Official blog of the Asian American Bar Association of New York
ATL: Moonlighting Talks about NAPABA
Susan Moon tells us about all the wonderful programs for in-house counsel that were on offer at the recent NAPABA National Convention in Atlanta. Plenty of good ideas for programming that would be attractive to in-house lawyers.
NAPABA’s 23rd Annual National Convention: Sustainability took place last week in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Omni CNN Center from November 17 through 20. Among the more than 1100 attorneys from around the country was our contingent from New York.
AABANY was well-represented at the NAPABA National Convention.
Judge Denny Chin, past AABANY President and currently the only active APA Federal appellate circuit judge, was the keynote speaker at Saturday night’s installation banquet. Judge Chin shared his experiences as a district court judge, regaling the capacity crowd with fascinating, funny and sometimes touching stories from the wide variety of cases he presided over in his fifteen years on the bench as a United States District Court Judge.
Don Liu, General Counsel of Xerox and AABANY member, introduced Friday’s plenary luncheon speaker, Yale Law School Professor and best-selling author Amy Chua. Don himself was honored with NAPABA’s prestigious Trailblazer Award on Friday evening. In a moving and heartfelt acceptance speech, Don honored his recently-deceased father as a trailblazer in his own right.
At Saturday night’s installation banquet, NAPABA presented its Best Under 40 award recipients, and AABANY was represented by Director Bobby Liu, General Counsel at MD Sass, and Pauline Yeung-Ha, Co-Chair Solo and Small Firm Committee and name partner at Grimaldi & Yeung. Also honored was My Chi To, Secretary of AALFNY (Asian American Law Fund of New York) and partner at Debevoise & Plimpton.
On Thursday, at the NAPABA Bar Leadership Institute, AABANY Executive Director Yang Chen was the luncheon speaker, talking about AABANY’s experience as the first affiliate with a full-time executive director.
On Friday, Judge Chin led the AABANY re-enactment team in a program entitled “Race, Color and Citizenship: Ozawa and Thind,” which re-created two Supreme Court cases from the 1920s in which the Court upheld the denial of naturalization to two Asian Americans on the basis of race and color. The cast, led by Judge Chin and Kathy Hirata Chin, was comprised of AABANY members, including many AABANY Directors: Vincent Chang, Yang Chen, Francis Chin, Lauren Lee, Susan Moon, Esther Nguonly, Liza Sohn, Vinoo Varghese, Jessica Wong and Michael Yap.
Throughout the conference, many other AABANY members, including many past AABANY leaders, spoke on or moderated various panels, including: Sylvia Fung Chin, John Flock, Parkin Lee, and Hon. Doris Ling Cohan.
Congratulations also to Hofstra Law School which was recognized on November 18 as the NAPALSA (National Asian Pacific American Law Students Association) Affiliate of the Year. NAPALSA held several programs and meetings during the NAPABA National Convention.
Thanks to everyone who took part in the NAPABA 2011 National Convention, and congratulations to all the honorees. You do AABANY proud!
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Photos from the 23rd Annual National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Convention at the Omni CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Nov. 17-20, 2011.
Hemanth Digumarthi from the Host Committee of the 2011 NAPABA National Convention in Atlanta sends this message asking for AABANY members to volunteer time at the convention to serve as judges in the Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition finals:
Judges are needed for the Thomas Tang Moot Court competition in Atlanta. The rounds will take place, Friday, November 18 from 10:00 to 11:30 and from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. You can judge one or both rounds. If there are any AABANY members planning to attend the NAPABA convention and would like to volunteer, please contact Hemanth Digumarthi at [email protected].
The issues in this year’s Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition are:
I. WHETHER THE PRESERVING AMERICAN VALUES IN EDUCATION (PAVE) ACT VIOLATES THE FIRST AMENDMENT’S GUARANTEE OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
A. Whether the deferential standard of review articulated in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988) for assessing high school curricula should be extended to universities.
B. Whether the PAVE Act’s curricular restrictions violate the free speech clause of First Amendment under either a strict scrutiny or a rational basis standard of review.
II. WHETHER THE PRESERVING AMERICAN VALUES IN EDUCATION (PAVE) ACT VIOLATES THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT’S GUARANTEE OF EQUAL PROTECTION.
A. Whether the PAVE Act’s curricular restrictions constitute a racial classification subject to strict scrutiny.
B. Whether the PAVE Act’s curricular restrictions violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment under either a strict scrutiny or a rational basis standard of review.
Members of the NAPABA In-House Counsel Committee are accepting submissions from eligible partners of Solo and Small Firms for private one-on-one firm pitches during the 2011 NAPABA Annual Convention in Atlanta, Georgia taking place November 17-20.
To be eligible, for firms with 25 or less attorneys, each partner who intends to participate in the pitch program must be an individual direct Platinum/$500 member of NAPABA. In addition, you must be registered to attend the 2011 NAPABA Convention.
How to participate: Review the pdf list of IHCs (click on the link), which includes brief descriptions of company industry and IHC specialty. Please note that some companies chose to display an anonymous profile. If you or one of your firm’s partners matches the industry and specialty, you may submit the following information:
1. Name
2. Firm name
3. Direct phone number
4. Email
5. Specialty/practice area
6. State whether your firm is minority and/or women-owned
7. Indicate by IHC ID Number, the IHCs with whom you wish to meet.
Please send all items to NAPABA Programs Associate Azizah Ahmad at [email protected] by October 30, 2011. Incomplete information will not be considered.
All submissions will be delivered to the IHCs on November 1st. If selected, you will be contacted by the IHC directly. Unfortunately, due to demand, not all law firm partners will be selected for a pitch.
FAQs
When will the Pitch Sessions take place and what is the format?
• IHC and partners can determine the date, time, and length of each Pitch Session, as long as the pitch takes place during the 2011 NAPABA Convention.
Is this just a practice pitch for the law firms?
• No. In-House Counsel will not view these sessions as practice.
Will each In-House Counsel have work to give out?
• No. As work needs are difficult to predict, there is not a requirement that In-House participants have work needs at the time of the pitch. However, In-House Counsel will have full discretion to engage (or strongly recommend) outside law firms as needed.
From Alex Lee, our newly elected NAPABA VP of Communications:
Dear AABANY member:
From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank each and every one of you who supported and voted for me in this year’s NAPABA Board Elections. As the only contested race, I felt it important that the Northeast Region affiliates make a statement and I am very happy to report WE WON!
The NAPABA Nominations Committee has told me that it was a very close race and that by NAPABA standards, turnout was very high – could have very easily gone in favor of my esteemed opponent, Bijal Vakil – so every single vote mustered by all of you was extremely important.
To Andy Hahn, Linda Lin, Jean Lee, Yang Chen, Margaret Ling, James Chou, Vincent Chang, Clara Ohr, Theo Cheng, Michael Yap and the rest of the AABANY Board, I am deeply indebted to you all.
Thank you all again and I hope to see you at an AABANY event soon!
Regards,
Alex Lee
Please join us in congratulating Alex Lee on his election to the NAPABA Board as VP of Communications.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NAPABA Contact: Emily Chatterjee (202) 775-9555
September 23, 2011
AAJC Contact: Leonie Campbell-Williams (443) 803-1465
NAPABA AND AAJC APPLAUD NOMINATION OF
JUDGE JACQUELINE H. NGUYEN TO THE FEDERAL APPELLATE COURT
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) applaud the decision of President Barack Obama to nominate Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. If confirmed, Judge Nguyen would become the first Asian Pacific American woman in the history of the United States to serve as a federal appellate court judge and only the second Asian Pacific American federal appellate court judge currently in active service nationwide.
“Judge Nguyen is an exceptional judge who has a proven track record as a jurist,” said Paul O. Hirose, president of NAPABA. “Moreover, given that there is not one single active Asian Pacific American federal appellate court judge in the Ninth Circuit, where approximately 10 percent of the population is Asian Pacific American, Judge Nguyen’s nomination is even more appropriate.”
It has been more than seven years since there has been an active Asian Pacific American federal appellate court judge in the Ninth Circuit. From 1971 to 2004, there was at least one active Asian Pacific American federal appellate court judge on this Circuit.
“We commend President Obama on the nomination of Judge Nguyen to the Ninth Circuit,” said Karen K. Narasaki, president and executive director of AAJC. “She has been a trailblazer in every step of her career, and we are confident that she will continue to distinguish herself as the first Asian Pacific American woman to serve as a federal appellate court judge.”
Judge Nguyen has served as a federal district court judge for the Central District of California since 2009. Prior to that, she served as a California state court judge for seven years. Judge Nguyen also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, where she argued several appeals before the Ninth Circuit.
Judge Nguyen was born in Dalat, South Vietnam, the daughter of a South Vietnamese Army major who worked closely with U.S. intelligence officers. She escaped the fall of South Vietnam with her family in a harrowing trip, starting with a terrifying toss over a fence, to a plane ride filled wall to wall with people, temporary separation from her father, through a chaotic Saigon, to the Philippines, to Guam, and eventually, to Camp Pendleton, California. Having been born into a life of privilege, then to lose it all to the chaos of war, Judge Nguyen embraced her new life in America with grace, fortitude, determination and cheerful modesty. Growing up, she assisted her mother in cleaning dental offices and earned a four-year full tuition scholarship to Occidental College, eventually graduating from UCLA School of Law, continuing all the while to help her mother in the family donut shop on the weekends.
NAPABA and AAJC congratulate Judge Nguyen on her historic nomination. The organizations thank President Obama for nominating her, and commend Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer for their support of Judge Nguyen’s nomination.
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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 62 local Asian Pacific American bar associations. Its members represent 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 federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes professional development of minorities in the legal profession.
The Asian American Justice Center (www.advancingequality.org), a member of Asian American Center for Advancing Justice, works closely with its sister organizations – the Asian American Institute in Chicago (www.aaichicago.org), the Asian Law Caucus (www.asianlawcaucus.org) in San Francisco and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (www.apalc.org) in Los Angeles – to promote a fair and equitable society for all by working for civil and human rights and empowering Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other underserved communities.
Alex Lee, past president of APALA/NJ, friend of AABANY and active member of NAPABA, is a candidate for NAPABA VP-Communications and send this message to everyone at AABANY:
Dear AABANY member:
This email is a reminder to vote in this year’s NAPABA elections – you have until 11:59PM PDT, this coming Friday, September 23rd to cast your votes. By now, you should have received an electronic ballot and/or a paper ballot via The NAPABA Lawyer newsletter. If you haven’t, this may because NAPABA has an out of date email or snail mail address on file – please check with your home affilliate to ensure the correct information was sent to NAPABA when annual dues were paid in June/July but in any case, please also contact Andre Harrison in the NAPABA DC office at [email protected].
I know usually NAPABA elections generate limited interest for most people as often candidates run uncontested. This year is no different – of the seven races, just one – Vice President of Communications – is contested. However, that contested race happens to be mine – – I’m running against Bijal Vikal of White & Case in Palo Alto, California – and coming from your sister affiliate across the Hudson, I would greatly appreciate your vote and support. Attached are my candidacy statement and CV so you can take a look at my qualifications.
I’m very proud (some would say to the point of obnoxiousness, LOL!) of my roots in the NY/NJ area. I was born in New Jersey, went to grad school in Manhattan, and have lived on and off for many years in the city. My first mentorship during law school was through AABANY and I’ve always tried to attend AABANY events when I can.
I consider myself good friends with many of AABANY’s past presidents and officers. So when people ask why I’m running for NAPABA Board, a big reason is to continue and maintain NY/NJ representation at the national level. Of the current slate of candidates, none (other than myself) are from the Northeast. This fall, when Andy Hahn and Joe Centeno step down from their Board positions, the Northeast representation on the Board could be reduced to just our two regional governors. That’s about 10%. Considering the Northeast is 25-30% of the total NAPABA membership, we will be grossly under-represented.
We deserve better than that and if elected, I pledge to ensure that the Northeast will be heard at the Board level.
If you have any suggestions or comments or just want to chat, have a beer, etc., please feel free to contact me. Meeting fellow attorneys from around the country and the tri-state area has been one of the most rewarding aspects of NAPABA for me and I hope to continue to expand my friendships with all of you in the coming years. Thanks for your time and support and if you haven’t already, please try to make plans to attend the National Convention in Atlanta this November.
Regards,
Alex Lee
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Law Offices of Alexander M. Lee
354 Bloomfield Avenue, Suite 201
P.O. Box 205
Caldwell, New Jersey 07006
Tel: 973/364-1688
Fax: 973/364-1689
E-Mail: [email protected]
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The attachments are:
NAPABA Press Release on Goodwin Liu Confirmation
WASHINGTON – Today, the three-member panel of the California Commission on Judicial Appointments unanimously confirmed Professor Goodwin H. Liu’s nomination to the California Supreme Court. He will be sworn in as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California tomorrow in Sacramento by Governor Jerry Brown. The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association congratulates Professor Liu on his confirmation.