting Rights
Sign up by Oct. 23.

Trainings for AALDEF election monitoring are now on-line. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund is seeking volunteer attorneys, law and undergraduate students, and community volunteers to assist in monitoring poll sites during the elections in NYC, NJ, and Virginia on November 5 to ensure compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act.  Attorneys and law students can receive pro bono hours or free CLE (including ethics) credits.

Volunteers will inspect poll sites for required language assistance, interview voters, and document instances of anti-Asian American voter discrimination.  Bilingual ability in an Asian language is helpful but not required.

Lunch/lite dinner will be provided.  All volunteers must be non-partisan during the time that they help.  Sign up by WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, at  http://www.aaldef.net/volunteer_monitor_form.aspx

TRAINING DATES AND LOCATIONS

NEW YORK
Tues, Oct. 22 at 12N – Shearman & Sterling, 599 Lexington Avenue, at 53rd Street, NYC

Tues, Oct. 22 at 6PM – NYU Law School, Furman Hall Room 324, 245 Sullivan Street, NYC
Wed, Oct. 23 at 1PM – Brooklyn Law School, 205 Joralemon St., Room 505, Brooklyn, NYC
Mon, Oct. 28 at 12N – Columbia Law, 435 West 116th Street, Room 107, Manhattan, NYC
Tues, Oct. 29 at 12N –  Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, 51 West 52nd Street at 6th Avenue, NYC
Tues, Oct. 29 at 12:45pm –  New York Law School, Room TBD, 185 West Broadway, NYC
Wed, Oct. 30 at 6PM – Weil Gotshal & Manges,767 5th Ave at 59th Street, NYC

NEW JERSEY
Thurs, Oct. 24 at 12N – McCarter & English, 100 Mulberry St., 4 Gateway Center, Newark, NJ
Thurs, Oct. 24 time TBD – Rutgers Law School, Room TBD, Newark, NJ

WASHINGTON DC
Thurs, Oct. 24 at 6PM – Dickstein Shapiro, 1825 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC
Fri., Oct. 25 at 12N  – Dickstein Shapiro, 1825 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: 
Glenn D. Magpantay or Jerry Vattamala at [email protected],[email protected] or call 212-966-5932.

NATIONAL CO-SPONSORS: 
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
National Korean American Service and Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
OCA Asian Pacific American Advocates
South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT)

STATE/LOCAL CO-SPONSORS:
Alliance of South Asian American Labor (ASAAL)

Asian American Society of Central Virginia (AASOCVA)
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center (APALRC)
Chhaya CDC
Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans of Virginia (CAPAVA)
MinKwon Center
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)–DC and NY Chapters

LEGAL CO-SPONSORS: 
Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY)
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Greater DC (APABA-DC)
Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey (APALA/NJ)
Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York (KALAGNY)
Muslim Bar Association of New York (MuBANY)
South Asian Bar Association of New York (SABANY)
South Asian Bar Association of Greater DC

 

6th Annual NAPABA International Law Symposium

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NAPABA’s International Law Committee invites you to kick off the 25th Annual Convention early at the 6th Annual International Law Symposium on Thursday, November 7, from 11:30 am – 10:00 pm. CLE credit is available.

The Symposium will commence with a keynote luncheon, followed by three exciting panels on key international legal developments impacting both practitioners and in-house counsel, and concludes with a networking cocktail reception and dinner where you can meet colleagues from Asia, Latin America, and North America.

The Symposium and cocktail reception are included in your registration fee for the Annual Convention. The luncheon and dinner are separately ticketed events. More information about the symposium can be found by clicking here.

AABANY Labor & Employment Committee in Formation

On Wednesday, October 9, 2013, sixteen Asian Pacific American (APA) attorneys attended AABANY’s general interest meeting for Labor and Employment Law practitioners to discuss the formation of a new committee to promote the education of work place issues affecting employees and employers in the Asian American community. The group also discussed ways to promote the professional development of APA lawyers practicing Labor and Employment Law through networking events, continuing legal education (CLE) programs and community outreach initiatives. The group will be planning a career panel for attorneys and law students interested in labor and employment law and a program to address “hot topics” in labor and employment law affecting employees and employers in the Asian American community.

Attendees at the meeting included attorneys representing employees/unions, employers/management, and federal, state and local government agencies, including the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Labor Relations Board, and New York State Department of Labor.

AABANY thanks Dechert LLP for hosting and providing refreshments for the meeting and Littler Mendelson for providing dinner for the attendees. If you are interested in participating in the group’s next event or would like further information about how to get involved, please contact William Ng at [email protected] or Amy Luo at [email protected].

FORENSIC ACCOUNTING CONFERENCE OCT. 24 in NYC

Here is a media alert we are passing along for those who may be interested in a CLE program about forensic accounting being held in NYC on October 24. Registration information appears below, towards the end. Please direct all questions to the conference organizers.

MEDIA ALERT

Lawyers and accountants to strengthen crime-fighting partnerships

FORENSIC ACCOUNTING CONFERENCE OCT. 24 in NYC

NEW YORK (September 30, 2013) – Forensic accountants investigate an ever-increasing list of financial crimes that includes money laundering, Ponzi schemes, embezzlement, insurance, procurement and securities fraud. Actively sought out by the legal profession, these certified public accountants have advanced knowledge of accounting and data-analysis techniques and are often deemed part investigator, part auditor, part attorney and part accountant.

The New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) and its Foundation for Accounting Education (FAE) aims to expand the emerging business understandings between attorneys and accountants at its half-day “Forensic Accounting Conference for Attorneys and CPAs” October 24 in New York City.

“The forensic accounting field is a mature field with plenty of business opportunities for CPAs and attorneys alike,” said Yigal Rechtman, CPA, CFE and the Forensic conference chairman. “One important way to nurture the healthy relationship between the two professions is for us to get together and learn from one another about the unique characteristics of each profession.”

The agenda for the event – to be held at the Citi Conference Center, 388 Greenwich Street, 3rd Floor – will focus on 1) accountants’ level of services, 2) lost profit damages, 3) a primer on preventive and detective internal controls, and 4) best practices and challenges in forensic computing.

Key presenters scheduled to speak at the conference include:

·         David G. Trachtenberg, Esq., Founding Partner, Trachtenberg Rodes & Friedberg LLP

·         Vincent Gaudiuso, CPA, MST, Quality Control Partner, Buchbinder Tunick & Company, LLP

·         Gilbert Backenroth, Esq., Partner, Hahn & Hessen, LLP

·         John M. Bonora ASA, CPA/ABV/CFF, CFE, MBA, Founding Partner, Fairfield Forensic and Valuation Services, LLC

Rising forensic, business valuation, accounting and legal professionals at all levels of experience are invited to attend this program that will help develop core areas of competency and expertise. Attorneys who register and attend will be eligible for four (4) Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits just as accountants who attend will receive four (4) Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits. For more information please call 800.537.3635 or to register go here.

Media members interested in attending please contact Alonza Robertson at 212.719.8405 or email [email protected].

ABOUT THE NYSSCPA

Incorporated in 1897 and now representing more than 29,000 CPAs, the NYSSCPA is a not-for-profit organization that represents the issues, standards and public services efforts of certified public accountants who practice in New York State; encompassing all areas of public practice, government, education, business, and industry. Visit the Society’s website at nysscpa.org for more information.