Introducing the Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, Inc.

New York, New York – November 16, 2015 – Representatives from the Sonia & Celina Sotomayor High School Judicial Internship Program (“SCS HSJIP”) and The Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program (“JMB JIP”) merged this Summer to form the Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, Inc.

The SCS HSJIP was founded in 2014 by Celina Cabán as part of her work with the Ms. JD Fellowship Program. The mission of the program is to encourage diverse high school students from underserved communities to pursue careers in the law. With the guidance of Second Circuit Judge Denny Chin and support of the Justice Resource Center, the program hosted seventeen students its first year and more than doubled in size its second year.

The JMB JIP was founded in 2009 by Linda S. Lin, Senior Counsel, Senior Complex Claims Director at Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, when the Association of Judges of Hispanic Heritage (“AJHH”), the Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”), the Asian American Law Fund of New York (“AALFNY”), the Metropolitan Black Bar Association (“MBBA”), the New York Women’s Bar Association Foundation, Inc. (“NYWBAF”), the Puerto Rican Bar Association (“PRBA”), and the South Asian Bar Association of New York (“SABANY”) joined together to offer law students who have completed at least one year of law school the opportunity to enhance and complement their legal education as summer judicial interns in New York metropolitan area courthouses. Since 2009, JMB JIP grew from a nine intern program to an over 30 intern program.

SCS HSJIP’s Founder Celina Cabán is “particularly excited about the ability to provide additional resources and mentorship to underserved high school youth.”

JMB JIP’s Founder Linda S. Lin is “thrilled and honored to be joining forces with SCS HSJIP and developing a deeper pipeline program.”

The Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program seeks to increase diversity in the legal profession by educating and empowering students from underserved communities and diverse backgrounds. The Program exposes high school students to legal careers through judicial internships in state and federal courts, educational workshops, and mentorship opportunities. The Program also places law school students in judicial internships to introduce them to the state and federal judicial systems and sharpen their legal research and writing skills.

Our goal is simple, to educate and empower our students.

Applications for 2016 summer internships are now available at www.scsjip.org.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Sonia & Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program, Inc.
Rosevelie Márquez Morales, President at [email protected].

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During our Annual AABANY/AALFNY Summer Reception on July 20, we celebrated the opportunities afforded to diverse law students in the Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program (JMB JIP), the Asian American Law Fund of New York’s Community Scholarship Award Recipient Kamille Go, and the accomplishments of NYC Commissioner of Human Rights Carmelyn Malalis. We had over 170 attorneys, judges, and law students registered to attend. 

JMB JIP is a collaborative effort between AABANY, AALFNY, the Asian American Judges Association of New York, Association of Judges of Hispanic Heritage, Metropolitan Black Bar Association, the New York Women’s Bar Association Foundation, Inc., the Puerto Rican Bar Association, and the South Asian Bar Association of New York to offer law students with a strong commitment to diversity to enhance and complement their legal education as summer judicial interns in New York metropolitan area courthouses. 

This reception not only offered the chance to celebrate but to connect in a welcome environment for mentorship and guidance. We thank the many law firms who sponsored this program and made it possible, including the evening’s host for the night, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

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AALFNY will honor Carmelyn Malalis, NYC Commissioner of Human Rights, at its Summer Reception on July 20!

AALFNY will honor Carmelyn Malalis, NYC Commissioner of Human Rights, at its Summer Reception on July 20.  Carmelyn Malalis’ dedication to the poor and underrepresented makes her a fitting role model as AALFNY presents its Community Service scholarship award.  Please be sure to join us for this event.

For the past decade, Carmelyn P. Malalis has worked as a partner at Outten and Golden LLP—one of the City’s premier plaintiff side law firms—and its co-chair of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Workplace Rights Practice Group and the Family Responsibilities and Disability Discrimination Practice Group. In these roles, Malalis has been tasked with a large litigation and negotiation docket, including class actions and individual client cases, and she advises clients on a broad array of employment-related matters. Malalis’s work also includes several advocacy and pro bono projects in collaboration with grassroots organizations and legal services providers advocating on behalf of low-wage and immigrant workers; LGBT employees; and women in the workplace. Prior to Outten and Golden LLP, Malalis worked as a litigation associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, and she has served as a judicial law clerk for the U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis.

Malalis, whose parents come from the Philippines, co-chairs the Diversity in the Legal Profession Committee of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association’s Executive Committee. Malalis has previously served as an advisory committee member of the LGBT Rights Project at the Human Rights Watch, chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on LGBT Rights, and board member of Queers for Economic Justice.

Malalis earned her J.D. from the Northeastern University School of Law and received a B.A. in women’s studies from Yale University. She and her spouse live in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with their two children.

Please note that the deadline to register for the AABANY/AALFNY Summer Reception has been extended to July 16, 2015. Click here to register. 

2015 Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program Application Available: Due Jan. 12

The Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program is proud to announce that the Summer 2015 application is now available at www.jmbjip.orgDeadline is January 12, 2015.

The Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program was founded in 2010 to offer law students with a strong commitment to diversity an opportunity to enhance and complement their legal education as summer judicial interns in New York metropolitan area courthouses.  Judicial internships are exceptional learning opportunities that offer tremendous insight into the process of judicial decision-making, as well as an opportunity to strengthen analytic and legal writing skills.  Each year, JMB JIP partners with various bar associations to offer the program, which has historically included a stipend for a judicial internships – a traditionally unpaid position.

AABANY is proud to be a part of the great work that JMB JIP does providing law students of color with important opportunities.

Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program (JMB JIP) Applications Now Being Accepted

The Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program (JMB JIP) is now accepting applications until January 18, 2014.

The Association of  Judges of Hispanic Heritage (“AJHH”), the Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”), the Asian American Law Fund of New York (“AALFNY”), the Metropolitan Black Bar Association (“MBBA”), the New York Women’s Bar Association Foundation, the Puerto Rican Bar Association (“PRBA”), and the South Asian Bar Association of New York (“SABANY”) have partnered again for the JMB JIP to offer law students the opportunity to continue their legal education as summer judicial interns in New York and New Jersey metropolitan area courthouses. Judicial internships are exceptional learning opportunities that offer tremendous insight into the process of judicial decision-making.  They offer an opportunity to strengthen analytic and legal writing skills.

The brochure/application is attached here and is also available at www.jmbjip.org

Please direct any questions to the program’s co-directors at [email protected].

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On June 13, the Asian American Law Fund of New York and the Asian American Bar Association of New York held their 2013 Summer Reception at Edwards Wildman’s New York office.

At this annual event, AALFNY presents the recipients of the Community Service Scholarship Awards. This year’s recipients were: Lucy Zhang, Duke ‘15, interning with New York Legal Assistance Group’s Total Life Choices department; Mieon Han (Fordham ’14), interning with MinKwon Center for Community Action. Also present was Nabila Taj, this year’s recipient of the AALFNY SABANY Public Interest Fellowship, interning at Queens Legal Services.

Also in attendance were many interns from this year’s class of the Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program, co-sponsored by AALFNY, AABANY, the Metropolitan Black Bar Association, Black Bar Association of Bronx County, Puerto Rican Bar Association and the South Asian Bar Association of New York.

The special honoree was Glenn Lau-Kee, past President of AABANY and the President-elect of NYSBA, the first Asian American to hold that position. In June 2014, Glenn will take his place as the first Asian American President of NYSBA.

We thank all the contributors for making it possible for AALFNY and AABANY to support the scholarship fund and the JMB JIP. Thanks to all the attendees who came and helped make this year’s summer reception enjoyable and successful.