Tag: inclusion

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A Message to NAPABA Members After Charlottesville

Dear Colleagues,

Racism, hate, and bigotry have no place in our country. Leaders do not equate individuals who support ideologies of hate with those who stand defiantly in support of diversity and inclusion, in support of our nation’s ideals. There is no moral equivalence between bigotry and tolerance.

As we said on Monday following the horrible hate on display by neo-Nazis and white nationalists and the tragic loss of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia, “Our core values—acceptance, diversity, and inclusiveness—will overcome the forces of hate and racism.”

We cannot look away from this hate. We must challenge it. We must stand for our core values. This is not a time for ambivalence or equivocation.

We come together as Asian Pacific American attorneys. We have different personal stories, but we all come together as a community with a shared history. We come together because we recognize the power of our community and our profession. We have seen what happens when our communities or other marginalized groups do not have a voice in the law or in the public sphere.

We are leaders with the privilege and ability to ensure that these voices are lifted up and that these stories are told. Just as past civil rights leaders have done for us, we must speak up to advance our principles of justice and equality and to help heal our nation’s deep scars. We continue to draw on the strength and resilience of our history. We must protect civil rights and our vision of democracy.

I am proud to see law firms, law professors, corporations, organizations, and others affirm the commitment of the profession to diversity. I am proud to see individual lawyers stand in common humanity to drive away darkness.

Be a light that guides people to peace, understanding, tolerance, and inclusion. Provide pro bono legal services to the people and organizations opposing racism and violence. Call on your leaders to unequivocally and publicly denounce racism and all those who support it. Have the tough conversations with your families and friends to help them understand and process the events of these trying days.  

As lawyers committed to our values, we must be in the courts, the legislatures, and the community to protect the progress we have made since the civil rights era and move forward towards “a more perfect union.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “The arc of moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  

As lawyers, law students, and legal professionals, we must help bend it.

Sincerely,

Cyndie Chang
NAPABA President, 2016-17

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association | 1612 K St. NW, Suite 510 | Washington, D.C. 20006 | www.napaba.org

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New York Institutes a Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias CLE Requirement for Experienced Attorneys | Media Listing | NYC Bar

New York Institutes a Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias CLE Requirement for Experienced Attorneys | Media Listing | NYC Bar

Diversity brings diverse perspectives, and fairer representation for a diverse society. While the legal profession has publicly committed itself to diversity and inclusion, it has yet to become a model of inclusion itself, remaining largely homogeneous even as the population it serves continues to grow more heterogenous.

Beginning in 2018, a biennial requirement of one credit of Diversity & Inclusion CLE will be implemented in New York for experienced attorneys. In July of last year, the New York City Bar Association and 12 other New York bar associations issued a letter endorsing the institution of a D&I CLE requirement for New York State, in accordance with Resolution 107 passed by the American Bar Association in February 2016. That resolution emphasized education for lawyers around an expanded definition of diversity, meaning the inclusion of all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disabilities. On September 14, 2016 and January 12, 2017, AABANY issued letters in support of the D&I CLE initiative, as an organization committed to the values of equality and social justice that the legal profession upholds and to breaking the obstacles of bias and discrimination that face the APA community within the profession.

The legal profession should reflect the diversity and the complexity of the society it serves, something that the Asian American community, which remains disproportionately underrepresented in the profession today, knows all too well. “Education and knowledge breed change,” Immediate Past President Susan L. Shin wrote in a letter to Hon. Betty Ellerin, Chair of the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board, last year. “By recognizing the importance of diversity and inclusion as values of primary importance, the D&I CLE requirement directly addresses one of the most important criticisms of the legal profession.” As so clearly evidenced by A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law, the report published by NAPABA and Yale Law School on July 18, Asian Americans still face many barriers when it comes to being accurately represented and fairly treated, despite three decades of growth and progress in the legal profession. The implementation of a D&I CLE is a crucial step forward in promoting diversity in the legal profession, in finding solutions to the problems addressed by the Portrait Project, and in making the law more fair and just for those who work within it and for those it serves.

For more information on the D&I CLE, follow the link in the title.

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NYLJ: Asian Americans Find a Voice Within the Law

NYLJ: Asian Americans Find a Voice Within the Law

The indifference toward Asian American equality is a result of our having been classified under the rubric of the ‘model minority’ and thus viewed as achieving success by keeping our heads down and working hard. But Asian Americans have not achieved the success and equality that we are perceived to have reached, particularly in the legal profession.

Congrats to Mike Huang, AABANY President, whose Law Day article appears in the May 1st issue of the New York Law Journal.

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Milbank Diversity Scholars Program

Our friends from the Inter-APALSA Council passed along this announcement:

Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is pleased to accept applications to its Diversity Scholars Program. Milbank is committed to fostering an inclusive environment where the individual differences among us are (i) understood, respected and appreciated, (ii) recognized as sources of strength for the Firm, and (iii) valued as qualities that enrich the environment in which we work.

Each year Milbank selects law students who will receive a salaried 2L summer associate position and a $50,000 scholarship. Factors considered in the selection of Milbank Diversity Scholars include academic achievement, demonstrated leadership ability, excellent writing and interpersonal skills, and a sincere interest in our practice. Students who are members of groups traditionally under-represented in large law firms are encouraged to apply. To be named a Milbank Diversity Scholar, candidates must be in good standing at an ABA accredited law school and have successfully completed their first year of a full-time JD program. Interested candidates must submit an application form, essay, official law school transcript and resume by August 15th. Application forms and more information on the program can be found here.

Milbank’s summer program is extremely comprehensive and provides summer associates the opportunity to rotate through several of the Firm’s practice areas. Our Recruiting Committee and practice groups ensure that each summer associate receives a broad and challenging experience. A variety of professional trainings and opportunities to connect socially round out the experience.

What sets the Milbank experience apart?

  • Our diversified global practice
  • Our robust Diversity and Women’s Initiative programs and active affinity groups
  • Our award-winning pro bono program
  • Our innovative professional development offerings

We recently launched Milbank@Harvard, a multi-year program on Harvard’s campus that helps our associates develop cutting-edge skills and expertise that clients value in their legal advisors.

For more information on Milbank, please visit www.milbank.com . If you have questions regarding the scholarship, please contact Salila Yohn, Manager of Diversity and Inclusion, at [email protected].

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AABANY APPLAUDS SELECTION OF DON H. LIU AS A 2012 NEW YORK CITY BAR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION CHAMPION AWARD HONOREE

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2012
Contact:  Yang Chen – (718) 228-7206

AABANY APPLAUDS SELECTION OF DON H. LIU AS A 2012 NEW YORK CITY BAR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION CHAMPION AWARD HONOREE

NEW YORK – May 9, 2012 – The Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) applauds the selection of Don H. Liu as one of the 2012 New York City Bar Diversity Champion Award Honorees.

The New York City Bar’s Enhance Diversity in the Profession Committee will the presenting the Seventh Annual Diversity Champion Award at an Award Ceremony and Luncheon on June 5th, 2012.  The award recognizes the critical role individual attorneys have played in initiating and sustaining change within their organizations and the overall New York legal community.  The award recipients embody the New York City Bar’s Statement of Diversity Principles, which defines diversity as an inclusive concept, encompassing race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religion, nationality, age, disability and marital and parental status.

”AABANY is extremely excited and pleased that the New York City Bar has chosen Don Liu as an honoree and recipient of the Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award,” said Jean Lee, AABANY’s President.  “Don has been a life-long champion and fighter for Asian Americans and other under-represented groups, not just in the corporate sector but in all aspects of life and society.  His track record on diversity reaches out across generations of lawyers and individuals to advance and promote the values and goals of diversity, in the legal profession and beyond.  We are fortunate and privileged to count him as a dedicated friend of AABANY and its mission to increase diversity in the legal profession.  We still have a long way to go, but with Don on our side, we stand a good chance of getting there sooner rather than later. Don is truly deserving of this recognition, and we congratulate him.”

Don H. Liu is Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Xerox Corporation, where he is responsible for all of Xerox’s legal and government affairs.  Throughout his career Mr. Liu has been committed to increasing the hiring, retention and promotion of diverse attorneys. This commitment is reflected in his stewardship of Xerox’s legal department and in his leadership and involvement in national and regional diversity organizations. He is an active member and former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and is the Vice Chairman of the Asian American Diversity Advisory Council for Comcast Corporation. He also served as the Chair of the In-House Counsel Committee of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), which honored him with their ICON Award and Trailblazer Award. He most recently is the recipient of the Leadership Award by the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY) and the Legacy Diversity Award by the American Bar Association’s Council on Legal Education Opportunity.

For more information, please contact Yang Chen, AABANY Executive Director, at (718) 228-7206, or direct any inquiries to [email protected].

The Asian American Bar Association of New York is a professional membership organization of attorneys concerned with issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community.  Incorporated in 1989, AABANY seeks not only to encourage the professional growth of its members but also to advocate for the Asian Pacific American community as a whole.  AABANY is the New York regional affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).

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Additional information about AABANY is available at www.aabany.org

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