Official blog of the Asian American Bar Association of New York
The Hon. Denny Chin of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (and past president of AABANY) shared this video with us, the latest in the series “Pathways to the Bench” produced by the United States Courts. It traces his humble beginnings from Hong Kong to Hell’s Kitchen and ultimately to the Federal bench. Take a look. Feel free to share any comments here.
We received the following update from Monica Cheng, Assistant Law Clerk to the Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan:
At its recent annual meeting of the National APA Judges (NAPABA Judicial Council) held in Washington D.C., Justice Doris Ling Cohan (Supreme Court, New York County) was re-elected President, Judge Denny Chin (2nd Cir. Court of Appeals) was re-elected Treasurer, and Judge Marilyn Go (Magistrate Judge, EDNY) was elected Secretary. Their dinner was hosted by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court, at which she did a short program with Hon. Goodwin Liu (Associate Justice, CA Supreme Court), her former law clerk.
Congratulations to the Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan, the Hon. Denny Chin and the Hon. Marilyn Go.
At the May 22 production of “Revisiting Vincent,” one of our Community Presenters that were present at the event was POV, the documentary program on PBS. They kindly took the time to edit together the video footage taken at New York Law School. For those who were there, you can relive the power and impact of the performance and the engaging talkback that followed, led by Hon. Denny Chin and Dean Frank Wu. For those who missed it, now is your chance to see what everyone has been talking about. Thanks to POV for making this happen!
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On May 22, at New York Law School, AABANY together with the Asian American Arts Alliance (a4) and the Museum of Chinese in America, co-produced “Revisiting Vincent: The Legacy of the Vincent Chin Case 30 Years Later.” The slideshow above contains photos taken by Corky Lee who also shared with us at the event original photos from 1983 when the Asian American community erupted in protest in Detroit over the lenient sentence given to Vincent Chin’s murderers.
In addition to the performance, from a script based on the original trial transcripts, the Hon. Denny Chin and Dean Frank Wu provided a historical, legal and social context for the case during an engaging and lively talkback session following the performance. After that, audience members were invited to stay for a reception, at which Community Presenters OCA-NY, CAAAV and POV were available to engage in dialogue about how their current work is informed by and connected to the legacy of the Vincent Chin case.
NAPABA’s 23rd Annual National Convention: Sustainability took place last week in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Omni CNN Center from November 17 through 20. Among the more than 1100 attorneys from around the country was our contingent from New York.
AABANY was well-represented at the NAPABA National Convention.
Judge Denny Chin, past AABANY President and currently the only active APA Federal appellate circuit judge, was the keynote speaker at Saturday night’s installation banquet. Judge Chin shared his experiences as a district court judge, regaling the capacity crowd with fascinating, funny and sometimes touching stories from the wide variety of cases he presided over in his fifteen years on the bench as a United States District Court Judge.
Don Liu, General Counsel of Xerox and AABANY member, introduced Friday’s plenary luncheon speaker, Yale Law School Professor and best-selling author Amy Chua. Don himself was honored with NAPABA’s prestigious Trailblazer Award on Friday evening. In a moving and heartfelt acceptance speech, Don honored his recently-deceased father as a trailblazer in his own right.
At Saturday night’s installation banquet, NAPABA presented its Best Under 40 award recipients, and AABANY was represented by Director Bobby Liu, General Counsel at MD Sass, and Pauline Yeung-Ha, Co-Chair Solo and Small Firm Committee and name partner at Grimaldi & Yeung. Also honored was My Chi To, Secretary of AALFNY (Asian American Law Fund of New York) and partner at Debevoise & Plimpton.
On Thursday, at the NAPABA Bar Leadership Institute, AABANY Executive Director Yang Chen was the luncheon speaker, talking about AABANY’s experience as the first affiliate with a full-time executive director.
On Friday, Judge Chin led the AABANY re-enactment team in a program entitled “Race, Color and Citizenship: Ozawa and Thind,” which re-created two Supreme Court cases from the 1920s in which the Court upheld the denial of naturalization to two Asian Americans on the basis of race and color. The cast, led by Judge Chin and Kathy Hirata Chin, was comprised of AABANY members, including many AABANY Directors: Vincent Chang, Yang Chen, Francis Chin, Lauren Lee, Susan Moon, Esther Nguonly, Liza Sohn, Vinoo Varghese, Jessica Wong and Michael Yap.
Throughout the conference, many other AABANY members, including many past AABANY leaders, spoke on or moderated various panels, including: Sylvia Fung Chin, John Flock, Parkin Lee, and Hon. Doris Ling Cohan.
Congratulations also to Hofstra Law School which was recognized on November 18 as the NAPALSA (National Asian Pacific American Law Students Association) Affiliate of the Year. NAPALSA held several programs and meetings during the NAPABA National Convention.
Thanks to everyone who took part in the NAPABA 2011 National Convention, and congratulations to all the honorees. You do AABANY proud!
Hon. Denny Chin Talks to NYT About His Sentencing Decisions
“There’s no doubt that all of these cases shaped me,” Judge Chin said, “and shaped the way I think, and the way I respond to things.”
Profile of Hon. Denny Chin by Vince Chang
Vince Chang, past AABANY President, wrote a profile about Judge Chin that appeared in the August 2011 issue of Federal Lawyer, a publication of the Federal Bar Association. Click on the link in the title to read the profile.