Law.com published New York City Bar Association Executive Director Bret Parker’s Letter to the Editor on March 31, 2020. Mr. Parker wrote the letter in response to an editorial in The American Lawyer on the law firm’s role in the time of crisis. The editorial noted that in times of crisis, clients will undoubtedly turn to their law firms for help.
However, at the same time, Mr. Parker stressed that it is important for law firms, attorneys, and members of the legal profession to also have a place to turn. That is where bar associations come in.
Although the New York City Bar Association’s building is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Association is still very active and continuing its Lawyer Assistance Program for those in the legal community suffering from mental health or substance issues. The Association is also working on pro bono projects for small business and continuing its legal referral service remotely.
Mr. Parker’s Letter to the Editor noted that during this challenging time, many bar associations are working hard to provide their members with a place to engage, learn, and collaborate. For example, he mentioned the efforts of the Asian American Bar Association of New York to combat the rise in anti-Asian rhetoric and bias incidents that have resulted from the labeling of the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus.”
From Rica Fujihara, Institute of Retired Professionals:
ARE YOU RETIRED OR NEAR RETIREMENT? Do you enjoy stimulating discussions? Exploring new creative and intellectual interests?
Join us at the Institute for Retired Professionals at The New School. Become part of a peer-learning community; enroll in study groups focused on history, literature, science, writing and the arts. Lead a study group on topics that interest you. We are members from a wide range of careers who share the excitement of learning together. We welcome different voices which reflect the racial and ethnic tapestry of our beloved city. Ournext Admissions Information Session will take place on November 4 at 3:30pm, followed by refreshments. It will be held at 6 E. 16th Street (between Union Square West and Fifth Avenue.)
AABANY members who are interested in attending can register by sending an email to [email protected].
To learn more about the Institute for Retired Professionals, click here.
To see a Fox 5 New York segment on the Institute for Retired Professionals, click here.
On Thursday, June 13, 2019, AABANY’s Intellectual Property Committee hosted a Summer Mixer at Gu Japanese Fusion Sushi & Bar on East 52nd Street.
IP lawyers, law students, AABANY members, and non-members gathered together to share appetizers of agedashi tofu, karaage, and shrimp tempura at the back of the busy izakaya. The special rolls included ones amusingly named Spicy Girl, Dinosaur, and Dancing Eel—alongside the usual American staple of the California roll.
Under the restaurant’s blue light, beads of ikura gleamed as members whose practices focus on different areas of IP exchanged lively stories about their work. One attendee shared a little on his background as an electrical engineer prior to entering the legal field. Another remarked that it was her first AABANY event—she wanted to know more about the organization’s work. Wooden trays of special rolls were fluidly passed up and down the table as members enjoyed the meal and company.
Among the varied topics discussed were the Avengers: Endgame’s conclusion, Huawei, Midtown’s Jollibee location, as well as deeper discussions about diversity, identity, and community. Ideas for future events were discussed—potentially including paintballing—and the Intellectual Property Committee is looking forward to hosting them over the next few months. Stay tuned for more!
Thank you to the IP Committee Co-Chairs Jeff Mok, Ben Hsing, and Greg Pan for organizing June’s IP Summer Mixer! To learn more about the IP Committee and how you can get involved, visit the Committee’s webpage here.
From Everett Lo, Project Manager, Social Security Administration:
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), recognizing the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the United States. May is also Mental Health Awareness Month, when we shine a light on mental health. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, Social Security is there for you and your family, providing financial protection and vital services for all Americans, including AAPIs.
The 2019 APAHM theme, Unite Our Mission by Engaging Each Other, affords a unique opportunity to work together to ensure access to Social Security’s programs and benefits for AAPIs experiencing mental illness. Please join us for an informative call as we discuss Mental Illness in the AAPI Community, and How Social Security Can Help, on Thursday, May 23, 2019, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT. You must register by Monday, May 20, 2019 by 5:00 p.m. EDT to participate in this call. Registrants will receive conference call dial-in information in a separate email on Wednesday, May 22, 2019.
Leading advocates in AAPI mental health will share personal insights, and representatives from Social Security will explain how we evaluate mental illness for Social Security Disability benefits, including resources available to help you.
We hope you can participate in this important call. You may learn more about how Social Security is with AAPIs through life’s journey on our Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders page. For more information, contact Everett Lo, Project Manager, Social Security Administration, [email protected]
April’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, April 10 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 20 lawyers and 8 interpreters who volunteered their time to help 32 clients.
At this month’s clinic, we also presented videos created in partnership with AARP to prevent immigration fraud. In the videos, former Immigration Law Committee co-chairs Susan Akina and Amanda Bernardo provided tips and advice on how to avoid being a victim of immigration scams. Scammers pretend to provide quality legal advice, help with paperwork, or other tasks involved in the immigration process. The scammer usually asks for an upfront fee, takes the money, and disappears immediately. Or worse, they provide ineffective or even harmful representation by filing the wrong paperwork, using fraudulent measures, or misrepresenting facts. Susan and Amanda stressed how important it is to only work with qualified immigration lawyers.
To see Susan’s and Amanda’s videos, click on the following links:
We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro
Bono Clinic 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.
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 [email protected].
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 April Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!
Lawyers:
Kathy Yung Beatrice Leong Angela Wu Gloria Tsui-Yip Mayumi Cindy Iijima Zhixian Liu Anna Jinhua Wang Eun Hye (Grace) Lee Xianxiao Li (Emily) Amanda Bernardo Samantha Sumilang Kevin Hsi Barbara Hayes Christopher Chin Sae-Eun Ahn Kwok Kei Ng Pauline Yeung-Ha Ming Chu Lee Karen Kithan Yau Asako Aiba
Interpreters:
Alva Lin Justina Chen Emily Arakawa Derek Ting-Che Tai Weiling Huang Jessica Wang Satoshi Kurita Ruth Poon
Special thanks to Johnny Thach and Kwan Shun Jason Cheung for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Karen Kithan Yau, Pauline Yeung-Ha, Judy Lee and Asako Aiba for their leadership.
If you are interested in volunteering at next month’s Pro Bono Clinic on May 8, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected]. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.
Mineola, NY – Nassau County Executive Laura Curran [recently] issued a warning to residents about a telephone scam in which consumers receive calls from potential fraudsters impersonating the Chinese Consulate to demand payment in exchange for a package or to prevent punishment from the consulate office. As of this month, there have been continued reports of these scam calls targeting residents throughout Nassau County. Nassau residents who receive such calls should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP.
“These phone scams are more than just tedious; for many – especially our more vulnerable residents – they can be catastrophic,” said Nassau County Executive Laura Curran. “I urge our residents to be vigilant, and immediately contact the FTC should they receive this scam call.”
On April 1, 2019, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), joined by Sixty-four (64) bar associations and AAPI-serving community organizations, submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Department of Commerce v. New York (18-966) opposing the addition of a proposed citizenship question to the 2020 Census.
In a press release, NAPABA stated:
On April 23, the Supreme Court will hear an appeal in Department of Commerce v. New York (18-966). In January, the Southern District of New York found that the Administration’s decision to add the question was ‘arbitrary’ and ‘capricious,’ and that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act. In a related challenge, California v. Ross, the Northern District of California found the Administration violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Enumeration Clause of the Constitution. A decision is pending in a third challenge, involving AAPI and Hispanic plaintiffs, in the District of Maryland.
The AAPI organizations urge the Court to uphold the district court’s ruling to enjoin the addition of the citizenship question: Amici agree with the district court ’s finding that the addition of a citizenship question will likely lead to an undercount of noncitizen households of at least 5.8 percent. . . . This chilling of participation in the 2020 Census will have a disproportionate effect on the AAPI community. . . . These heightened concerns for the AAPI community come at a crucial moment, because Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the country and stand to make substantial gains in political representation based on that population growth.
AABANY is pleased to announce that it is a co-signatory to NAPABA’s amicus brief in the Supreme Court opposing the addition of a proposed citizenship question to the 2020 census. The addition of the citizenship question will negatively impact the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. It will depress response rates from Asian Americans, the fastest growing racial group and the largest segment of new immigrants in the country, and impact our ability to protect our rights and ensure political representation.
To read the full press release and the amicus brief, click here.
March’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, March 13 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 21 lawyers and 11 interpreters who volunteered their time to help 31 clients.
We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic 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.
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 [email protected].
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 March Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!
Lawyers:
Samantha Sumilang
Kathy Yung
Beatrice Leong
Mayumi Cindy Iijima
Anna Jinhua Wang
Grace Pyun
Jonathan Hernandez
Ami Shah
Ricky He
Shengyang (John) Wu
Kevin Hsi
Kwok Kei Ng
Kelly Diep
Christopher Chin
Wei Li
Annie Tsao
Rina Gurung
Zhixian Liu
Pauline Yeung-Ha
Karen Kithan Yau
Asako Aiba
Interpreters:
Teresa Wai Yee Yeung
Eric W. Dang
Anna Chuen
Weiling Huang
Derek Ting-Che Tai
Satoshi Kurita
Bingzhen Song
Laura Tsang
Jessica Wang
Lindsay Hao
Justina Chen
Special thanks to Johnny Thach and Roger Chen for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Karen Kithan Yau, Pauline Yeung-Ha, Judy Lee and Asako Aiba for their leadership.
If you are interested in volunteering at next month’s Pro Bono Clinic on April 10, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected]. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.
February’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic, held on Wednesday, February 13 at 33 Bowery Street in Confucius Plaza, brought out 14 lawyers and 6 interpreters who volunteered their time to help 27 clients.
We are asking every member to actively support AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic 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.
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 [email protected].
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 February Pro Bono Clinic Volunteers!
Lawyers:
Gaye L. Chun
Zhixian Liu
Yan Sin
Xianxiao Li (Emily)
Wei Li
Soichiro Ishita
Kwok Kei Ng
Jonathan Hernandez
David Lu
Gloria Tsui-Yip
Pauline Yeung-Ha
Ming Chu Lee
Karen Kithan Yau
Asako Aiba
Interpreters:
JoJo Hwang
Frankie Lam
Satoshi Kurita
Hao Zhang
Derek Ting-Che Tai
Henry Man
Special thanks to Johnny Thach for coordinating the clinic, and the Pro Bono and Community Service Committee Co-Chairs Karen Kithan Yau, Ming Chu Lee, and Asako Aiba for their leadership.
If you are interested in volunteering at next month’s Pro Bono Clinic on March 13, please contact Asako Aiba at [email protected]. AABANY’s Monthly Pro Bono Clinic occurs every second Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.
On February 23, 2019, please join the New York Day of Remembrance Committee in remembering the concentration camps and to discuss our community’s role in standing up for human rights in the current political climate.
The program will feature Frank Abe speaking about the first Day of Remembrance in Seattle, Tribute to Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga, video presentation from the New York Japanese American Oral History Project, Candlelighting Ceremony to remember camp survivors, and a Community Potluck.
The program will be held at the Japanese American United Church, 255 7th Avenue, from 1pm to 4pm.
