Tag: students

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NAPABA Law Foundation | Your Fall Scholarship, Fellowship, and Moot Court Opportunities

We’re excited to share new opportunities for law students and future leaders this fall. From scholarships and fellowships to the annual Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition, there are many ways to advance your legal journey and deepen your connection to the AANHPI community. Explore the details below and be sure to mark your calendars for key deadlines.

Scholarships

This fall, you can apply for four scholarships through one application, ranging from $2,500–$7,500.

  • NLF Scholarship – $5,000; based on academic achievement, financial need, leadership, and service to the AANHPI community
  • NLF Presidential Scholarship – Two awards of $7,500; selected by the NAPABA President for outstanding leadership
  • The Low Family Scholarship – $2,500; for demonstrated leadership and/or community service
  • LimNexus Scholarship – $2,500 awarded to one student
Frequently Asked Questions
2025 Scholarship Application

Community Law Fellowship

The NAPABA Law Foundation Community Law Fellowship addresses the critical need for public interest attorneys serving AANHPI communities.

This two-year fellowship (September 2026–August 2028) offers:

  • $60,000 annual salary + $10,000 completion bonus
  • Employment, health, and fringe benefits through the Host Organization
  • Substantive legal experience at a nonprofit, national, or community-based organization

Want feedback on your project before the application is due? Submit a one-page Prospectus by Monday, December 1, by 5 pm ET, for feedback from the selection committee.

Fellowship Details & Instructions
Submit a Prospectus

Judge Thomas Tang and Dr. Pearl Tang Moot Court (TTMC) Competition

Registration for the 2025 Judge Thomas Tang and Dr. Pearl Tang Moot Court Competition is now open! This annual competition fosters crucial advocacy skills among law students nationwide. This year’s topic is Artificial Intelligence.

Timeline:

  • Registration Closes: September 10, 2025
  • Brief Submission Deadline: October 3, 2025
  • Regional Rounds:
    • In-Person: October 17, U.S. Court of International Trade, NYC (12 teams max, first come)
    • Virtual: October 18 (assigned once in-person fills)
  • Nationals: November 7–8, 2025, at the NAPABA Convention in Denver, CO

NLF awards the top winners in brief writing and oral advocacy at the Regional Competitions. Up to $10,000 in scholarships are given to the top winners at the National Competition.

The registration fee is $500 per unsponsored team (self-funded by students) and $850 per sponsored team (funded by law school or affiliates). Local NAPABA Affiliates and National Associates are encouraged to sponsor teams.

2025 Online Entry Fee
2025 Online Registration

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Spring Internship Opportunity – Karis Consulting Group

Karis Consulting Group provides community organizing, strategic advising, and coalition-building support for Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations to empower the voice and capacity of the community. Interns will provide support for client work in a variety of sectors, gaining valuable community organizing skills and building relationships with top leaders in the nonprofit and government sectors. Individuals of all ethnicities and backgrounds located in the US are encouraged to apply.

About Karis Consulting Group (KCG)

Karis Consulting Group’s mission is to advance equity and empower communities to thrive by activating diverse voices and engaging in meaningful civic participation.

Internship Responsibilities

Interns will be expected to have strong administrative and communication skills.

  • Event Planning: Plan outreach, prepare memos, draft invitations, support fundraisers, manage logistics
  • Office Administration: Create/update spreadsheets, use office tools and Google Suite to manage tasks
  • Graphic Design: Design flyers using Canva
  • Communication: Draft emails, take meeting notes, strong writing and verbal skills for internal communication with firm and external stakeholders
  • Social Media/Podcast: Create social media posts

Compensation

  • Interns will receive $15 an hour.

Requirements

  • Applicants are expected to submit a resume, cover letter, and references (none from family members).
  • Open to high school graduates, college students, and graduate students
  • Interns are expected to work 10-15 hours per week. How you break up those hours can be discussed.
  • Interns must be located in the US but can work virtually (preference for DC or New York).
  • Application deadline is November 27, 2024 by 11:59 PM ET. 

​Apply here.

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AABANY Young Lawyers and Student Outreach Committees Present “The Self-Compassionate Lawyer: Reclaiming Power Over the Pursuit of Perfection with Dr. Matt Poon”

The legal profession is notorious for its high-stakes nature, demanding workloads, and a culture that often glorifies perfectionism. In an effort to address the mental health challenges faced by lawyers and law students, AABANY’s Young Lawyers Committee and Student Outreach Committee presented on February 1 “The Self-Compassionate Lawyer: Reclaiming Power Over the Pursuit of Perfection.”  This program was held at the New York office of Wilson Sonsini and brought together legal professionals and students for an insightful and interactive presentation by Dr. Matt Poon. It reflects the theme for this fiscal year, “Embracing Wellness and Well-being: Strengthening the Legal Profession by Investing in Ourselves.”

Dr. Poon delved into the deep-seated contributing factors that drive individuals in the legal field toward the pursuit of perfection. Attendees gained an understanding of the benefits and consequences associated with such pursuits, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and addressing these tendencies to foster a healthier professional life.

This interactive event didn’t shy away from the harsh realities of burnout and imposter syndrome within the legal profession. Participants engaged in a thought-provoking discussion and gained valuable insights into the significance of prioritizing mental well-being. Dr. Poon guided the audience through an exploration of cognitive biases and distortions linked to perfectionism. By understanding these thought patterns, attendees were empowered to challenge and reframe their perspectives, ultimately fostering a more realistic and compassionate approach to their professional and personal lives.

A highlight of the event was the exploration of Dr. Kristin Neff’s groundbreaking work on self-compassion. Dr. Poon provided practical insights into incorporating self-compassion into daily life, equipping participants with a powerful tool to counteract the detrimental effects of perfectionism.  

In line with the event’s goals, participants left with a toolbox of skills and tools to effectively manage self-imposed expectations, pressure, and criticism. Dr. Poon shared actionable strategies that could be readily applied in both personal and professional settings, such as meditation exercises, recognition of cognitive biases and thought patterns, and having a “defense team” in your own inner courtroom of self-criticism.

Beyond the enriching content, the program fostered a sense of community among attendees. We exchanged self-written sticky notes with affirmative words we would like to hear during difficult times, as a reminder to be our own best friends in times of adversity. 

Thank you to AABANY’s Student Outreach and Young Lawyers Committees for organizing this event and to Wilson Sonsini for providing the venue.  Thank you to the Student Outreach Committee Co-Chair, Vivian Lee, Young Lawyers Committee Co-Chairs Kwonsun Jung and Ada Wang, for putting this event together. To find more about Dr. Matt Poon’s work, please check https://www.drmattpoon.com/. To learn more about the Student Outreach Committee go here. To learn more about the Young Lawyers Committee go here.

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Volunteer Law Firm Needed for BreakthroughNY!

BreakthroughNY is a non-profit organization which supports underprivileged New York public school students from 7th grade through college by providing mentorship, educational and career training and support. 

BreakthroughNY is looking for a law firm to donate their space, time and lunch on Thursday, July 28, 2022 from 1:00pm to 3:30pm, so that students can ask a lawyer career questions. The organization also seeks an interactive session for their students with practicing lawyers.

If you are interested, please send an email to:

Brittany Parisi Doshi, brittany@btny.org
Chief Development Officer
Breakthrough New York
39 Broadway, Suite 820
New York, NY 10006

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Greater NY Chinese Dollars for Scholars Application Due June 1st (Chinese High School Students)

From Greater NY Chinese Dollars for Scholars:

2022 Scholarship Deadline is June 1st.

Greater NY Chinese Dollars for Scholars scholars not only receive scholarship dollars but become engaged members of our alumni community.

We believe in supporting our scholars to achieve their full potential through engagement and fostering a culture of giving back.

Scholarships are for high school seniors of Chinese descent entering college in the fall.

Scholarships are for students living in NY, NJ or CT with the exception of the Wonton Food scholarship which is open to students nationwide.

A. Merit Scholarships: Four-Year Scholarships for $1,000 per year (Total is $4000)
B. New Immigrant Scholarships (students arriving in the US after 1/1/19): Four-Year Scholarships for $1,000 per year (Total is $4000)
C. Need-Based Scholarships : Four-Year Scholarships for $2,500 per year (Total is $10,000)
D. Wonton Foods Achievement Scholarships: Four-Year Scholarships $2,500 per year (Total is $10,000) for children of persons currently working in the Asian restaurant business in the US for at least one year

For details, visit our website chinesescholarship.org

大紐約區華人教育基金會2022年 獎學金申請截止日期6月1日鼓勵希望積極參與我們基金會並貢獻回饋社區的學生申請

本獎學金提供給將在秋季進入大學的高中12年級學生

云吞食品公司獎學金 , 四年共一萬元

學生家長/法定監護人在美國亞洲餐館業工作至少一年

云吞食品公司獎學金開放給全國學生申請

Need-Based 獎學金, 四年共一萬元

優秀獎學金，四年共四千元

新移民獎學金 (2019年1月1日後來美的學生)， 四年共四千元

詳情請查看網站 chinesescholarship.org

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Thank you to our Columbia Law School’s Spring Break Caravan!

AABANY hosted for the second time the Columbia Law School’s Spring Break Caravan. This year, Caravan representative Angel Li (CLS ’23) reached out to the Pro Bono & Community Service Committee (PBCS) and Student Outreach Committee (SOC) to supervise six students during the week of March 14, 2022. During this program, students shadowed volunteer attorneys at the Queens pro bono clinics held on Saturdays, researched and drafted legal training materials for the pro bono clinics, attended a legal community presentation about bankruptcy, and met with various mentors from law firms and SOC graduates.    

On behalf of PBCS, we want to thank these law students for creating much-needed training materials to help volunteer attorneys in recognizing common issues in housing, family, wills and estates, and immigration law with flowcharts and outlines. These pro bono clinics act like triages in which attorneys spot issues for the individuals and provide legal information and referrals within a 30-minute session. We’ve been quite fortunate to have the support of our volunteer attorneys who are willing to teach each other and to open the eyes of these young law students about the problems many indigent and limited English proficient clients face daily.

On behalf of SOC, we are grateful for the not-for profit and biglaw corporate attorneys coming together to mentor these law students. Despite their different backgrounds and areas of practice, members of AABANY are always generously contributing their time, resources, and efforts to aid the AAPI community and leading these law students to a career of their own choosing.

Rather than picking just one essay from the Caravan, we believe it’s best to share with you all a snippet of these law students’ thoughts about the Caravan. We wish them the best in completing their studies and continue the AABANY’s spirit of giving back to the community.  

Regards,

Eugene Kim, PBCS

William Lee, SOC

May Wong, PBCS

Supervisors of the Caravan

“In the first instance, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the texts that were assigned preparatory to the start of the Caravan. The excerpt from How Do You Live? was especially memorable as a means of getting me into the right mindset before the program even formally began. It goes without saying that behind every law student and lawyer lies a sizable aggregation of resources: years of schooling, various internship opportunities, and votes of confidence from a network of supportive people. Law students and lawyers are the products of considerable societal investment; as such, it is incumbent upon them to give back and to give generously.”

-Andrew Chang –

“While I knew that our society had those problems, I realized that knowing problems is different from helping people facing the problems. I also understood that volunteer attorneys need to deal with various issues in different legal areas in a limited time in the clinic. Therefore, clients’ problems are not entirely solved there, but clients are given helpful advice on the following steps to solve the problems.”

– Nobuko Ikeda –

“Overall, I really valued not only peeking into the issues faced by the community, but also into how Asian American attorneys are helping combat those issues through the clinic. This caravan has inspired me to participate in the pro bono clinic as a future attorney, and I look forward to exploring even more ways to make the sessions efficient and to help the clients legally and emotionally.”

-Angel Li –

“What I found during the research was that massive amounts of materials and resources are already provided by municipal bodies, government officials, and private law firms on the internet. However, people who are not legal professionals would have difficulty utilizing these public resources. The difficulty arises from a language barrier and complexity in understanding and applying legal standards to one’s own situation.”

– Shota Sugiura-

“I appreciated all the genuine and candid advice I received from our Caravan supervisors, and am especially grateful for the wisdom from my AABANY mentor. It was an amazing opportunity to hear from lawyers from a range of backgrounds: those working in public service, those at firms, those who have transitioned to in-house. It was an equally exciting chance to build bonds with other Columbia APALSA members who felt passionate about giving back to our community.”

-Amanda Yang –

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The New York City Bar Association Releases Report “The Diversity Gap: Black and Latinx Representation Disparities in the Legal Pipeline” and Follow-Up Program

The New York City Bar Association announced that their report The Diversity Gap: Black and Latinx Representation Disparities in the Legal Pipeline has been released with overwhelming support from the legal community. To determine the effectiveness of pipeline programs for Black and Latinx students who seek to enter the legal profession, they polled over 800 students from the 15 New York State Law Schools. They thank Ashley Bernal, Professor, York College and author of the report, and The New York Community Trust for funding this important work.

You can read their press release here.

Additionally, they will be hosting a two-part panel presentation entitled, “The Diversity Gap: Black and Latinx Representation Disparities in the Legal Pipeline.”  Details below:

Part I: Pipeline Leaders

Part II: Pipeline Participants

To register for any of the events, please click on the registration link (you will need to create a free account if you are not a city bar member) or email Customer Relations at customerrelations@nycbar.org. The series is free for everyone.

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Special education in Asian American communities

Special education in Asian American communities

AABANY’s efforts to recruit and train volunteer attorneys to help Asian American youth with disabilities protect their legal rights is the subject of a NYCLA blog post written by NYCLA Education Law Committee Co-Chair Amy Leipziger.

There are more than 12,000 Asian students receiving special education services in NYC schools, and yet Asian American youth with disabilities are often underrepresented in discussions about special education because they confront the ‘model minority’ myth that makes it more difficult for them to get the recognition and help they need, and as a result, their problems are more often ignored. 

To read more, click the link above.  

For further details on AABANY’s activity in this area, see the blog posts below: 

http://blog.aabany.org/post/163370762837/on-july-11-over-twenty-five-lawyers-and-summer

http://blog.aabany.org/post/163639413887/chinese-american-planning-council-holds-conference

Thank you to Nelson Mar for leading AABANY’s efforts to protect the rights of Asian Americans students with special needs. To get involved with this project, email Nelson at Nmar@lsnyc.org.

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