Tag: portrait project

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NAPABA | Written Testimony for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights


For Immediate Release: 
Date: April 13, 2023 		Contact: Priya Purandare, Executive Director

WASHINGTON – Last week, NAPABA submitted written testimony for inclusion in the record before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) in response to its briefing and inquiry on the Federal Government’s Response to Anti-Asian Racism in the United States. As a bar association, NAPABA recognizes that serving the immediate legal needs of hate crimes and hate incident victims addresses only one critical aspect of the problem and that our community cannot prosecute or litigate our way out of this latest wave of anti-Asian hate.

NAPABA’s testimony advocates for a multi-modal response, and has called for legislation to: 1) strengthen law enforcement’s ability to identify, document, and respond to hate crimes, including by fully implementing provisions of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act; 2) address the mental health crisis that has accompanied the surge in anti-Asian hate with culturally and linguistically appropriate resources; and 3) increase educational resources to combat harmful stereotypes in order to address root causes of anti-Asian sentiment.

Over three decades ago, in a report entitled, “Civil Rights Issues Facing Asian Americans in the 1990s,” the USCCR identified a range of contributory factors underlying anti-Asian bias, including: 1) the model minority myth that Asian Americans are successful and do not suffer the discrimination or disadvantages associated with other minority groups; 2) perpetual foreigner syndrome where Asian Americans—even those born and raised in the United States are viewed as non-Americans and foreign; 3) stereotyping Asian Americans as meek and lacking in communications skills; and 4) limited English proficiency (LEP) within the Asian American population. More than 30 years later, these factors continue to persist and several have been cited by NAPABA in its groundbreaking Portrait Project reports as leading barriers to advancement by APA attorneys in the legal profession. 

Given how little has changed just in the past 30 years, it is clear that for generations of AAPIs, these barriers are engrained and systemic and only a holistic, multi-pronged approach that includes raising visibility and belonging through education, providing culturally appropriate mental health resources, and increasing language access, in addition to supporting law enforcement, can address anti-Asian sentiment.  

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NAPABA Commends Justice Goodwin H. Liu as Recipient ABA Spirit of Excellence Award

WASHINGTON — Oct. 5, 2022. This week, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession announced California Supreme Court Associate Justice Goodwin H. Liu as a recipient of its 2023 Spirit of Excellence Award. Each year, the ABA honors lawyers who have excelled in their fields and who have demonstrated an abiding commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession with this prestigious distinction.

An accomplished jurist, scholar, and professor, Justice Liu is a nationally recognized expert on constitutional law, education law and policy, implicit bias, and criminal justice reform. A graduate of Stanford, Oxford, and Yale Law School, and a former Rhodes Scholar, Justice Liu’s distinguished career includes serving as a former Supreme Court clerk, a key policy advisor at two federal agencies, and as a tenured professor and Associate Dean at the UC Berkeley School of Law. In 2011, Justice Liu was nominated and confirmed as an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court.

Justice Liu is a towering figure in the Asian American legal community, and in particular for his groundbreaking work on the Portrait Project, a comprehensive, multi-year, data-driven study of Asian Americans in the law, conducted in partnership with NAPABA, which was a game-changer for raising awareness about the successes, challenges, and obstacles confronting Asian Americans in the legal profession.

“Justice Goodwin Liu has opened doors, broken down barriers, and been an unflinching champion of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, not just for Asian Americans, but lawyers of all backgrounds,” said Acting NAPABA President A.B. Cruz III. “NAPABA is proud of its longstanding partnership with Justice Liu on the Portrait Project, and it was a privilege to nominate him for the ABA’s Spirit of Excellence Award. He is an inspiration for our members and beyond, as a role model for overcoming adversity in the pursuit of excellence in the legal profession.” 

In 2017, Justice Liu was the recipient of the NAPABA President’s Award, given to NAPABA members who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to NAPABA, the legal community, and the greater Asian Pacific American community.

Also receiving the 2023 Spirit of Excellence Award are:

  • Hon. Roger L. Gregory, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 
  • Reginald M. Turner, Immediate Past President of the ABA
  • Diandra Benally, General Counsel of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation

The 2023 Spirit of Excellence Awards will be presented during a ceremony on February 4 at the ABA Midyear Meeting in New Orleans.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, 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 all backgrounds in the legal profession.

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NAPABA President A.B. Cruz III Testifies before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property on the Importance of a Diverse Federal Judiciary

For Immediate Release: 
Date: July 12, 2021

Contact: Edgar Chen, Policy Director

Click here for Testimony.

WASHINGTON – This morning, NAPABA President A.B. Cruz III testified before the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property at a hearing entitled, “The Importance of a Diverse Federal Judiciary, Part 2: The Selection and Confirmation Process.” President Cruz’s testimony on behalf of NAPABA highlighted the challenges that Asian Pacific American attorneys often encounter as they attempt to advance in the legal profession. According to the 2017 landmark study “A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law” (“Portrait Project”) published jointly by NAPABA and Yale Law School, the most often cited issues are lack of mentorship and role models, lack of leadership training, and work going unrecognized. President Cruz’s testimony also drew on the Portrait Projects finding that the selection process for clerkships or law firm promotion – often a prerequisite for judicial consideration, involves not only measures of objective criteria but also access to mentorship and subjective criteria which are often amorphous factors that decision makers rely on to determine whom they regard as their proteges. President Cruz was joined on the panel by his Coalition of Bar Associations of Color (CBAC) colleague and Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) President Elia Diaz Yeager.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, 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 all backgrounds in the legal profession..

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NAPABA Names Goodwin Liu as Its 2017 NAPABA President’s Award Recipient

WASHINGTON — The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is proud to present the 2017 NAPABA President’s Award to Goodwin Liu, associate justice of the California Supreme Court. The NAPABA President’s Award is given to NAPABA members who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to NAPABA, the legal community, and the greater Asian Pacific American community.

The 2017 NAPABA President’s Award will be presented at the 2017 NAPABA Convention in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 3, 2017.

“Justice Liu has been an exemplary leader in the legal profession and in the Asian Pacific American community,” said NAPABA President Cyndie M. Chang. “In addition to his frequent engagement with Asian Pacific American lawyers and law students throughout the country, Justice Liu’s recent publication, ‘A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law,’ has been a game-changer for awareness within and beyond our community of the successes and ongoing challenges that Asian Pacific Americans have experienced in the legal profession.”

The Portrait Project — a two-year study — revealed that Asian Pacific American lawyers have increased in number from 10,000 in 1990 to over 50,000 today, but they face challenges reaching the top ranks of the profession. For example, although Asian Pacific Americans are the largest minority group in big law firms, they have the highest attrition rates and the lowest ratio of partners to associates.

The son of Taiwanese immigrants and the first in his family to become a lawyer, Justice Liu was appointed to the California Supreme Court in 2011. He was previously a law professor and associate dean at the UC Berkeley School of Law. An influential scholar and acclaimed teacher, he received UC Berkeley’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009. He clerked for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge David Tatel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has also worked as special assistant to the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, as a litigation associate at O’Melveny & Myers in Washington, D.C., and as senior program officer for higher education at the Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps).

Justice Liu serves on the Council of the American Law Institute; the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Science, Technology, and Law; and the board of directors of the James Irvine Foundation. He has previously served on the Stanford University Board of Trustees and the governing boards of the American Constitution Society, National Women’s Law Center, and Public Welfare Foundation.

NAPABA congratulates Justice Goodwin Liu as the 2017 NAPABA President’s Award recipient.

For more information, the media may contact Brett Schuster, NAPABA communications manager, at 202-775-9555 or [email protected].

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 50,000 attorneys and over 80 national, state, and local bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal services 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.

To learn more about NAPABA, visitwww.napaba.org, like us onFacebook, and follow us on Twitter(@NAPABA).

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Andy Hahn Discusses Biases, Barriers, and the Bamboo Ceiling within the Asian American Legal Community

Andy Hahn Discusses Biases, Barriers, and the Bamboo Ceiling within the Asian American Legal Community

In an interview with Bloomberg last week, former AABANY President Andy Hahn examined the obstacles that face Asian Americans in the law, from high attrition rates and underrepresentation to pervasive stereotypes and biases. On the heels of Justice Goodwin Liu’s study, “A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law,” the interview explored Andy Hahn’s own experiences, from his time as an army lawyer to his tenures as president of both AABANY and NAPABA, and how those roles have made Andy intimately familiar with the challenges of Asian Americans in the law. Despite large growth since the 1990s, the Asian American legal community faces gross underrepresentation today, from clerkships and judgeships to partner and management roles. This has led Andy to his own “crusade” to galvanize Asian Americans into participating in the law. Follow the link in the title to read the full article published in Bloomberg Law.

Andy’s work as a leader in the legal profession has not gone unnoticed, as the New York Law Journal recently honored him with the 2017 Distinguished Leadership Award. To read the press release congratulating him for this achievement, click here. 

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What’s Keeping Asian-American Lawyers From Ascending The Legal Ranks?

What’s Keeping Asian-American Lawyers From Ascending The Legal Ranks?

“In 1872, 13-year-old Hong Yen Chang came to the U.S. to be groomed as a diplomat. He earned degrees from Yale University and Columbia University’s law school, and passed the bar exam.”

For more than a century, Asian Americans have faced obstacles and biases in law and government, as evidenced by the dearth of Asian Americans who hold state and federal clerkships and judgeships today. Stereotypes and a lack of role models in government, among other factors, must be addressed by the APA legal community to move forward. 

For more information, check out the study “A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law,” recently published by NAPABA and Yale Law School. Through rigorous data and scholarship, California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu and his team highlight the disparities that face Asian Americans in the law today. 

Click this link to read the study: https://www.apaportraitproject.org/

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NAPABA HIGHLIGHTS: The Portrait Project: A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law

For Immediate Release
July 18, 2017 

                                                   For More Information, Contact:
                                                   Brett Schuster, Communications Manager
                                                   [email protected], 202-775-9555

WASHINGTON —
Asian Americans have been the fastest-growing minority group in the
legal profession for the past three decades, but they have made only
limited progress in reaching the top ranks of the profession, according
to a new report released today by the National Asian Pacific American
Bar Association and Yale Law School.

The report, titled A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law, is the first-ever comprehensive study of Asian Americans in the legal profession.

According
to the study, there are over 50,000 Asian American lawyers today,
compared to 10,000 in 1990. Asian Americans comprise almost 5 percent of
lawyers in America and roughly 7 percent of law school enrollment.
Asian Americans are the largest minority group in big law firms, but
they have the highest attrition rates and the lowest ratio of partners
to associates.

Asian
Americans comprise 3 percent of federal judges and 2 percent of state
judges, compared to nearly 6 percent of the U.S. population. Only three
out of 94 U.S. Attorneys in 2016 were Asian American, and only four out
of 2,437 elected district attorneys nationwide in 2014 were Asian
American.

The
two-year study — authored by California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin
H. Liu, recent Yale law graduates Eric Chung, Xiaonan April Hu and
Christine Kwon, and Yale law postgraduate associate Samuel Dong —
included a dozen focus groups and a national survey of over 600 Asian
American lawyers.

The
survey revealed that Asian Americans identify lack of access to mentors
and contacts as a primary barrier to career advancement. They also
report being perceived as careful and hard-working, but not assertive or
creative. “Whereas Asian Americans are regarded as having the ‘hard
skills’ required for lawyerly competence, they are regarded as lacking
many important ‘soft skills,’” the study found. More than half of the
Asian American lawyers surveyed said they “sometimes” or “often”
experience implicit discrimination in the workplace.

“Our
study shows that Asian Americans have a foot in the door in every
sector the legal profession,” said Justice Liu. “The question now is how
wide the door will swing open. Despite much progress, Asian Americans
still face significant obstacles to reaching the leadership ranks.”

“The
Portrait Project shines a light on the obstacles and challenges faced
by Asian American lawyers every day,” said Cyndie M. Chang, president of
the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. “While incredible
strides have been made over the past 25 years, much work remains to be
done to push past the stigmas and assumptions associated with Asian
Americans. The insights gleaned from this report will unquestionably lay
the groundwork for the road ahead.”

“This
project is timely and important — a must-read for anyone who teaches or
practices law,” said Heather Gerken, dean and Sol & Lillian Goldman
professor of law at Yale Law School. “Justice Liu is a trailblazer, and
it’s a testament to him that he is trying to ensure that other Asian
Americans have a chance to pursue their dreams going forward.”

“This
path-breaking project literally changes the face of Asian American law.
For too many centuries, Asian Americans have been the objects, not the
subjects, of American law: victims and litigants, not activists,
lawyers, or judges,” said Harold Hongju Koh, Sterling professor of
international law at Yale Law School and former legal adviser of the
U.S. Department of State. “This indispensable report finally provides
the facts behind the stereotypes, the deeply felt feelings behind the
faces.”

“The
Portrait Project provides important and necessary data on the advances
and areas for further improvement for Asian Americans in the legal
profession,” said Michelle K. Lee, former undersecretary of commerce and
director of U.S. Patent and Trade Office. “Much progress has been made,
but much work remains ahead. Particularly noteworthy are the
differences highlighted by the data along gender lines, which illustrate
the challenges faced by Asian Americans in the legal profession are
even more pronounced for Asian American women.”

“This
first-ever study of its kind is significant not only for its breadth
and the insights it provides on the so-called ‘bamboo ceiling’ in the
legal profession, but also because it provides a roadmap for how Asian
American attorneys can continue to break through and advance within the
profession,” said Ivan K. Fong, senior vice president and general
counsel of 3M, and former general counsel of the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security.

“This
new empirical study is a significant contribution to our understanding
of the challenges faced by Asian Americans in the legal profession,”
said Ajay K. Mehrotra, director of the American Bar Foundation and
professor of law at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. “It
is only by first identifying the factors that have impeded the long-term
leadership success of Asian Americans that we can find potential
solutions to this vexing problem.”

“The
Portrait Project has confirmed the existence of the bamboo ceiling. It
also shows that the future success of the Asian American legal community
requires more leadership and mentoring,” said Don Liu, executive vice
president and chief legal officer of Target Corp. “The study will be
tremendously helpful in removing the professional obstacles that exist
for Asian American lawyers.”

“The
Portrait Project not only points out the flaws of the hiring and
promotion system of workplaces toward Asian Americans, but also shows
what Asian Americans can do to succeed,” said Bijal Vakil, partner,
White & Case. “Change requires both mentoring Asian American lawyers
on strategies to effectively navigate the status quo of law firms in a
manner as personally authentic as possible and to continue pressuring
law firm leaders for inclusive leadership.”

For more information, the media may contact Brett Schuster, NAPABA communications manager, 202-775-9555, [email protected]. Questions about the study may be sent to [email protected].                                                                              

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 almost
50,000 attorneys and over 80 national, state, and local Asian Pacific
American bar associations. Its members include solo practitioners, large
firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal services and non-profit
attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government.

To learn more about NAPABA, visit www.napaba.org, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter (@NAPABA).

National Asian Pacific American Bar Association | 1612 K St. NW, Suite 510 | Washington, D.C. 20006 | www.napaba.org

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LAST CALL! The Portrait Project: Asian Americans in the Law

LAST CALL! The Portrait Project: Asian Americans in the Law

The Portrait Project

Deadline | Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, at 11:59 p.m. EDT

A little over half a year ago, California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu and his research team reached out to invite your participation in a series of focus group sessions dedicated to examining and better understanding what it means to be an Asian American practicing in the legal profession. They received an overwhelming amount of support and enthusiasm. Many of you expressed excitement at the idea that your experiences would become part of The Portrait Project, the first systematic study of Asian American experiences in the law.  

Today, we write to remind you to participate in their nationwide survey. The Portrait Project research team developed their questions over the course of several months, basing them in part on the themes that emerged out of their focus group discussions from the fall. Their questions probe identity, career advancement, and legal education, in addition to other subjects. Their goal is to provide a comprehensive look at the past, present, and future of Asian Americans in the legal industry.

The survey is open until Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, at 11:59 p.m. EDT, and should take an estimated 25-30 minutes to complete. The survey can be paused at any time, so there is no need to finish the questions in one sitting. All responses are anonymized. Upon completing the survey and submitting your responses, you may choose to separately enter your name into a prize drawing for your choice of an iPad Mini 4 16GB or a Vizio 38" 5.1 Channel Soundbar System with Wireless Subwoofer and Rear Satellite Speakers. Three winners will be selected at random. If you choose to enter the prize drawing, your name will not be associated with your responses.

We hope that you will find the time to share your experiences and contribute your voice to the report, which will be released in time for the 2016 NAPABA Convention in San Diego in November. If you are willing to participate, please fill out the survey by Aug. 8, at 11:59 p.m. 

Please feel free to reach out to the study leaders by email at [email protected] if you have any questions.

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