NAPABA President A.B. Cruz III Testifies before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property on the Importance of a Diverse Federal Judiciary

For Immediate Release: 
Date: July 12, 2021

Contact: Edgar Chen, Policy Director

Click here for Testimony.

WASHINGTON – This morning, NAPABA President A.B. Cruz III testified before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property at a hearing entitled, “The Importance of a Diverse Federal Judiciary, Part 2: The Selection and Confirmation Process.” President Cruz’s testimony on behalf of NAPABA highlighted the challenges that Asian Pacific American attorneys often encounter as they attempt to advance in the legal profession. According to the 2017 landmark study “A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law” (“Portrait Project”) published jointly by NAPABA and Yale Law School, the most often cited issues are lack of mentorship and role models, lack of leadership training, and work going unrecognized. President Cruz’s testimony also drew on the Portrait Projects finding that the selection process for clerkships or law firm promotion – often a prerequisite for judicial consideration, involves not only measures of objective criteria but also access to mentorship and subjective criteria which are often amorphous factors that decision makers rely on to determine whom they regard as their proteges. President Cruz was joined on the panel by his Coalition of Bar Associations of Color (CBAC) colleague and Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) President Elia Diaz Yeager.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession..

SOLO & SMALL FIRM COMMITTEE WEBINAR | THINGS THAT GO BUMP ON THE INTERNET

Social media plays a significant role in today’s society and has changed how we market law practices and access information. Effective and ethical lawyering means navigating the dangers that lurk for lawyers on social media, and also the multitude of electronic tools that may seem appealing and helpful in our zeal to obtain the best results for our clients. A misstep comes with a disciplinary price tag. Attendees will learn do’s and don’ts, helpful tips and guidance regarding the ethics of self-promotion on the internet, LinkedIn endorsements, investigating and manipulating online data and evidence, astroturfing, Web bugs, and Internet scams involving settlement funds.

Date and Time
Thursday, March 30, 2017, at 4 p.m. EDT

Click here to register.

Moderator | Judy M. Lam (Litigation Partner, Kumagai Law Group, Jeanne P. Gray Diversity Scholarship recipient and Diversity Committee, ABA Center for Professional Responsibility)

Speakers | Wendy Wen Yun Chang (Partner, Hinshaw & Culbertson; member, ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility) and Ellyn Rosen (Deputy Director of ABA Center for Professional Responsibility)

This webinar is the result of collaborative efforts of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility and NAPABA. Applicable ethics rules will be discussed and cited by rule number during the presentation. Code words will be used to monitor attendance during the live webinar. NAPABA headquarters will provide attendance certificates to members for attending the webinar. It is up to individual members to determine whether the webinar qualifies for credit (and what kind) in their state.