Tag: right to vote

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From NAPABA: Sign the petition urging Congress to pass the Voting Rights Amendment Act!

Over a year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a critical element of the Voting Rights Act, the coverage formula. The coverage formula required jurisdictions with histories and ongoing practices of discrimination in voting practices and laws to “preclear” their voting changes with the U.S. Department of Justice or the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Voting changes were analyzed to see if they were influenced by a discriminatory purpose or would harm minority voters in their jurisdictions.

The Voting Rights Amendment Act (VRAA) will modernize the coverage formula of the Voting Rights Act to tie it to recent patterns of voter discrimination. Congress needs to pass this law to ensure that all voters, including members of the Asian Pacific American community, are able to exercise their fundamental right to vote.  Click here to read NAPABA’s Statement Opposing Voter Suppression Efforts.

Since the VRAA (HR 3899/S 1945) was introduced this January, the Senate has held one hearing on the bill, and the House has failed to act. We need your help! Tell your members of Congress to pass the Voting Rights Amendment act now by clicking here to sign this petition.

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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.