Congratulations to AABANY Member Naf Kwun for Receiving NAPABA’s 2020 Best Under 40 Award

This December, the 2020 Annual National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (“NAPABA”) Awards Ceremony will be held virtually to honor outstanding attorneys and organizations that have made an impact within the Asian Pacific American community. Among those being honored will be Naf Kwun, a partner at Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter LLP and a valued member of AABANY’s Board of Directors, who has received one of NAPABA’s Best Under 40 awards. Every year, NAPABA recognizes talented individuals within the Asian Pacific American (“APA”) legal community under the age of forty who have achieved prominence and distinction in their fields of endeavor. Recipients are selected on the basis of two factors: first, demonstrated success and professionalism in the practice of law; and second, a commitment to the APA community. A law firm partner, mother to two young kids, and wife, Naf has not only taken an exceptional career path but has also shown a continuous and inspiring dedication to the APA community. 

Naf has achieved the first factor of consideration for this award, a demonstrated success and professionalism in the practice of law, in various ways. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley,  she founded a small business to support her family before ultimately enrolling at Georgetown University Law Center.  She went on to complete a judicial clerkship with Justice Patricia DiMango of the New York State Supreme Court, Criminal Term, before entering private practice at her current law firm as an associate in the corporate and commercial litigation group. In this small firm setting with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to individuals, Naf quickly taught herself civil litigation and corporate law. She overcame the learning curve, impressed the firm’s partners, and by her third year assumed the duties and responsibilities of a senior associate. The firm was especially impressed by Naf’s intelligence, initiative, and management skills, and in 2018, she became the first associate elevated to partnership since the firm’s founding. 

Naf has exemplified the second criterion for the award by demonstrating a commitment to the APA community through her leadership and passion outside of her professional pursuits. Since joining AABANY, Naf has become a dedicated driver of meaningful participation of APAs in the legal profession.  Over the years, she has held nine leadership positions at the committee and board level. Through leadership and collaboration, she has helped carry AABANY’s mission forward, such as by helping to manage over 100 programs as a Vice President of Programs and Operations and working with the Judiciary Committee to increase diversity on the bench. Additionally, as co-chair, Naf led the Women’s Committee to chronicle the progress of APA women attorneys over the last twenty years through a groundbreaking video project called “Kicking Glass from the Courtroom to the Boardroom: Two Decades and Counting”. This project would not only premiere at the 2014 NAPABA Convention but also screened at the 2015 ABA Spring Conference, the 2015 AABANY Fall Conference, and at law firms nationwide. 

Naf’s drive for professional excellence and commitment to the APA community are deeply rooted in her experience as a Korean American immigrant. Growing up in a predominantly white suburb outside of New Orleans, she encountered racism and exclusion, which helped to build her character and developed foundational values of hard work, perseverance, and advocating for others that have brought her to where she is today. 

When asked what advice she has for aspiring lawyers, Naf said her best recommendations are to “be open to opportunities” and “appreciate that when you’re young and starting out, people genuinely want to help you so don’t be afraid to “ask for help.”  She strongly encouraged law students and junior attorneys to join bar associations such as AABANY, and to become active members of the legal community.  In terms of her own aspirations, since becoming a partner she has been more involved in the backend managerial aspect of law practice.  She enjoys learning about the business of running a law firm and hopes to continue to “grow within the firm’s leadership structure.” 

Outside of her career, Naf and her husband stay busy raising their two young boys. Despite their hectic workload, they coordinate across each other’s schedule to make sure they are both present for milestones in their children’s lives.

At the Nov. 13 Weekly Mixer, Naf was featured as part of the “Meet Board Series,” and she shared her story and path to success with the attendees who drew inspiration and insight from her remarks. Read more here.

AABANY congratulates Naf on receiving NAPABA’s Best Under 40 Award and wishes her all the best in her future endeavors. 

Membership Committee Hosts Mixer on November 13 with Naf Kwun

On November 13, 2020, the Membership Committee hosted their weekly virtual Membership Mixer, with 17 participants in attendance. This week AABANY had the honor of having Naf Kwun, Partner at Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter LLP and AABANY Board Member, as our guest speaker. 

Guest Speaker Naf Kwun

The icebreaker question posed to the group was: “What would you have done differently if you knew everything you knew about COVID before the lockdown?” Participants gave varied responses, such as invest in Pfizer, Zoom, and Amazon stocks; take a trip; clean their offices; buy more PPE.

Naf shared her path to success in the legal profession, starting with her attending AABANY’s second Fall Conference, in 2011, which led her to getting actively involved with AABANY’s quarterly newsletter, The Advocate, which then led to her becoming active on various AABANY Committees, including serving as a Co-Chair of the Women’s Committee. Naf also joined the Board and served as an Office and Director, including a highly productive tenure as Co-Vice President of Programs and Operations. Even as she was busy with AABANY, Naf got her legal career on track, first as a clerk to Criminal Court Justice Patricia DiMango, and then as an Associate at Lee Anav, where she rose to Partner after a few years. Naf also serves on the Board of AABANY’s 501(c)(3) affiliate, the Asian American Law Fund of New York. This year, Naf received recognition as one of NAPABA’s Best Under 40. Congratulations to Naf on this well-deserved honor and recognition, and thanks to Naf for sharing her inspiring journey with our members at our Weekly Mixer!

The Membership Committee previously hosted Monthly Mixers at bars, ballparks, stadiums, operas, etc, but due to COVID, we have moved online to offer members a weekly outlet to share their feelings, see old friends, and make new connections. Mixers start at 6:30pm on Friday and the main event ends at 7:30pm but many often stay on after 7:30pm for smaller breakout groups. Membership Committee will continue to host weekly virtual mixers until it is safe to gather together again in person. 

We are giving away door prizes in some weeks. In order to win, you must be a member and must RSVP on the aabany.org calendar entry to get a raffle number. Non-members can join the mixer but won’t be eligible to win a prize. 

Congratulations to Henry Man, for winning the weekly prize!

Please join us on November 20, 2020 for a Remo Room Mixer. Register by Thursday, Nov. 19, at https://www.aabany.org/events/event_details.asp?legacy=1&id=1420338.

Congratulations to 2020 NAPABA Award Winners

On September 3, 2020, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) announced its 2020 award winners.

AABANY congratulates the following:

Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award Recipients:

Glenn D. Magpantay, Executive Director of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance

Mari Matsuda, Professor of Law at the University of Hawaii

The Honorable Rosa Peng Mroz, Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court in the State of Arizona

L. Song Richardson, Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California

Eric Yamato, Fred T. Korematsu Professor of Law and Social Justice at the University of Hawaii

Affiliate of the Year Award Recipient:

Filipino Bar Association of Northern California (FBANC)

APA-Owned Law Firm Award Recipient:

Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho

Law Firm Diversity Award Recipient:

Littler Mendelson P.C.

Best Under 40 Award Recipients:

Jasmeet Kaur Ahuja, Senior Associate at Hogan Lovells US LLP 

Kristin Asai, Partner at Holland & Knight LLP

Thy B. Bui, Partner at Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP 

Vicki Chou, Of Counsel at Hueston Hennigan LLP 

Pankit Doshi, Partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP 

Benjamin H. Huh, Legal Counsel at Apple Inc. 

Sofia Jeong, Associate General Counsel of IP Legal at Facebook, Inc. 

Robin Jung, Senior Attorney of Litigation at Dykema Gossett LLP 

Naephil “Naf” Kwun, Partner at Lee Anav Chung White Kim Ruger & Richter LLP 

Erica Lai, Antitrust & Commercial Litigation Counsel at Cohen & Gresser LLP 

Bonnie Lau, Litigation Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP

Rotsen “Chinny” Law, Attorney at The Ramos Law Firm 

Mark L. Legaspi, Associate General Counsel and Director of Corporate Strategy, M&A, Investments and Emerging Technologies at Intel Corporation 

Abigail Rivamonte Mesa, Chief of Staff at Office of Supervisor Matt Haney, District 6

Lisa Kim Anh Nguyen, Partner at Latham & Watkins LLP

Phi Nguyen, Litigation Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Atlanta 

Philip Nulud, Senior Counsel at Buchalter

Judge Rizza O’Connor, Chief Magistrate Judge at Magistrate Court, Toombs County, Lyons, Georgia 

Candice Wong, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General & Chief of Staff of U.S. Department of Justice – Criminal Division 

Maya Yamazaki, Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP 

Women’s Leadership Award Recipient:

Sandra Yamate, Chief Executive Officer at Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession

Military and Veteran Service Award Recipient:

Colonel Kay K. Wakatake, U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps

Pro Bono Award Recipient:

Alice Hsu, Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Karen Kithan Yau, Of Counsel at Kakalec Law LLP

AABANY congratulates its members who were honored by NAPABA:

Glenn Magpantay, Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award

Naf Kwun, Best Under 40 Award

Alice Hsu, Pro Bono Award

Karen Yau, Pro Bono Award

AABANY also congratulates Littler, an AABANY Silver Sponsor, on receiving the Law Firm Diversity Award.

All these award winners will be recognized during the month of October on NAPABA social media channels. Follow NAPABA’s Facebook and LinkedIn to hear the winners give their acceptance speeches and more!

Charting New Frontiers in the C-Suite

By Naf Kwun
AABANY Advocate Editor-in-Chief


Parkin Lee, AABANY Advisory Committee Member and longtime AABANY supporter, is Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer (“CLO”) and Secretary of Rockefeller Group International, Inc. (“The Rockefeller Group”).  Recently, he was appointed President and CEO of Rockefeller Group Investment Management (“RGIM”).  

Congratulations!  How did you come to be appointed President and CEO of RGIM? 

I keep telling people that it’s not a big thing!  [RGIM] is a subsidiary created about eight years ago to develop the investment management business for The Rockefeller Group. One of the reasons I came over [from New York Life Insurance Company] [“NYLI”] was to help develop their investment management business and leverage the expertise they had in-house… . [In 2010] The Rockefeller Group acquired an investment management firm in London [i.e., Europa Capital].  Last year, when we acquired TA Realty, which manages over ten billion dollars in assets, we decided to combine its operations with [RGIM’s] … . We relocated all domestic operations to Boston, shed most of [RGIM] employees in New York, and needed leadership.  
As CLO [of The Rockefeller Group], I provided legal support for the acquisition of TA Realty and was one of the only senior officers who was intimately familiar with the deal.  So I was asked to lead [RGIM].  

The interesting aspects of this new position is to make sure that enterprise-wide, everyone knows what everyone else is doing, and to coordinate investments.  On the compliance side … I’m assisting on regular meetings involving Tokyo, Boston, New York, and London to make sure everyone is aware of the issues and that we are addressing the issues consistently across all platforms… . International real estate investment management business is relatively new for the [the parent company,] Mitsubishi Estate [Co. Ltd.], so it’s been interesting to make everyone aware of the compliance requirements and to expand the understanding of how one goes about managing investments and managing businesses across borders.  It’s a little bit of learning on the fly.

How would you describe your career trajectory?  

Random walks.  I had the good luck to have many random walks within [NYLI].  I spent twenty years there, and every few years I changed jobs.  I went in as a private finance attorney.  I had experience as a public finance attorney, though, so when [NYLI] decided to publicly issue bonds, I was the only attorney with the relevant experience and was asked to lead the project.  That gave me exposure to other people and other aspects of the company.  Coming out of that, I was then asked to lead the real estate group, which I did for 7 years.  Then, [NYLI] wanted to expand and developed a mergers and acquisitions team and I was asked to be their attorney.  So I did M&A for a while, then private equity, then venture capital, then derivatives, then investment management work.  Then I found my way back to private finance and securities and headed up that practice.

Did you have any challenging times in your career?  How did you overcome them?

When I was asked to head the real estate attorneys [at NYLI], I had no real estate experience.  There were five attorneys, all more senior than I was, and most had titles above my title.  In order to head up the group, they had to promote me two levels.  I had to establish my credentials with the attorneys and gain their trust.  I did that by taking on significant responsibilities and showing them that I could learn on the job.  

[For example,] [w]e had the country divvied up geographically.  I came into the position in the late 80s, early 90s, during a real estate recession.  There was a lot of restructuring and bankruptcies in the portfolio.  I took Texas and Louisiana, which were two of the busiest states for bankruptcies and mortgage foreclosures.  There was a lot of learning on the job, rolling up my sleeves, and diving deep into the issues.

You are an attorney who leads a legal team and who will now also be leading the business and operations side of a company.  What challenges do you expect down the road?

Being CLO is pretty much half a business role anyway, so you need to have a big view of things, a high level perspective of the issues, and an understanding of the business.  You have to be facile with the financial numbers and have an understanding of the goals and objectives of the business people.

What’s interesting is the number of former attorneys leading business groups.  The head of our industrial development team is a former lawyer, the head of our urban development team is a former lawyer, and so are a few of our regional officers.  Legal training and the skill sets you develop as an attorney definitely come in handy:  the ability to analyze situations, identify what are important versus non-important issues, and come up with interesting constructs to achieve a certain outcome given the materials at hand.

What was your first leadership position?  How would you describe your leadership style?

My first leadership position was at [NYLI], heading the real estate group.  My leadership style is know what your team is doing and make sure they know what each other is doing.  Have an open door policy.  Encourage discussion of issues.  Encourage people to share ideas and thoughts and to help each other learn.  For example, when I’m hiring, I look for people who have the knowledge and experience to do the job, but in terms of character and personality, I look for people who have intellectual curiosity, interests outside of the law.  That to me indicates an open mind and that they are receptive to new ideas.

What impact has your ethnicity had your career?

I don’t think it has, at least not in my career.  Has it made a difference?  It’s really how other people perceive you.  If you had asked me at different times in my career, I would have given you different answers.

I was an anomaly when I started practicing law in ‘81 at Dewey Ballantine.  I was the only Asian American attorney out of about 360 attorneys.  I’m not sure people knew what to make of me.  That’s not necessarily a good or bad thing.  No one came at me with preconceived notions, so it was sort of a blank slate.  I had to prove myself.  I don’t think there were any negative connotations.

You are very active in APA bar associations such as AABANY and NAPABA.  Why is it important to you to participate in these organizations? 

There are still issues that need to be addressed by Asian American organizations like AABANY, AALDEF and NAPABA.  Mainstream organizations do not have the sensitivity or desire to go after such issues.  

From the legal and professional development standpoint, I think Asian Americans still have problems becoming partners at law firms and need greater representation in-house.  We’ve made strides, and it’s been gratifying to see the progress, but more progress needs to be made, especially in the partner ranks.

What role have mentors played in your career?  What role do they continue to play?  

It’s always great to be able to call up people and have an honest discussion, and to have others’ insights on personal and professional issues you may be having.  That is really important.  Whether you call them mentors or friends, it’s always valuable to have different viewpoints.  AABANY and NAPABA have been great avenues for me to meet people on an ad hoc basis who can offer confidential, sincere, and honest opinions and who can do so because they have no personal vested interest otherwise.  I have a nice network of people that I feel safe talking to about just about everything.  That came out of the work I do at AABANY and NAPABA.

What’s the best career advice you have ever received?

Maintain flexibility.  Going back to when I was asked to head the Real Estate group [at NYLI].  I get a call from the General Counsel’s Office.  She says, “Parkin, I want you to lead the Real Estate Group.”  I tell her, “I know nothing about real estate.”  She says, “You’ll learn.”  I tell her, “You realize you’ll have six very difficult personalities in that group.”  She says, “Yes.  By the way, this is highly confidential.  You are not allowed to talk to anyone in this department about this.”  Thankfully, there were two senior attorneys who had just joined the business side and whom I was friendly with.  Both said to me, “This is going to be a challenge.  It’s not going to be easy.  But opportunities like this do not come along every day.  You’ve gotta do it.”  They were absolutely right.  

There are times when you are asked to do something that seems frightening and difficult, but the people asking you do it have faith in you and that’s why they’re asking you.  You have to have the same amount of faith in yourself.

Any advice for our readers who aspire to follow in your footsteps to the C-suite?

The best route to advancement in-house is to be open to doing different things.  If people ask you to take on a job or project that’s a little bit outside of your wheelhouse, do it.  The educational experience is well worth it.  You’ll meet people within the company you otherwise would not have had a chance to meet.  You’ll expand your network, expand your visibility within the company, and expand your experience and knowledge. 


This article was originally published in the Fall 2015, Volume XVI, Issue IV of The AABANY Advocate, which can be read in its entirety here. To see all past versions of The AABANY Advocate,click here. To learn more about AABANY’s newsletter, you can email [email protected].