Press Release: New York Asian American Law Students Excel at National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Convention in New Orleans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2015  

Contact: Yang Chen, Executive Director
(718) 228-7206

NEW YORK – November 18, 2015 – The Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) is proud to congratulate Christina Nguyen and Azizah Ahmad on their recent honors from the NAPABA Law Foundation (“NLF”), which were presented on November 7, 2015 at the NAPABA Rising Convention at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside in New Orleans, Louisiana. NAPABA is the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and it established the NLF in 1994. The NLF awards scholarships on a nationwide basis to law students who demonstrate a commitment to serve or contribute to the Asian Pacific American community as future leaders. We also congratulate Katherine Zhang, who was elected as Northeast Regional Director of the National Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (“NAPALSA”) at the NAPABA Rising Convention.

Christina Nguyen, a third-year law student at St. John’s University School of Law and former AABANY Legal Intern, received one of the two UPS/NLF Gold Mountain Scholarships for $5,000, awarded to law students in the Asian Pacific American community who are the first in their family to go to law school. Azizah Ahmad, first-year law student at Brooklyn Law School and former Senior Programs Associate for NAPABA, received one of two Anheuser-Busch/NLF Presidential Scholarships of $7,500, awarded to the law students who demonstrate particularly outstanding leadership potential to serve the Asian Pacific American community, as selected from all of the scholarship applicants by the NLF in consultation with the President of NAPABA. Katherine Zhang, who was elected as the Northeast Regional Director of NAPALSA, is a second-year law student and the President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (“APALSA”) at Brooklyn Law School.

“We at AABANY are proud of Christina and Azizah to have their achievements and leadership potential recognized by the NLF with well-deserved scholarships,” said Yang Chen, Executive Director of AABANY. “We also congratulate Katherine for her election to Northeast Regional Director of NAPALSA. All three students exhibit traits that will serve them well as future leaders in the legal profession, both within the Asian Pacific American community and beyond. Congratulations to Christina, Katherine and Azizah.”

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


Correction: A previous version of this press release erroneously identified the scholarship that Christina Nguyen won as the $2,000 NLF Scholarship. This was incorrect. She received one of the two $5,000 UPS/NLF Gold Mountain Scholarships. 


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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McGuireWoods LLP – NAPABA Law Foundation Internships

The McGuireWoods/NLF Internship Program supports students interested in the legal profession and will help students develop a commitment to advocacy on behalf of the Asian Pacific American community. The Program seeks to achieve these goals by providing undergraduate and law school students with meaningful internship experiences at the Washington, DC offices of NAPABA and NLF.

Internship opportunities are now available for the spring and summer. More information can be found here.

Summer 2015 NAPABA Law Foundation Public Interest Internship Grant, Deadline Dec. 10

Goal: The NLF Public Interest Internship will provide support for one law student to experience a meaningful 2015 summer internship at a public interest organization that provides either direct legal services, impact litigation, or advocacy on behalf of the Asian Pacific American (APA) community.

Overview:

  • Public interest organizations will provide NLF with a legal intern summer project proposal. 
  • NLF will select a host organization from these submissions. Host organization awardee is permitted and encouraged to advertise the internship opportunity in its recruitment.
  • In March, the selected host organization will provide a list of summer legal interns (hired or tentative) for consideration of the award, along with their resumes and any additional supplemental materials for consideration.
  • NLF will conduct telephonic interviews with the submitted summer legal intern(s). NLF at its option may select to narrow the pool of eligible summer legal interns to interview. The recipient of the award will be decided by the interviews, resume, supporting materials, and input from the host organization.
  • A grant of $6,000 will be provided to the host organization. 100% of this grant must be used for the legal intern’s salary. The host organization is responsible for any administrative fees, payroll processing fees, federal withholding, taxes, etc.
  • The selected intern shall work at the host organization for a minimum of 40 hours a week for 10 weeks during the summer.

Parameters:

  • The NLF Public Interest Internship will provide $6,000 in total for the summer for the finalist.
  • The funding for the internship will be paid directly to the host organization only

Criteria for Host Organization(s):

  • The host organization must be a non-profit organization which serves the APA community.
  • The summer project must provide legal services, impact litigation, or advocacy that affects the APA community.
  • Host organization must have at least one lawyer on staff to supervise the legal intern.
  • The goals and perceived benefits of the proposed project’s goals as well as the applicant’s competency, character, and commitment to the APA community will be considered.
  • Internship must further the missions of the NLF.

Time Frame:

December 10, 2014: Deadline for host organization submit application

December 17, 2014: Host organization awarded grant

March 1, 2015: Host organization submits intern(s) for consideration

March 16 – 31, 2015: Host organization intern(s) interviewed

April 1, 2015: Finalist chosen

Summer 2015 (10 weeks): Internship begins at host organization

Past Recipients

  • Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach (formerly Nihonmachi Legal Outreach)
  • Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
  • Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Asian Law Caucus
  • Greater Boston Legal Services – Asian Outreach Unit

2014 Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition

2014 Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition