NEW YORK –
November 5, 2019 – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
has selected the Asian American Bar
Association of New York (AABANY) as its Affiliate of the Year. This award
recognizes outstanding NAPABA affiliates that have demonstrated an exceptional
commitment to NAPABA, the legal community, and the greater Asian Pacific
American (APA) community. AABANY will be presented the Affiliate of the Year
Award during the 2019 NAPABA Convention in Austin, Texas, taking place November
7-10, 2019. AABANY President Brian Song will accept the award on behalf of the
association at NAPABA’s Gala Dinner to be held on Saturday, November 9.
AABANY was
formed in 1989 as a not-for-profit corporation to represent the interests of
New York Asian American attorneys, judges, law professors, legal professionals,
legal assistants, paralegals and law students. The mission of AABANY is to
improve the study and practice of law, and the fair administration of justice
for all by ensuring the meaningful participation of Asian Americans in the
legal profession.
Over the
past three decades AABANY has worked tirelessly to accomplish its mission. For
example, we have regularly conducted student outreach and held workshops
throughout the year on resume writing, interviewing and networking skills to
help law students succeed. We are also into the ninth year of our Mentorship
Program that provides individual professional development specifically tailored
to the needs of mentees, many of whom are law students. In addition, now in its
second year, the AABANY Leadership Development Program assists and guides
senior APA law firm associates and in-house counsel through an interactive
leadership training program designed to develop and promote qualified APA
attorneys for partnership at law firms and leadership positions at companies.
AABANY also
plays an integral part in creating diversity on the bench through our Judiciary
Committee’s initiatives. AABANY’s Judiciary Committee assisted dozens of judges
of Asian American, South Asian, and Pacific Islander heritage in ascending to
the bench.
In addition,
we collaborate with the South Asian Bar Association of New York, the Korean
American Lawyers Association of Greater New York and Filipino American Lawyers
Association of New York to further the interests of APAs in the legal
profession by offering CLE accreditation, co-sponsoring networking events, and
supporting each other’s programs and activities.
Furthermore,
we serve the APA community by holding a monthly Pro Bono Clinic in partnership
with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of NY. We mobilize the expertise and
language skills of AABANY’s diverse membership to provide high quality and
accessible legal assistance to the Asian community on the second Wednesday of
every month, at Confucius Plaza in Chinatown. In 2018-19, the Clinic served
between 21-51 clients with the help of 11-21 volunteer attorneys and 5-12
interpreters each month.
Moreover, in addition to providing
free legal assistance to the Asian community, we promote APA history and
awareness through our historic trial reenactments. The Hon. Denny Chin and
Kathy Hirata Chin have spearheaded this project for twelve years. The most
recent reenactment, “Alice in Chinatown: Chol Soo Lee and His Fight for
Freedom” retold the story of Chol Soo Lee, a young Korean American who was
wrongly accused and imprisoned for a gangland murder in San Francisco’s
Chinatown in the 1970s. AABANY has made these reenactment scripts available to
schools, community groups, other bar associations and anyone who wishes to
perform them. AABANY’s reenactments project has become a template for other
groups to encourage civic education and engagement in our communities.
Each new historic trial reenactment premieres at the annual NAPABA Convention, but this year, the AABANY Trial Reenactment Team will be reprising “Korematsu v. United States: Fred Korematsu and His Fight for Justice” in celebration of Fred Korematsu’s 100th birthday. The cast will include luminaries such as Hon. Marilyn Hall Patel (Ret.), the judge who decided the coram nobis proceeding that overturned Korematsu’s wrongful conviction, and Dale Minami, the iconic attorney who led the team that brought about this historic outcome. Judge Patel and Dale Minami will be playing themselves, as will Karen Korematsu, Fred’s daughter, in the reenactment, which will be performed on November 8, at Friday’s Plenary Lunch Session during the NAPABA Convention.
Because of
these significant contributions and achievements over the decades, AABANY has
become one of the most prominent bar associations in New York and has been
selected to receive the Affiliate of the Year Award from NAPABA for a second
time. AABANY first received this prestigious honor in 2008 under the leadership
of then-President and now Executive Director Yang Chen.
“AABANY thanks NAPABA for this important award and its recognition of our innovative efforts to engage our membership and the community,” states AABANY President Brian Song, a Partner at BakerHostetler in New York. “We are grateful for the leadership and dedication of our current and past Board Directors and Officers for bringing AABANY to this point. We especially thank and acknowledge our sponsors and our members for their support of our mission to promote the interests of APA lawyers and legal professionals and the larger community they serve. AABANY could not be NAPABA’s Affiliate of the Year without the involvement and participation of everyone in the legal profession and community who have been integral to our growth and success over the last thirty years.”
For more information, please contact Yang Chen, AABANY Executive Director, at (212) 332-2478, or direct any inquiries to main@aabany.org.
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 a New York regional affiliate of the National Asian Pacific
American Bar Association (NAPABA).
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