On Thursday, January 22, 2026, AABANY’s In-House Counsel Committee and the Corporate Law Committee hosted its annual Winter Soiree. Returning once again to Le Chalet at Saks Fifth Avenue, the event transformed the heart of midtown into a warm, alpine-inspired venue where members came together for one of AABANY’s most well-attended and successful Winter Soirees to date.
The Winter Soiree, one of AABANY’s marquee events, proved more vibrant than ever this year. With nearly 200 attendees and a record 25 sponsors, attendees roared with chatter and laughter, while strengthening professional relationships, forging new connections, and celebrating the collaborative spirit that exemplifies AABANY’s legal network.
Guests started to arrive around 6:00 p.m. and were embraced by Le Chalet’s warm interior and balcony view of the city skyline. The intimate and collegial setting provided an ideal backdrop for meaningful dialogue among distinguished senior attorneys, partners, and the senior in-house counsel that represented a wide variety of sectors including financial services, technology and software development, healthcare, investment banking, insurance, real estate, media and entertainment, sports and licensing, consumer electronics, retail luxury goods, food and beverage, aviation, oil and gas, utilities, and environmental services. The companies represented included Mastercard, Pfizer, Con Edison, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Meta, Tiffany & Co., JP Morgan Chase, American Express and Johnson & Johnson.
Over 20 General Counsels were in attendance this year, representing some of the largest corporations in the country. Representing a remarkably diverse cross-section of the corporate and legal landscape, attendees engaged in thoughtful conversations on a wide range of topics while enjoying an assortment of hors d’oeuvres, wines, cocktails, and other refreshments as the evening unfolded.
Shortly after 7:00 pm, David Sohn of J.P. Morgan Chase, Co-Chair of the In-House Counsel Committee, delivered opening remarks. He highlighted his Committee’s work in advancing the legal profession and advocating for the AAPI legal community, and thanked Saks, all our sponsors, and the guests for helping to make the event a success through their presence. He then invited Ken McClure, representing Broadridge Financial Solutions and AABANY’s’ Diamond Sponsor, to address the audience.
Co-Chairs Peter Wei and Jack Jiaqi Chen joined David to introduce the AABANY Winter Soiree’s Platinum Sponsors: Haynes Boone (represented by Brian Sung); Perkins Coie (represented by Dennis Hopkins); Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP (represented by Phil Richter); Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone LLP (represented by Jennifer Wu and Jenny Wu); and Seyfarth Shaw LLP (represented by Varuna Bhattacharyya, AABANY’s President-Elect).
The speakers expressed the importance of AABANY’s role in shaping a more diverse, supportive, and forward-looking legal profession. They spoke to the value of investing in the organization’s mission and noted AABANY’s lasting influence on the professional development and advancement of Asian American attorneys.
Closing out the remarks, Corporate Law Committee Co-Chair John Hwang, Partner at Linklaters LLP, explained the Committee’s mission to provide a forum for corporate law firm attorneys where they can exchange ideas and experiences as AAPI attorneys in that practice area. John also acknowledged his Co-Chairs, Tracy Feng, Partner at Paul Hastings and Keli Huang, Partner at Kirkland & Ellis, as well as Vice-Chairs Kyle Zhu, Associate at Orrick, and Ashley Wong, in-house counsel at Amazon, for their leadership and contributions to the Committee. John concluded by expressing gratitude to the Winter Soiree’s Gold and Silver Sponsors, after which the guests returned to mingling and networking.
AABANY extends its deepest gratitude to the 2026 Winter Soiree sponsors, whose generous support made the event possible:
Silver Sponsors Allegaert Berger & Vogel LLP Anonymous Blakes Clark Smith Villazor LLP Con Edison Leason Ellis LLP McCarthy Tetrault Miao Law LLC Steno
AABANY also extends its sincere appreciation to the Co-Chairs of the co-sponsoring Committees—David Sohn, Peter Wei, Jack Chen, of the In-House Counsel Committee, and Tracy Feng, John Hwang, and Keli Huang, of the Corporate Law Committee—for their dedication and leadership. Special thanks are due to the organization’s staff, Yang Chen, Executive Director; Carrey Wong, Deputy Executive Director; and Apollo Baltazar, Administrative Assistant, as well as interns Eva Lee and Aleasha Wattoo, and former intern Kirin Moy, whose hard work and support contributed to the evening’s success.
The Winter Soiree started to wind down around 8:30 pm., as guests left the warm embrace of Le Chalet to brave the winter evening, bringing an energetic and memorable night to a close. AABANY thanks all who attended and looks forward to continuing this festive tradition and welcoming the community back for future events.
On June 21, 2025, AABANY successfully hosted its Third Annual Wellness Day at Brooklyn Law School. This event was made possible through the generous support of AABANY’s dedicated speakers and sponsors, enabling participants to address critical issues affecting mental and physical well-being, in line with wellness programs and initiatives championed by former AABANY President Karen Kim during her term. Participants learned about various topics, such as methods for dealing with daily stressors, unhealthy drinking culture in the legal profession, signs of depression, and how to find support groups and resources.
Within the legal profession, mental health and well-being is not a topic that is often discussed. AABANY aims to challenge the normalized culture of long hours and drinking prevalent in the legal profession by highlighting the detrimental impact of these behaviors on the well-being of attorneys and offering a dedicated, supportive environment for necessary discussions.
Doors opened for Wellness Day at 9:00 AM. The event began with a relaxing Meet and Greet Breakfast catered by Paris Baguette, providing attendees with an opportunity to meet current and former Wellness Day speakers and greet one another and connect. During breakfast, Karen invited attendees to enter a raffle for a chance to win prizes like a one-on-one coaching session with Celina Lee, a 75-minute Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) session with Dr. Michelle Thompson, a laser Focus Power Pitch session or copy of Rainmaking 101 by Precious L. Williams, or a parenting coaching session with Dr. Theresa Nguyen.
AABANY President Benjamin Hsing welcomed everyone to the event. On behalf of AABANY, he expressed gratitude to all the participants, speakers, and sponsors who were crucial for the success of the event.
Wellness Day Champion Sponsor, Steno, hosted a table with goodies for attendees, ranging from Pride flags, bags, and iridescent water bottles to glass nail files. Thank you to Steno and Steno representative Gayle Damiano, for your generous support.
Creating a Kinder and Gentler Legal Practice when Grounded with Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT/Tapping)
The morning programs kicked off with Dr. Michelle Thompson from Resistant Vision, who first introduced Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT/Tapping). Dr. Thompson shared a compelling story about a client who, after 48 hours without sleep, found relaxation and rest through EFT practices. In her session, “Create a Kinder and Gentler Legal Practice when Grounded with Emotional Freedom Techniques,” Dr. Thompson led participants through tapping their stressors away and detaching them from their minds. She had participants rank their stress levels on a scale from one to ten. By the end of the session, Dr. Thompson had helped the audience reduce their stress levels significantly. She invited a volunteer to help with a specific person causing their stress. Whether it be dealing with stressors at work or stress from academics, Dr. Thompson’s exercises helped everyone gain real-time emotional freedom and learn how to incorporate these practices for the stress that many in the legal profession face on a daily basis. To learn more about Resistant Vision, click here.
Bar None: Rethinking Alcohol in the Legal Profession
Jaimie Nawaday, partner at Seward & Kissel LLP and a former federal prosecutor, brought attention to the drinking culture in the legal profession with her session: “Bar None: Rethinking Alcohol in the Legal Profession,” moderated by Anden Chow, partner at MoloLamken LLP. Ms. Nawaday spoke openly about her personal experience with alcoholism as an attorney. She shared about being in denial about having a drinking problem for a long time and rationalizing her drinking due to the normalized drinking culture in the profession. In their discussion, they highlighted how as a lawyer, receiving and giving alcohol as a gift is normalized. In addition, they noted that many events primarily serve alcoholic drinks. They highlighted how especially for the younger generation of lawyers entering the legal profession, the lack of senior lawyer role models who do not drink might create subtle pressure to engage in heavy drinking.
Ms. Nawaday shared about her progression from doing short health challenges to abstaining from alcohol for a year. She aimed to help spread awareness about the outdated corporate cocktail culture and posted a video on LinkedIn on this topic, which received wide-ranging support from viewers. She also recounted how she helped another lawyer feel included at an event with just the small action of getting them a nonalcoholic beverage. To counter the drinking culture, Ms. Nawaday proposed that it should be normalized to provide nonalcoholic drinks at events and that senior lawyers who do not adhere to the outdated drinking culture should serve as role models. Learn more about Jamie Nawaday’s company Disrupting Drinking here.
Karen Kim took the podium to thank the morning speakers and announce that she would be distributing complimentary copies of The Daily Buddhist, which excited much of the audience. She also announced the lucky raffle winners. With that, the morning sessions came to an end, and lunch was served. Attendees enjoyed a delicious and healthy lunch from Chipotle.
Managing Stress: Maintaining Wellness
The afternoon started off with a session called “Managing Stress: Maintaining Wellness” by pediatrician Dr. Theresa T. Nguyen, who guided participants through the science behind how our brain processes stress. She then led participants through different techniques to ground ourselves, from two different methods of regulating breathing, spacing out inhales, breath holds, and exhales by tracing the fingers on our hand, and box breathing. Dr. Nguyen also invited an audience member to demonstrate the breathing techniques. She then led everyone through somatic grounding techniques, such as rubbing the thumb and index fingers together as well as guided meditation. Dr. Nguyen proceeded to lead the audience through different stretches and acupuncture points to relieve stress, nausea, and tension. Participants left her session feeling relaxed, armed with helpful methods to ground themselves amid stressors in their daily lives. To learn more about Dr. Nguyen’s practices, visit resilientmd.org.
Building Positive Habits: Practical Tips to Sustain a Long, Healthy Career in Law
A fireside chat followed, with Jackson Lewis Principal Tanya Bovée and Well-Being Director Gavin Alexander in a session called “Building Positive Habits: Practical Tips to Sustain a Long, Healthy Career in Law.” Mr. Alexander spoke candidly about his journey struggling with mental illness throughout his life. He talked about how he was initially reluctant to seek help since he thought any paper trail of receiving care would be damaging to his career. Due to the perceived stigma against mental illness in the legal profession and society, it was not until his near suicide that he sought help. Since then, he has advocated for mental well-being and served as the first-ever Fellow of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being. Mr. Alexander spoke about finding help in the form of a support group of lawyers with depression, through which he found his current position as a Well-Being Director at Jackson Lewis. When commended on his bravery for sharing his struggles, Mr. Alexander expressed the hope that we all could live in a world where someone like him wouldn’t be deemed brave for sharing his struggles, and talking about mental health would be normalized instead. In guiding the discussion, Ms. Bovée shared her struggles and techniques for better time management and recommended various books for the audience. She also shared personal stories of handling new roles and expectations.
Steno, Champion Sponsor – Remarks
Steno representative Gayle Damiano then gave brief remarks, recognizing Steno as the Wellness Day Champion Sponsor and its support of wellness and well-being in the legal profession. Attendees learned about Steno and its court reporting and litigation services.
But You Don’t Look Depressed
The next session, “But You Don’t Look Depressed,” was moderated by Karen Kim and featured Vivia Chen, an award-winning journalist and ex-lawyer. Ms. Chen shared her story of finding help and opening up about her mental health challenges. Publicly sharing her mental health struggles was difficult due to the stigma around depression in the legal profession. Ms. Chen shared that many lawyers have this stigma, mostly due to their family’s expectations. Asian American lawyers experience higher mental issues compared to the whole of those in the legal profession. Ms. Chen spoke of the challenges to secure short-term disability due to misconceptions around how the symptoms of depression or how those who suffer from depression should look. An insurance representative commented that she did not exhibit the usual signs of depression, such as sobbing uncontrollably or looking unpresentable. In the end, her application for short-term disability was denied. Ms. Chen also spoke about her experience finding a therapist suited for her and seeking help. Her story shines light on the lack of accessibility of help provided by legal workplaces, and the need to change the stigma and misconceptions around mental health, in order to make help more accessible to those who need it. Visit and subscribe to Ms. Chen’s Ex-Careerist Substack Column.
During the discussion, Karen highlighted previous Wellness Day sponsor and participant, Anise Health, a culturally responsive mental health platform dedicated to the Asian community. All attendees received a free trial consultation from Anise Health, as well as a 10% discount code for their first month of care.
Cultivating Mental Resilience to Thrive Amid Uncertainty
Next, Benjamin Hsing, President of AABANY, facilitated a conversation with Pema Sherpa, co-author of The Daily Buddhist, speaker, and mindfulness researcher. They explored how resilience can be cultivated through intentional mind-training practices rooted in Buddhist philosophy and contemporary mindfulness research. Drawing from both personal experience and her book, Ms. Sherpa shared practical tools to manage stress, reframe emotional challenges, and foster inner calm amidst professional demands. She emphasized how simple yet consistent exercises such as meditation, compassion, and mental reframing can strengthen one’s emotional resilience and promote wellness. During the Q&A session, Ms. Sherpa highlighted how the book’s daily format offers readers an accessible and structured path to integrate mindfulness into their routines. Participants appreciated the interactive dialogue, and at the conclusion of the event, Ms. Sherpa graciously signed copies of her book for attendees. Visit Pema Solutions to learn more about mindfulness.
Closing Remarks
Karen Kim delivered ending remarks, thanking everyone for coming to Wellness Day. She gave thanks to all the volunteers, sponsors, and speakers who were vital to making the event successful. Many attendees stayed for the optional networking reception afterward, taking the time to reconnect with old friends and acquaintances and making new connections.
Wellness Day has been a celebration of self-care, health, and the importance of nurturing both mental and physical health. AABANY compiled a Wellness Resources guide and encouraged attendees to reach out to AABANY and the available resources for themselves, their colleagues, friends, and family. AABANY’s Wellness Resources can be found here.
AABANY thanks all Wellness Day speakers for sharing their expertise and personal journeys:
Michelle Thompson, J.D., Ph.D., CEO of Resistant Vision Coaching and Consulting, LLC
On Friday, December 6, 2024, AABANY hosted its Annual Holiday Party at Sugar Mouse, a social club located in the East Village. Registration reached capacity within just a few weeks of opening, a clear indication of AABANY members’ excitement for this event. In total, the party had over 70 attendees, arriving as early as 6:30pm and staying well into the night.
Participants enjoyed an open bar as well as a variety of food, including burgers, pizza, and mozzarella sticks. Members networked with one another, discussing their backgrounds, careers, and professional experiences, reconnecting with old friends while also introducing themselves to new faces. Those not eating or networking enjoyed the venue’s pool, ping pong, and foosball tables.
Thank you to Steno for sponsoring and supporting this event.
During the night Beatrice Leong, Co-Chair of AABANY’s Pro Bono and Community Service Committee, thanked everyone for attending and asked them to donate to AABANY’s Pro Bono Clinic by pledging a desired amount via text or by scanning a QR code projected on the venue’s walls. AABANY’s Pro Bono Clinic has won a number of awards over the years, and meets once a month in Manhattan and on a bi-monthly basis in Queens and Brooklyn. Even though volunteers donate their time, running these clinic’s costs money and donations to support this initiatives are always welcome. If you are interested in donating to the Pro Bono Clinic you can still do so by clicking here.
We appreciate everyone who attended and made it such a lively and exciting experience. To view all the photos from this event, please click here.
We wish everyone a happy holiday season and hope to see you at upcoming events in the New Year!
