PBCS volunteers, comprising volunteer attorneys and law students, met with 23 clients and provided guidance on a range of legal issues, including housing, immigration, real property, trusts and estates law, labor and employment, family law, and civil litigation.
Positive feedback from some of the clients who came included: “I received helpful information today.” and “It was respectful & calm. I learned a lot as well.”
We thank the following volunteers for attending the Brooklyn Pro Bono Clinic:
Attorneys: Vishal Chander Michael Chu Helen Ding Alice Liang Arthur Lin Willow (Yichun) Liu Kwok Kei Ng May Wong Jameson Xu Karen Kithan Yau Gary Yeung
Interpreters/Shadowers Gigi Chen Sam Chen Anna Chung Philip Han Nandar Win Kerr Hannah J. Lee Cynthia Li Luana Li Jingjing Wang Wendy Zeng Zhiyi Zhang Betty Xinyue Zhu
Thank you once again to all our volunteers for their commitment to Pro Bono service and for making a meaningful difference in our community.
We invite you to continue supporting our community by joining us at our upcoming Pro Bono Clinics:
– August 5th [Queens linkhere], from 6:30 – 8:30pm, AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355
– August 19th [Manhattan link here] from 6:30-8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002
– September 12th [Brooklyn link- posting soon], from 12:30 – 3:30pm, CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11232
To learn more about the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee, visit probono.aabany.org.
We look forward to your participation in the future clinic sessions!
Our Pro Bono Clinic helped nine clients this month, with varying issues ranging from housing, divorce, immigration, and a noise complaint. Due to the number of volunteers who showed up, the June Manhattan Pro Bono Clinic offered consultations that extended beyond the standard 30 minute time frame for each client, ensuring that our volunteers could provide the best possible guidance for clients with thorny legal issues. For some cases, volunteers directed clients to AABANY’s legal referral and information service (LRIS), a resource that connects clients with qualified attorneys to represent them.
Thank you to all of our volunteers for attending the Pro Bono Clinic. We look forward to your participation in future clinics!
Volunteer Attorneys
Wendy Cheng
Keey Diep
Carmen Huang
Justin Lee
Beatrice Leong
Arthur Lin
Meng Ru
Gary Yeung
Anna Bao
Suzie Yu
Law Students and Other Volunteers
Wenwen Cao
Jason Chen
Clive Chong
Nandar Win Kerr
Wendy Zeng
Zhiyi Zhang
Livy Li
We invite you to continue supporting our community by joining us at our upcoming Pro Bono Clinics:
July 11 [Brooklyn link here], from 12:30-3:00pm, CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232
July 15 (Manhattan link here], from 6:30-8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002
August 5 (Queens link here], from 6:30-8:30pm, AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355
If you are interested in supporting the work of the Clinic, we encourage you to make a donation to AALFNY. AALFNY supports the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee (PBCS), provides scholarships and internship opportunities for law students, and works with the AABANY Anti-Asian Violence Task Force. Donations can be made here.
To learn more about the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee, visit probono.aabany.org.
At the clinic, our volunteers met with 12 clients and provided guidance on a range of legal issues, including housing, immigration, medical fraud, real estate, and labor and employment matters. The collective efforts of our volunteers ensured that each client received personalized support and answers to their pressing legal questions. We are deeply grateful for everyone’s presence and contributions, and look forward to continuing this important work together!
Volunteer attorneys: Wendy (Wen-Hsien) Cheng Helen Ding Richard In Grace Ouyang Shirley Luong Johnny Thach May Wong Gary Yeung
Interpreters/shadowers: Nathan Cao Haotian (Victor) Chen Tiffany Jin Nandar Win Kerr Victoria Elise Sogueco Wendy Zeng
We invite you to continue supporting our community by joining us at our upcoming Pro Bono Clinics:
June 17 [Manhattan link here] from 6:30-8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002
July 11 [Brooklyn link here], from 12:30 – 3:30pm, CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11232
August 5 [Queens link here], from 6:30 – 8:30pm, AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355
Thanks to all our volunteers for attending the Pro Bono Clinic.
We look forward to your participation in our future clinics!
To learn more about the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee, visit probono.aabany.org.
At the Clinic, our volunteers met with 14 clients and provided guidance on a range of legal issues, including housing, immigration, and civil litigation. Your collective efforts ensured that each client received personalized support and answers to their pressing legal questions.
We are deeply grateful for everyone’s presence and contributions, and look forward to continuing this important work together!
Special thanks to Megan Rha and D. Jenny Kim, partners from the Rha Kim Grossman & McIlwain, LLP, who came to support our Clinic and to provide valuable time and advice to the community. Also, special shoutout to Betty (Xinyue) Zhu who lives in New Jersey and came all the way out to Queens to help us out!
At this Clinic, we had so many intakes that we ran out of spaces and had to use the community playroom’s space. We are grateful for AAFE allowing us to expand to this area to do our work. At this playspace, some of our volunteers enjoyed a game of mahjong in between meetings with clients. While we would love to play more mahjong, we love helping out the community even more!
Volunteer attorneys:
Hung Yi Chien
Ting-Yu Chien
Helen Ding
Richard In
D. Jenny Kim
Emeline Kong
Grace Ouyang
Megan Rha
Sinbay Tan
Wendell Y. Tong
Anthony Wong
May Wong
Interpreters/shadowers:
Yining Pan
Ellie Wang
Jingjing Wang
Wendy Zeng
Betty (Xinyue) Zhu
We invite you to continue supporting our community by joining us at our upcoming Pro Bono Clinics:
– May 20 [Manhattan link here] from 6:30-8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002
– June 3rd [Queens link here], from 6:30 – 8:30pm, AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355
– July 11th [Brooklyn link here], from 12:30 – 3:30pm, CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11232
Thanks again to all our volunteers for attending the Pro Bono Clinic.
We look forward to your participation in our future clinics! To learn more about the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee, visit probono.aabany.org.
At the Clinic, our volunteers met with 12 clients, providing guidance on various legal issues, including housing, immigration, public benefits, and civil litigation. Their collective efforts ensured that each client received personalized support and essential legal assistance.
In addition to providing vital legal guidance to community members, our Pro Bono Clinics serve as a training ground for law students and young attorneys to practice communicating complex legal concepts in layman’s terms. We appreciate our volunteers for taking the time to listen to clients’ stories and giving them a space to be heard. The dedication of our volunteers continues to bridge the justice gap in our community.
Volunteer attorneys:
Beatrice Leong
Francis Chin
Jieman Tan
Helen Ding
Meng Ru
Anna Chuen
Carmen Huang
Anthony Wong
Xiaodan Song
Arthur Lin
Cecilia Yang
Alexandra Ly
Interpreters/Shadowers:
Rachel Kim
Eva Lee
Elaine Pan
Shang Zhai
We invite you to continue supporting our community by joining us at our upcoming Pro Bono Clinics next month:
May 9th [Brooklyn link here], from 12:30 – 2:30pm, CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11232
May 20th [Manhattan link here], from 6:30 – 8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002
Thank you for making a significant difference in our community. We are deeply grateful for everyone’s contributions and look forward to continuing this important work together! We hope to see you at our May clinics!
—Written by Eva Lee and Rachel Kim, AABANY Interns
At the Clinic, our volunteers met with 12 clients and provided guidance on a range of legal issues, including housing, immigration, wills and trusts, fraud and discrimination matters. The collective efforts of our volunteers ensured that each client received personalized support and answers to their pressing legal questions. We are deeply grateful for everyone’s presence and contributions, and look forward to continuing this important work together!
Volunteer attorneys:
Wendy (Wen-Hsien) Cheng
Hung Yi Chien
Ivy (Ting-Yu) Chien
Jingjuan (Max) Guo
Kevin Hsi
Richard In
Evonne Lee-Bach
Grace Ouyang
Anthony Wong
May Wong
Gary Yeung
Interpreters/shadowers:
Nikita Kohli
Sinbay Tan
Wendy Zeng
We invite all interested individuals to attend Pro Bono & Community Service (PBCS) Committee’s 30-minute Housing Law training (Non-CLE) on February 18 from 6:00–6:30 PM at the AAFE Community Center. Led by Jack Hsia, Esq. and Deng Lin, Esq., the training will review common housing questions participants may encounter, including eviction timelines, defenses to nonpayment and holdover cases, and legal options related to housing repairs and landlord harassment. To register for the training, click here.
To continue supporting our community, join us at our upcoming Pro Bono Clinics:
February 18 [Manhattan link here] from 6:30-8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002
March 14 [Brooklyn link here], from 12:30 – 3:30pm, CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11232
April 1 [Queens link here], from 6:30 – 8:30pm, AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355
Thanks once again to all our volunteers for attending the Pro Bono Clinic.
We look forward to your participation in our future clinics!
To learn more about the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee, visit probono.aabany.org.
We would like to extend a special thank you to Vishal Chander for providing remote immigration assistance, and to everyone who stayed past 2:30 p.m. to ensure all clients were seen. We are especially grateful to Beatrice Leong, who traveled from Queens in a foot brace and stayed past 3:30 p.m. to assist our final client. Your dedication, including staying later than necessary to ensure no client was turned away, is truly admirable!
In addition to answering legal questions, these clinics aim to train law students and young attorneys on how to communicate complex legal concepts in layman’s terms. We appreciate you taking the time to listen to our clients’ stories and providing them with a space to be heard.
Here’s one of the clients’ comments –”Gary is the best lawyer…. Thanks very much.”
Volunteer attorneys:
Vishal Chander
Victoria Cheng
Francis Chin
Jack (Zixu) Hsia
Kwok Kei Ng
Beatrice Leong
Arthur Lin
May Wong
Jameson Xu
Gary Yeung
Interpreters/shadowers:
Sam Chen
Philip Han
Nikita Kohli
Tianyuan Shu
Albert Tong
Please join us at our upcoming clinics:
January 21st [Manhattan link here] from 6:30-8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002
February 4th [Queens link here], from 6:30 – 8:30pm, AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355
March 14th [Brooklyn link here], from 12:30 – 3:30pm, CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11232
To learn more about the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee, visit probono.aabany.org.
Thank you for making a significant difference in our community!
The Urban Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan social and economic policy research organization based in Washington, DC is conducting a study to understand the range of experiences related to precarious housing situations for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs). Building on Urban Institute’s ongoing research, Unlocking Wealth: Homeownership and Upward Mobility for AANHPIs, this study is funded by the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) and focuses on AANHPI individuals and families facing homelessness or housing instability.
If you are part of an organization that serves AANHPIs who experience housing instability or homelessness, please consider participating in this survey. This survey aims to document unmet needs, identify gaps in services and data systems, and provide insights to strengthen policies and practices that better support AANHPI communities experiencing housing challenges.
Ideally, the respondent should be someone who can speak to observed experiences of housing instability or homelessness within AANHPI communities. Participation is entirely voluntary. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes and includes questions focused on housing instability, culturally responsive service delivery, and gaps in existing support systems. Feel free to forward the survey link to anyone at your organization you think can speak on these topics. This survey closes on Friday, January 23rd.
You can learn more about the study and access the Voxco survey through the following link.
At the Clinic, our volunteers met with 9 clients, providing guidance on various legal issues including housing, immigration, public benefits, and civil litigation. Their collective efforts ensured that each client received personalized support and essential legal assistance. We are deeply grateful for everyone’s contributions and look forward to continuing this important work together!
Volunteer attorneys:
Jingjuan (Max) Guo
Anthony Hom
Justin Lee
Meng (Stella) Li
Jie Shi
Yilan Wang
Carrey Wong
Gary Yeung
Interpreters/shadowers:
Nandar Win Kerr
Nian Ting Han
Carmen Huang
Carrie Nie
Wendy Zeng
Shang Zhai
We invite you to continue supporting our community by joining us at our upcoming Pro Bono Clinics:
January 10th [Brooklyn link here], from 12:30 – 3:30pm, CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11232
January 21st [Manhattan link here] from 6:30-8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002
February 4th [Queens link here], from 6:30 – 8:30pm, AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355
To learn more about the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee, visit probono.aabany.org.
Thank you for making a significant difference in our community. We wish you a wonderful holidays season! See you next year!
At the clinic, our volunteers met with 16 clients and provided guidance on a range of legal issues, including housing, immigration, employment and sexual discrimination, and civil litigation matters. Your collective efforts ensured that each client received personalized support and answers to their pressing legal questions.
A big thank you to our guest speaker, Vishal Chander, for successfully presenting the second and final part of the two-part series training, “Immigration Basics for Pro Bono Clinic Lawyers.” This training was extremely valuable, giving attendees the key practice information they need, such as what to expect in an immigration proceeding and the different types of relief available in Immigration Court. Vishal’s presentation was insightful and useful, and we especially appreciate that he stuck around to answer the more complex questions, offering extra help to our community members and clients.
AABANY’s Fall 2025 Legal Intern, Jessie Zhou, volunteered at this Clinic and offered this reflection: “At the Queens Pro Bono Clinic, I witnessed two housing cases that revealed both the urgency of our work and the deep structural barriers that so many community members face. One involved an elderly couple who had fallen behind on rent but were terrified of the prospect of entering shelters or leaving Flushing, the only neighborhood where they felt linguistically and culturally safe. The other was a woman hoping to sue her former landlord for chronic noise disturbances that had caused significant distress and health issues, even though the events had taken place over a year ago. Both clients spoke little to no English, and despite the genuine hardship underlying each situation, the legal options available to them were severely limited. The attorneys walked them through their choices carefully and compassionately, yet the clients remained frustrated, continuing to voice anger and disappointment. It was hard not to feel the weight of their helplessness.”
“Moments like these remind me that many people come to Pro Bono Clinics not only for legal remedies, but for acknowledgment,” Jessie added. “Many people just want to feel heard, someone to listen, to affirm that what they endured matters. Their frustration is understandable; they are navigating a system that is complex, unforgiving, and shaped by structural inequities. In a society built on capitalist priorities, where the most vulnerable often fall through the cracks, our mission seems ever more important, and the Pro Bono Clinics become one of the few accessible spaces where marginalized individuals can be heard. Even when the law offers little recourse, showing up with patience, empathy, and respect remains an indispensable form of advocacy. The AABANY volunteers at the Queens Pro Bono Clinic strive to make others feel heard even when they can be misunderstood by their clients.”
We are deeply grateful for everyone’s presence and contributions, and look forward to continuing this important work together!
Volunteer attorneys:
Vishal Chander
Ivy (Ting-Yu) Chien
Richard In
Beatrice Leong
Jie Shi
Lord Chester So
Anthony Wong
May Wong
Gary Yeung
Meng Zhang
Interpreters/shadowers:
Nandar Win Kerr
Nikita Kohli
Grace Ouyang
Wendy Zeng
Jessie Zhou
We invite you to continue supporting our community by joining us at our upcoming Pro Bono Clinics:
December 17th [Manhattan linkhere] from 6:30-8:30pm, AAFE Community Center, 111 Norfolk Street, NY, NY 10002
January 10th [Brooklyn linkhere], from 12:30 – 3:30pm, CPC Brooklyn Community Services, 4101 8th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11232
February 4th [Queens linkhere], from 6:30 – 8:30pm, AAFE One Flushing Community Center, 133-29 41st Ave, 2nd Floor, Flushing, NY 11355
Thanks to all our volunteers for attending the Pro Bono Clinic. We look forward to your participation in our future clinics! To learn more about the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee, visit probono.aabany.org.
