Official blog of the Asian American Bar Association of New York
Real Simple’s online book club chooses its December 2013 book.
Congrats to Helen Wan, author of The Partner Track, for getting her book selected as the Real Simple magazine December Book Poll pick of the month. Thanks to everyone from AABANY and other NAPABA affiliates who sent out numerous emails and used social media to get the word out to cast votes for Helen’s book. If you haven’t read the book yet, go out and get it. It’s a terrific read!
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
1612 K Street NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2013
Contact: Emily Chatterjee
(202) 775-9555
NAPABA DONATES $10,000 TO TYPHOON HAIYAN RELIEF EFFORTS
Supports Immigration Relief for Filipinos Based in the United States
WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) today announced that it has committed $10,000 to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in support of the IRC’s emergency relief efforts in the Philippines. NAPABA also announced its support for temporary immigration-related relief for individuals from the Philippines who are currently in the U.S.
“NAPABA is committed to supporting the victims of the Typhoon Haiyan catastrophe. We will be donating $10,000 to support the IRC, which is currently focused on clean water, health care, and other urgent needs in the Philippines,” said William J. Simonitsch, president of NAPABA. “Almost a million people have been displaced internally, and the rebuilding efforts will be ongoing for years to come. We encourage all those who are able to do so to make a charitable donation to the IRC or to other groups working on the ground.”
In addition to the list of aid agencies recommended in NAPABA’s statement in support of victims of Typhoon Haiyan on Monday, which may be found here, potential donors may want to consider Save the Children and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON).
Tina Matsuoka, executive director of NAPABA, stated, “We recognize that, in addition to financial support, victims and their families need other assistance, which is why NAPABA has endorsed Temporary Protected Status for the Philippines. With TPS, Filipinos in the U.S. can be protected from deportation and are eligible to work, enabling them to continue to send remittances back home, thereby helping their families rebuild their lives.”
Under §244(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would allow nationals from the Philippines residing in the U.S. to receive a temporary, humanitarian form of relief from deportation, and make them eligible to obtain work authorization. The Department of Homeland Security designated Haiti for TPS in similar circumstances after a massive earthquake in 2010. Today, NAPABA joined the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and others in a letter to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Beers, and formally requested that the Philippines be designated for TPS will all due haste.
About the International Rescue Committee:
The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. When an emergency arises, the IRC arrives on the scene within 72 hours with urgently needed supplies and expertise that protect people caught in the midst of chaos. We commit to stay as long as we are needed, helping survivors to heal, recover and rebuild their communities to be stronger, more stable and more democratic.
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National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
1612 K Street NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2013
Contact: Azizah Ahmad
(202) 775-9555
NAPABA BESTOWS SPECIAL HONORS AT 25TH ANNUAL CONVENTION
WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) honored individual and law firm recipients of its annual awards at its 25th Annual Convention in Kansas City, MO, on Nov. 7-10, 2013. The awards bestowed were the Senator Daniel K. Inouye NAPABA Trailblazer Award, Best Lawyers Under 40 Award, President’s Award, Women’s Leadership Award, Affiliate of the Year, APA-Owned Law Firm of the Year, and Law Firm Diversity Award.
The Trailblazer Award, which is NAPABA’s highest honor, recognizes individuals who have demonstrated vision, courage, and tenacity, and who have made substantial and lasting contributions to the Asian Pacific American (APA) legal profession, as well as to the broader APA community. On Friday, November 8, 2013, NAPABA held a special ceremony to rename the Trailblazer Award in honor of the late Senator Daniel K. Inouye and presented the 2013 Senator Daniel K. Inouye NAPABA Trailblazer Award to the following recipients:
The 2013 Best Lawyers Under 40 Awards were presented at NAPABA’s Anniversary Gala and Celebration Dinner on November 9, 2013. This award recognizes talented APA attorneys under the age of 40 who have achieved prominence in the practice of law while demonstrating an unwavering dedication to the APA community. NAPABA proudly announces the 2013 Best Lawyers Under 40 Award recipients:
NAPABA Past President Paul O. Hirose was honored with the 2013 President’s Award for his continued dedication to NAPABA and the broader APA community, and, in particular, for his work in fighting human trafficking.
This year, J. Weili Cheng, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC, was awarded the 2013 Women’s Leadership Award for her significant contributions to the advancement of women in the legal profession.
The 2013 Affiliate of the Year Award was presented to the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts. This award was established to recognize outstanding local NAPABA affiliates and their best practices and accomplishments in their respective local communities.
The 2013 Law Firm Diversity Award honors law firms that recruit and retain APA lawyers and promote them to equity partnership and firm leadership. The award celebrates law firm successes in recognizing the potential, supporting the promise, and raising the influence of APA lawyers. The recipients of the inaugural Law Firm Diversity Award were:
Last year, NAPABA established the APA-Owned Law Firm of the Year Award to recognize law firms that have achieved prominence and distinction in the legal profession while advancing the goals and ideals of NAPABA and APA legal advocacy groups. The award celebrates law practices that embrace the APA community while maintaining the highest ethical and legal standards in our profession. The 2013 APA-Owned Law Firm of the Year Award was presented to Kobre & Kim LLP.
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and 67 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal service and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government. NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, 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 color in the legal profession.
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
1612 K Street NW, Suite 1400
Washington, DC 20006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2013
Contact: Azizah Ahmad
(202) 775-9555
NAPABA CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF LEADERSHIP IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION
WASHINGTON — Over 1,200 Asian Pacific American (APA) judges, attorneys, law professors, and law students attended the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) 25th Annual Convention in Kansas City, MO, from November 7-10, 2013. The Annual Convention’s MOmentum theme highlighted and celebrated the monumental achievements of APA attorneys over the past 25 years at the highest levels of the legal profession while also encouraging attendees to collaborate for future progress and successes.
The four-day convention included an annual International Law Symposium, Pro Bono & Public Interest Summit, and over 50 panels and plenaries with some of the brightest minds in the legal profession. Special events included a lunch plenary with special guests Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Representative Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), who talked about their experiences as APA women in Congress. The Convention’s sold-out annual basketball tournament tested the talents of attorneys and law students against the Benchwarmers—an all-star line-up of APA judicial luminaries, including Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Justice Goodwin Liu of the California Supreme Court.
The Honorable Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit gave the keynote address during the 25th Anniversary Gala and Installation Dinner on Saturday, November 9, 2013. During the Gala, Judge Alok Ahuja of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District swore in the following members of the 2013-2014 NAPABA Board of Governors:
Executive Committee
President: William J. Simonitsch, Partner, K&L Gates LLP
President-Elect: George C. Chen, Partner, Bryan Cave LLP
Vice President for Communications: Cyndie M. Chang, Partner, Duane Morris LLP
Vice President for Finance & Development: Alexander M. Lee, Principal, Law Offices of Alexander M. Lee
Vice President for Membership: Brad Yamauchi, Partner, Minami Tamaki LLP
Vice President for Programs and Operations: Jin Y. Hwang, Assistant General Counsel, Verizon Enterprise Solutions
Secretary: Tacie Yoon, Associate, Crowell & Moring LLP
Treasurer: Pankit J. Doshi, Associate, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
Immediate Past President: Wendy C. Shiba, retired (former Executive VP, General Counsel & Secretary, KB Home)
Regional Governors
Central Region: David S. Kim, Attorney, Armstrong Teasdale LLP
Northeast Region: Judy H. Kim, Associate Counsel, New York Liquidation Bureau
Northeast Region: Sophia Lee, Chief Counsel – Litigation, Sunoco, Inc.
Northwest Region: Trung D. Tu, Partner, McEwen Gisvold LLP
Southeast Region: John Truong, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia
Southwest Region: Eileen Sullivan, Principal, Sullivan Law Firm, PC
Northern California Region: Quyen Ta, Partner, Keker & Van Nest LLP
Eastern California/Nevada Region: Marlo Nisperos, Deputy District Attorney, Solano County District Attorney Office
Central California Region: Audra Mori, Partner, Perkins Coie
Southern California Region: Lloyd S. Costales, Partner, Page, Lobo, Costales & Preston, A.P.C.
At-Large Members
Curtis Hom, Principal, Innova Legal Group, PLLC
Steven Y. Reeves, Partner, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP
Janet Shih Hajek, Of Counsel, Holland & Hart LLP
Marla Tun Reschly, Of Counsel, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Please join us next year in Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ, from November 6-9, 2014, for the 26th Annual NAPABA Convention, Convergence.
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and 67 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal service and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government. NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, 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 color in the legal profession.
As many of you know, the devastating super typhoon Haiyan ravaged the central Philippines last Friday. As rescue workers have struggled to reach survivors, news of the immense damage and loss of life is gradually coming to light. As of this morning, death tolls are estimated to exceed 10,000 people, over 630,000 were forced from their homes, and more than 9.5 million have been affected. The relief effort by aid agencies is just getting underway, and they must contend with the complicated logistics of getting people and aid out to the affected areas. This will be extremely difficult because of the extreme disruption to ports and airports, and the inaccessibility of roads.
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association expresses its condolences and extends its prayers to the victims of this disaster, and to the families of those who may have been affected. NAPABA encourages you to support relief efforts in any way you feel appropriate. But please note that when disasters like this occur, the victims are helped most by financial contributions to aid agencies, rather than donations of consumer goods.
If you want to make a donation, but are unsure of which aid agency you wish to support, NAPABA, together with the National Filipino American Lawyers Association, suggest the following:
Best Regards,
William J. Simonitsch
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
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AABANY turned out in force for the 25th annual NAPABA National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri.
Among the highlights was the highly popular trial re-enactment “22 Lewd Chinese Women: Chy Lung v. Freeman,” led by Hon. Denny Chin and Kathy Hirata Chin, with a cast that included AABANY members Vince Chang, Yang Chen, Theo Cheng, Francis Chin, Andy Hahn, Lauren U.Y. Lee, Linda Lin, Anna R. Mercado, Vinoo Varghese, Ona T. Wang, and Jessica C. Wong.
Other speakers from AABANY during the convention included: Hon. Pamela K.M. Chen, James R. Cho, Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan, Don Liu, Hugh H. Mo, Chul Pak, Sapna Palla, Helen Wan, Michael Wu, Pauline Yeung-Ha, Michael Yim and James Yu.
AABANY congratulates its Best Under 40 Award Recipients, Mike Huang, Michael Park and Asim Rehman.
All the attendees enjoyed terrific program offerings, well-attended social events, sightseeing excursions, re-connecting with old friends, making new ones, and plenty of barbeque.
Next year’s convention will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona, Nov. 6-9, 2014.
NPR’s Weekend Edition ran a story on Saturday, Nov. 9, about AABANY’s latest trial re-enactment, “22 Lewd Chinese Women,” which premiered at the NAPABA National Convention in Kansas City, MO, on Nov. 8. The online version of the story contains videos of other re-enactments at http://bit.ly/22lcw.
Dinner at Maker’s Mark Bourbon House & Lounge
Friday, November 8th, 2013
For those of you who will be attending the NAPABA Convention in Kansas City, please join us on Friday, November 8th, at Maker’s Mark Bourbon House & Lounge. Details are as follows:
RSVP to Catherine Than at [email protected] or Hoang Quan Vu at [email protected] by November 5, 2013. Guests are also invited.
Please sign up to judge either one or both of the preliminary rounds via Wejoinin. (http://wejoinin.com/sheets/usknvhttp://wejoinin.com/sheets/usknv).
This year’s problem addresses the following issues:
I. Whether § 66.04 of the Apalsa Revised Statutes (“ARS”) precluding a public defender from withdrawing on the basis of excessive workload or lack of resource violates the right to effective assistance of counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
A. Whether ARS § 66.04 is facially unconstitutional.
B. Whether ARS § 66.04 is unconstitutional as applied in this case.
II. Whether the sanctions imposed on Appellant by the Professional Ethics Board of the State Bar of Apalsa violated her rights under the Constitution of the United States.
A. Whether the sanctions imposed for refusing to comply with a court order to represent a criminal defendant violate the Fifth Amendment right to due process.
B. Whether the sanctions imposed for Appellant’s public statement regarding her refusal to comply with a court order to represent a criminal defendant violate the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression.