AABANY Members Participate In RaisingHealth Pop-Up Event in Sunset Park

On February 15, 2025, members of AABANY volunteered to station a booth at RaisingHealth’s Pop-Up Health Fair Event in Sunset Park! Many community organizations attended to provide free health exams, serve hot meals, and distribute groceries to participants. RaisingHealth, formerly known as the Academy of Medical & Public Health Services, is a not-for-profit health service organization founded in 2010 that supports the well-being of underserved communities through culturally competent health, education, and community-building programs. 

We want to thank AABANY, RaisingHealth, our volunteers for serving the Brooklyn community, and Joseph Eng, President of AABANY, and Counsel at King & Spalding. At the Health Fair, AABANY volunteers (Kwok Ng, Co-Chair of the Pro Bono and Community Service (PBCS) Committee; Gary Yeung, Co-Chair of PBCS Committee; May Wong (Co-chair of the Professional Development Committee); and Francis Chin (member of AABANY) passed out Know-Your-Rights brochures about immigration law in Chinese and Spanish, upcoming pro bono clinic flyers, and AABANY’s legal referral and information service. Our participation serves as a commitment to community lawyering and to address current immigration rights issues, such as constitutional rights, ICE raids, and fraudulent schemes that target innocent and vulnerable immigrants. By utilizing our legal knowledge, language skills, and resources, we aim to build relationships with local communities and advocate for policy and social changes in the law. 

In addition, please consider volunteering at the following pro bono clinics: 

Queens clinic – April 2, 2025 [Queens link here], from 6:00 – 8:30pm, One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355

Manhattan clinic – April 16, 2025, from 6:00 – 8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002

Brooklyn clinic – May 10, 2025, from 12:00 – 3:00pm, location tbd 

Moving forward, registrations for these clinics will be posted on AABANY’s calendar. Please be patient with us during this transition. Thank you! 

AABANY Holds its 2025 Annual Meeting of Members at King & Spalding on February 11th

On Tuesday, February 11th, 2025, AABANY held its Annual Meeting of Members at King & Spalding. President Joseph Eng called the meeting to order and established a quorum. The main order of business was conducting the election for the 2026 Fiscal Year Board of Directors and Officers. 

Once all ballots were collected, President Eng called up President-Elect Ben Hsing and Immediate Past President Karen Kim to receive them as the Tellers. They departed to a separate room to count up the votes cast, both at the Annual Meeting and via electronic voting prior to the Annual Meeting.

While the votes were being tallied, President Eng invited the Membership Director, Alysha Naik, to present the Membership Director’s report. He then invited Treasurer Jasmine Ball to give the Treasurer’s Report, sharing information about AABANY’s financial performance during the past fiscal year.

President Eng then gave the Annual Report of the Board, summarizing AABANY’s major events for the past fiscal year, covering April 1, 2024, to date.  He thanked the Board members for their service during the past year and asked those present in the room to stand and be recognized.

Executive Director Yang Chen then gave the Annual Report of the Committees, giving thanks to the Vice Presidents of Programs and Operations Ashley Shan and Jeffrey Mok, and the Committee Chairs for their hard work. Yang also went over a few highlights from committee events over the past year. Yang then presented the Awards for Committees of the Year, Program of the Year, and Member of the Year. 

Committee of the Year: Professional Development Committee

The Committee of the Year Award was presented to the Professional Development Committee for their many years of volunteer service to the association, accreditation of numerous continuing legal education programs over the years that benefited our members and the profession, and making sure that the association complies with New York State CLE board rules, along with other programming to support professional development.

Program of the Year: Pre-Holiday Multi-Association Gathering

The Program of the Year Award was presented to the Pre-Holiday Multi-Association Gathering for bringing together numerous bar and judicial associations to promote wellness and well-being in the legal profession during a time of the year that may prove challenging for many.

Member of the Year: Gary Yeung 

The Member of the Year Award was presented to Gary Yeung for his many years of active and dedicated involvement, participation, and leadership in service to the association, to its members, and to the wider community.


After the presentation of the awards, Joseph announced the election results. The following officers were elected to serve a one-year term for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2025, and ending March 31, 2026 (the “2026 Fiscal Year”):

Varuna Bhattacharyya

President-Elect

Pei Pei Cheng de Castro

Vice President, Programs and Operations

Tai Chien

Vice President, Programs and Operations

P. Bartlett Wu

Treasurer

David Mou

Secretary

Alysha Naik

Membership Director

Beatrice Leong

Development Director

The following candidates were elected as Directors to serve two-year terms beginning on the first day of the 2026 Fiscal Year:

Glenn D. Magpantay
Katherine Loanzon
Jeffery Mok

The night concluded with a bittersweet goodbye to Deputy Executive Director, Alice Biagini. February 11 was Alice’s last day at AABANY. She accepted a position as a business development and marketing manager at a law firm. During her eight months with us, she made a great impact on our operations and activities and supported our Board members and Committee Chairs as well as our membership. Alice will be missed by everyone she has touched. Yang presented her with some parting gifts from AABANY, which included a cookbook entitled The Woks of Life as well as a personalized apron with the AABANY logo. We wish her well in her future endeavors and hope to continue seeing her at AABANY events, as a participant.  

We thank everyone who attended the Annual Meeting and everyone who voted, whether by proxy or in person. Congratulations to all the award recipients and the newly elected Officers and Directors.

Special thank you goes out to AABANY President Joseph Eng and the wonderful staff at King & Spalding for hosting AABANY’s 2025 Annual Meeting.

Thank You to Our Volunteers at the Queens Pro Bono Clinic in November

On November 1st, 2023, AABANY held its Queens Pro Bono Legal Clinic at the AAFE (Asian Americans for Equality) One Flushing Community Center. The clinic met with 15 clients, coming in with questions about criminal, housing, immigration, and family law. Volunteer attorneys and interpreters patiently addressed client concerns, answering questions and connecting them to lawyers through AABANY’s Legal Referral and Information Service (LRIS). We are extremely grateful to have volunteers willing to start early at 6pm and stay beyond 8:30pm to finish speaking with the clients.

We thank the AABANY Pro Bono & Community Service (PBCS) Committee and AAFE for organizing and hosting this event. We also thank Council Member Sandra Ung for partnering with us to make this service available to the community.

Thank you to our volunteers for supporting the clinic. Your time and dedication are essential for delivering crucial assistance to individuals seeking legal guidance. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to:

Volunteer Attorneys:

  • Beatrice Leong
  • Casey Lee
  • Eugene Kim
  • Gary Yeung
  • Kevin Hsi
  • Lina Lee
  • May Li
  • May Wong
  • Shirley Luong

Interpreters and Coordinators:

  • Daniel Kang
  • Melodie Han
  • Yiming (Roselyn) Chen
  • Nuala Naranjo (AAFE)
  • Elton Ye (AAFE)
  • Maria Bergeron (AAFE)
  • Sally Lin (AAFE)

Here is a list of upcoming Pro Bono Clinics:

  • Manhattan, November 15, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, at AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street. Sign up by 12pm, November 10 to volunteer.
  • Brooklyn, December 2, from 12:30pm to 3:30pm, at Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc., 4101 8th Avenue. Sign up by 12pm, November 27 to volunteer.
  • Manhattan, December 20, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, at AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street. Sign up by 12pm, December 15 to volunteer.
  • Queens, January 10, 2024 from 6:00pm to 8:30pm, One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave. Sign up by 12pm, January 5 to volunteer.

Click here for more information about our Pro Bono Clinics and the PBCS Committee. Or sign up for the next BYOL (Bring Your Own Lunch) Sidebar Meeting on November 16 to learn more about the Clinic and the Committee. Go here for more details and to register.

Thank You to Our Volunteers at the Queens Pro Bono Clinic in September

On September 6th, 2023, AABANY held its Queens Pro Bono Legal Clinic at the AAFE One Flushing Community Center. The clinic met with 31 clients, coming in with questions about housing, immigration, family law, and civil litigation. Volunteer attorneys and interpreters patiently addressed client concerns, answering questions and connecting them to lawyers through AABANY’s Legal Referral and Information Service (LRIS). We are extremely grateful to have volunteers willing to start early at 6pm and stay beyond 8:30pm to finish speaking with the clients.

We thank the AABANY Pro Bono & Community Service (PBCS) Committee and Asian Americans for Equality for organizing and hosting this event. We also thank Council Member Sandra Ung for partnering with us to make this service available to the community.

Thank you to our volunteers for supporting the clinic. Your time and dedication are essential for delivering crucial assistance to individuals seeking legal guidance. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to:

Volunteer Attorneys:

Richard In
Lina Lee
Beatrice Leong
Lord Chester So
May Wong
Gary Yeung

Interpreters and Coordinators:

Gabriel Hisugan
Jocelyn Jao
Willow Liu
Nuala Naranjo-Odoherty

Here is a list of upcoming Pro Bono Clinics:

● Brooklyn, October 14, from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm, at Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc., 4101 8th Avenue. Sign up here to volunteer.

● Manhattan, October 18, from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, and AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street. Sign up here to volunteer.

● Queens, November 1, from 6:30pm – 8:30pm, at AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave 2nd Floor. Sign up here to volunteer.

Click here for more information about our Pro Bono Clinics and the PBCS Committee.

Thank You to our Volunteers at the Manhattan Pro Bono Clinic in January

Thank you AABANY, VNS Chinatown Community Center, and our dedicated volunteers for joining us on January 14, 2023 at the Manhattan Pro Bono Clinic. Shoutout to Gary Yeung, co-chair of the Mentorship Program, for coming out to our clinics twice in a row!!!

We met with 15 clients who had questions about tort, family law/matrimonial, and housing.

Reading through our client satisfaction surveys, these are the remarks from our clients:

“Just appreciate your advice and services.”

“Made me more comfortable about my situation.”

For all law students/law graduates who are seeking to complete the 50 pro bono hours requirement, remember to reach out to us to get more information about the process and what other projects we have on hand at [email protected].

Please vist the AABANY’s Calendar and sign up for a listing of events and sign up for upcoming Pro Bono Clinics:

Saturday, March 4, Queens

Saturday, March 18, Manhattan

Saturday, April 8, Brooklyn

Volunteers:

Beatrice Leong
Eugene Kim
Francis Chin
Gary Yeung
Jackson Chin
Johnny Thach
Kwok Kei Ng
May Wong
Tammy Tran
Theresa Yuan
Chenyun Ma*
Cindy Park*
Kirin Moy*
Sue Yu*
Tiancheng Lyu*
Yixuan Lian*
Yuichi Hayashi*
Yuwen Long*

*Non-attorneys