Tag: President Joe Biden

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NAPABA Applauds the Nomination of Judge Eumi K. Lee to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

For Immediate Release:
Corrected
Date: August 3, 2023

Contact: Rahat N. Babar, Deputy Executive Director for Policy

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden nominated Judge Eumi K. Lee to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

“NAPABA congratulates Judge Eumi K. Lee on her nomination. She is exceptionally well qualified, with experience on the bench, private practice, and academia,” said Sandra Leung, President of NAPABA. “Judge Lee is active in the AANHPI community. She was the first Korean American woman to serve as president of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, and she was a recipient of the 2011 NAPABA Best Under 40 Award. Judge Lee also served as pro bono counsel to Fred T. Korematsu in his brief before the Supreme Court of the United States in Rumsfeld v. Padilla. We applaud President Biden for nominating Judge Lee and urge the Senate to confirm her swiftly.”

Judge Lee has served as a judge on the Superior Court of California in Alameda County since 2018. She was the first Korean American judge ever appointed to the court in Alameda County. Previously, Judge Lee was a Clinical Professor of Law at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, and co-founded and co-directed the Hastings Institute for Criminal Justice. Earlier in her career, she was an associate at Keker & Van Nest LLP and Thelen, Reid & Priest LLP. Judge Lee clerked for Judge Warren J. Ferguson on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Jerome Turner on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. She received her J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from Pomona College.

NAPABA thanks United States Senators Feinstein and Padilla for recommending and supporting Judge Lee’s nomination.

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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 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 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 Applauds the Nomination of Lisa Wang to the U.S. Court of International Trade

For Immediate Release: 
Date: June 28, 2023		Contact: Rahat N. Babar, Deputy Executive Director for Policy 

WASHINGTON – June 28, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Lisa Wang to serve on the United States Court of International Trade. She would be the second individual from the AANHPI community to serve on this Article III court if confirmed.

“NAPABA congratulates Lisa Wang on her nomination,” said Sandra Leung, President of NAPABA. “A dedicated public servant, Assistant Secretary Wang immigrated to the United States when she was five years old and built a successful career in international trade. We applaud President Biden for nominating her to the court and urge the Senate to confirm her swiftly.”

Lisa Wang is the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Enforcement and Compliance. She is the U.S. Department of Commerce’s delegate on the Interagency Working Group for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. In this role, Assistant Secretary Wang supports the Administration’s whole-of-government agenda to advance equity, justice, and opportunity for AANHPI communities.

Before her appointment, she was a partner at Picard Kentz & Rowe LLP where she focused on international trade law matters, including antidumping, countervailing duty litigation, and trade policy issues. Assistant Secretary Wang also served as Senior Attorney with the Office of the Chief Counsel for Trade Enforcement and Compliance at the Department of Commerce, as Assistant General Counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, and as Senior Import Administration Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, where she was awarded Commerce’s Bronze Medal Award for Distinguished Performance. She received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2006 and her B.S. from Cornell University

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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 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 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

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NAPABA Applauds the Nomination of Judge Wesley Hsu to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

WASHINGTON – [On Dec. 21, 2022,] President Joe Biden nominated Judge Wesley Hsu to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

“NAPABA applauds the Biden-Harris administration for nominating Judge Wesley Hsu,” said Sandra Leung, president of NAPABA. “Judge Hsu has been an active leader in NAPABA, helping mentor and uplift AAPI attorneys. In 2005, NAPABA recognized him with its Best Lawyers Under 40 for achieving prominence and distinction with his service to the community. His frequent contributions to our community and vast experience in the law make him uniquely qualified. We urge the Senate to swiftly confirm Judge Hsu.”

In 2017, former governor Jerry Brown appointed Judge Hsu to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Hsu served for 17 years in the Office of the United States Attorney in the Central District of California, notably as the Executive United States Attorney and Deputy United States Attorney. Previously, he worked at a private law firm, and clerked for the Hon. Mariana R. Pfaelzer of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

“We are thrilled that President Biden has continued to honor his promise of a diverse and representative Judiciary,” said Priya Purandare, executive director of NAPABA. “The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California serves over 19 million people, the most populous federal judicial district, which includes a significant population of the AAPI community. Judge Hsu has spent his career, spanning almost three decades, serving in private practice, government, and as a Superior Court Judge in this district. If confirmed, Judge Hsu is well prepared to serve the people of the Central District of California.”

Judge Hsu is active in his community as a Co-Chair of the California Asian Pacific American Judges Association, a member of the Board of Governors for the Asian Pacific American Women Lawyers Alliance, and Founding Member of NAPABA’s Government Enforcement and Compliance Committee and NAPABA’s Data Security and Privacy Committee. A graduate of Yale University and Yale Law School, Judge Hsu has served as an adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount Law School and a writing instructor at the University of Southern California Law School.

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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 Applauds the Nominations of Justice Myong J. Joun and Judge Rita F. Lin to the U.S. District Court

For Immediate Release: 
Date: July 29, 2022

Contact: Priya Purandare, Executive Director

WASHINGTON—Today, President Joe Biden nominated Justice Myong J. Joun to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and Judge Rita F. Lin to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. If confirmed, Justice Joun would be the first Asian American male to serve on the federal bench in Massachusetts and Judge Lin would be the first Chinese American female to serve on a district that includes San Francisco and San Jose.

“NAPABA congratulates its members, Justice Myong Joun and Judge Rita Lin,” said A.B. Cruz III, acting president of NAPABA. “Justice Joun is the second former Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts president to be nominated to an Article III judgeship and Judge Lin is a past NAPABA Best Under 40 awardee. Both are exceptionally well qualified. We applaud President Biden for nominating them and we urge the Senate to swiftly confirm them.”

Justice Myong J. Joun
In 2014, Justice Joun was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to the Boston Municipal Court. Previously, he was in private practice where he specialized in criminal defense and plaintiff’s civil rights litigation in state and federal courts. A former president of NAPABA’s affiliate, the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, Justice Joun is active in the greater legal community. He currently serves as treasurer of the Harry J. Elam Judicial Conference and has served on the Executive Management Board of the Massachusetts Bar, the board of directors for the National Lawyers Guild and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association. Justice Joun is a veteran of the United States Army and the Massachusetts National Guard. He received his J.D. from Suffolk Law School and his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts.

Judge Rita F. Lin
In 2018, Judge Rita Lin was appointed by Governor Edmund Brown, Jr. to the Superior Court of San Francisco. Previously, she was an assistant U.S. attorney of the Northern District of California and a partner at Morrison and Foerster, where she focused on complex civil cases and financial services. At the firm, she had an active pro bono practice, including successfully challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Judge Lin clerked for the Honorable Sandra Lynch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. In 2017, NAPABA honored her with its Best Under 40 award. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A. from Harvard College.

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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.