//static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/picasaweb.googleusercontent.com/slideshow.swf

After a full day of CLE sessions and other programs, attendees at the NAPABA Northeast Regional/AABANY Fall Conference enjoyed a cocktail reception, sponsored by Day Pitney. Attendees from AABANY and the northeast affiliates, including from Canada, met, mingled, connected and re-connected over drinks and hors d’oeuvres. 

At the reception, the AABANY Law Review, which was launched at the 2011 Fall Conference, presented its first Scholarly Paper Prize to Greg Robinson (Professor of History at l’Université du Québec à Montréal)  for his article, In Defense of Birthright Citizenship: The JACL, the NAACP, and Regan v. King. Prof. Robinson accepted the award and offered brief remarks about his published work, to be released in the upcoming issue of the AABANY Law Review.

Also during the reception, Key Sponsor Hudson Court Reporting and Video and Elite Sponsor Baker Tilly held drawings for prizes. Congratulations to the raffle winners, and thanks to Hudson and Baker Tilly for being such strong supporters of AABANY!

Following the reception, several committees hosted dinners: The Real Estate/Solo Small Firm Committees hosted their dinner at S Dynasty, sponsored by Bank of America. The Litigation/Young Lawyers Committees had a wonderful Italian dinner at Aperitivo. The Bankruptcy/Corporate Law Committees had their dinner at Banc Café, thanks to sponsors UBS and Donlin Recano. Thomson Reuters sponsored the Intellectual Property Committee dinner at Fusia.

Right after the committee dinners, energetic attendees convened at Rare View Rooftop for the afterparty. The attendees enjoyed drinks and each other’s company while admiring panoramic views of the New York City skyline, at least until the rain came down. Not to be deterred by the downpour, guests took the party downstairs to Rare Bar & Grill on the ground floor to continue their post-conference celebration.

We hope everyone who came to the 2013 NAPABA Northeast Regional/AABANY Fall Conference had an enjoyable and productive time. We hope to see you at the 2013 NAPABA Annual Convention in Kansas City in November!

//static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/picasaweb.googleusercontent.com/slideshow.swf

The 2013 NAPABA Northeast Regional/AABANY Fall Conference hosted by Weil Gotshal featured a packed afternoon with several CLEs to keep attendees busy. Session 3 commenced at 2:30 pm and CLE topics included: “How do GCs Manage Crisis and Government Investigations,” “E-discovery and the New Ethical Rules for Non-Litigators,” “The Right to Vote: Asian Americans and the Struggle Over who Can Vote and How,” and much more, including the afternoon portion of the all-day Trial Advocacy Program (TAP).

“How do GCs Manage Crisis and Government Investigations” was one of our most popular CLE programs. The panel was moderated by Don Liu, Corporate Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Xerox. Panelists included Stuart Alderoty, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel at HSBC, Bruce Bettigole, Partner at Sutherland, Katy Choo, Chief Investigative & Anti-Corruption Counsel at General Electric, and Sandra Leung, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Session 4 started at 4PM with well-attended CLEs: “The Partner Track: Fiction v. Reality,” “Common Sense Immigration Reform,” and “General Counsel Roundtable.”

Outside of the CLE programs, Robert Leung, Michael Park, and Gurinder Singh, of the newly formed AABANY Career Placement Committee, held one-on-one meetings throughout the day, in the morning and afternoon, with many individuals interested in the participating in the committee and the AABANY Career Exchange.

Many thanks to all of our speakers and moderators for contributing their time in preparing for and serving on their panels. AABANY would like to thank all staff, volunteers and attendees for participating in the conference.

//static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/picasaweb.googleusercontent.com/slideshow.swf

At the 2013 NAPABA Northeast Regional/AABANY Fall Conference hosted by Weil Gotshal, a plenary session was held during the luncheon to explore the recent United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin.

The luncheon was sponsored by Kobre & Kim. Welcome remarks were given by Mike Huang, President of AABANY, Fred Green, Management Committee Member, Mergers & Acquisitions Partner and Sponsor to the Asian Attorney Affinity Group at Weil, and Wendy Shiba, President of NAPABA. Board member and past AABANY President Robert Leung presented brief remarks about AABANY’s newest committee, the Career Placement Committee, and invited broad participation in it.

The Program Chair for the plenary session was Sarah Seo, Co-Chair of the Academic Committee. She introduced the Hon. Pamela K. Chen, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, moderator of the panel.

Panelists included Khin Mai Aung, Director of the Educational Equity Program at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), who submitted an amicus brief in the Fisher case, and Hemmie Chang, Partner at Foley Hoag, who led her firm’s efforts in supporting AALDEF’s amicus filing in Fisher. Also on the panel were Michael Park, Partner at Dechert, and William Consovoy, Partner at Wiley Rein, who submitted briefs on Fisher’s side of the case before the Supreme Court.

The room was filled to capacity and many of the attendees had to go to the overflow room next door to watch the panel discussion on video.

The panel took several thoughtful and pointed questions from the audience during the Q&A portion.

Thanks to our Key Sponsor Hudson Court Reporting and Video for taking video and transcription of the plenary session.

//static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/picasaweb.googleusercontent.com/slideshow.swf

The 2013 NAPABA Northeast Regional/AABANY Fall Conference took place on Saturday, September 21, at the New York offices of Weil Gotshal & Manges. It started with breakfast and registration at 8:00 am. Panel session 1 began at 9:30 am, featuring CLE programs on “Office Politics 101 – How to Win the Popularity Contest at Work,” “Post-Hurricane Sandy: One Year Later and its Impact on the Northeast,” and “The Nexus of IP and Everything Else in the Universe.” The morning session of the Trial Advocacy Program (TAP) began with a lecture.

Panel session 2 followed at 11:00 am with CLE programs on “How to Get Disbarred: Avoiding Ethics Complaints and What to Do if you Can’t,” “Girlfriends: ‘Lean In’ – When, Where and How,” and “Bright Lights, Big Pharma.” TAP breakout sessions took place, allowing participants to engage in actual exercises based on the morning lecture.

At the same time, during the morning session, the In-House Counsel Forum, Judicial Forum, numerous pitch sessions and the AABANY Career Exchange were simultaneously going on. It was a busy morning.

//static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/picasaweb.googleusercontent.com/slideshow.swf

On Friday, August 23, AABANY held its End of Summer Happy Hour at K2 Lounge at the Rubin Museum of Art. Members and friends got to mix and mingle while enjoying 2-for-1 drinks during the first hour and munching on tasty hors d’oeuvres. A live DJ played music and the museum was open for everyone to enjoy exhibits and performances throughout the night, until 10 pm. Brochures about the NE Regional/Fall Conference were distributed. Thanks to everyone who came out. We hope everyone had a great summer and we wish you all a happy, safe and enjoyable Labor Day weekend.

AABANY Announces New Career Placement Committee

AABANY is pleased to announce the formation of its new Career Placement Committee. The primary purpose of the Career Placement Committee is to match qualified AABANY members with available legal job positions. To accomplish this, the Career Placement Committee is launching the AABANY Career Exchange which will serve as a clearinghouse for all legal positions brought to its attention and will proactively seek to match qualified AABANY candidates with such open positions. To this end, the Career Placement Committee is actively seeking information regarding open legal positions. If you are aware of any such positions please email the Career Placement Committee co-chairs (Robert Leung, Michael Park and Gurinder Singh) at [email protected].

In addition, the Career Placement Committee is also interested in getting to know AABANY members who are currently seeking or considering seeking a new position. It is important for the Career Placement Committee to understand the skill sets, special expertise and interests of AABANY members currently conducting or thinking about a job search in order to be able to best match qualified candidates with particular open positions. To facilitate the process, the Career Placement Committee will kickoff the AABANY Career Exchange by holding 15-minute informational one-on-one meetings with interested AABANY members at the AABANY 2013 Fall Conference / NAPABA Northeast Regional Conference on September 21, 2013 (www.napaba-ne.aabany.org ). Feel free to bring a resume. All questions and inquiries will be kept strictly confidential.

Finally, if you are interested in getting involved in the Career Placement Committee, please let us know. We are currently actively seeking 5-10 committee members to assist with our current and future projects. Please email us at [email protected].

If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact the Career Placement Committee co-chairs: Robert Leung, Michael Park or Gurinder Singh at [email protected].