The ABA Law Student Division would like to invite you to judge the National Appellate Advocacy Competition (NAAC) in Brooklyn on February 22-24, 2024, at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
You be the judge, literally! Spend a few hours as a Supreme Court Justice without the confirmation hearings! All rounds take place in a courtroom and robes are provided for all competition judges.
Give back and mentor law students This opportunity will fulfill your need to impart wisdom onto the next generation of lawyers. We are looking for lawyers and judges to sit on the Supreme Court to hear oral arguments and provide feedback on the advocacy skills of each team.
CLE Information Attorneys acting as judges in moot court competitions may self-report their participation to claim CLE credit. Rules, calculations, and limits vary by state.
Make a day of it. Sign up for one, two, or more rounds. Or invite your colleagues and register as a group. Register Here
The rounds are scheduled as follows: Round 1: Thursday, February 22 (3:30 pm-7:45 pm) Round 2: Friday, February 23 (3:30 pm-7:45 pm) Round 3: Saturday, February 24 (8:30 am-12:45 pm) Round 4: Saturday, February 24 (1:00 pm-3:30 pm) Round 5: Saturday, February 24 (3:30 pm-6:00 pm)
For your colleagues across the country, there are also regionals in Boston, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco!
Direct any questions to:
Erica M. Zepeda American Bar Association Program Manager, Early Career Strategy Law Student Division 321 N. Clark, Chicago, IL 60654 T: 312.988.5671 [email protected]
On Wednesday, June 7, 2023, AABANY’s Judiciary Committee hosted its annual Judges’ Reception to honor newly inducted, elevated, and retiring judges, in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Despite the poor air quality, the event had an impressive turnout, with nearly 80 in attendance, including lawyers, judges, and retired judges, as well as AABANY Board Members and Committee Chairs. The event was held at the Surrogate’s Courthouse, 31 Chambers Street, in downtown Manhattan.
The honorees recognized at the event were individuals who represent the significant strides that AAPI judges have made during the past year in the ongoing effort to enhance diversity in the judiciary. The following judges were honored:
Hon. Jung Park, New York City Criminal Court
Hon. Anar Patel, New York State Court of Claims
Hon. Hari Singh, New York City Family Court, Bronx County
Hon. Karen Lin, New York City Civil Court, Queens County
Hon. Kris Singh, Surrogate Court, Montgomery County
Hon. Leigh Cheng, New York City Civil Court, Queens County
Hon. Nisha Menon, New York City Family Court, Kings County
Hon. Sarika Kapoor, New York State Court of Claims
Hon. Rina Gurung, New York City Housing Court, Bronx County
Hon. Vijay Kitson, New York City Housing Court, New York County
Hon. Jessica Sin, New York City Family Court, Queens County
Hon. Shantonu Basu, New York City Housing Court, Kings County
Hon. L. Austin D’Souza, New York City Civil Court, Kings County
Hon. Zainab Chaudhury, New York Court of Claims
Hon. Arun Subramanian, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
We are proud to celebrate these AAPI trailblazers in the judiciary. AAPI jurists remain significantly under-represented in New York courts. To date, there is no AAPI Justice serving on the United States Supreme Court. There is also no AAPI judge on New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. New York remains in 2023 as one of 42 states in the country without an AAPI judge on the state’s highest court. According to the Asian American Judges Association of New York (AAJANY), AAPI judges comprise nearly 4.60% of the total judiciary in New York State, compared to 10.8% of the population of New York State and 17.3% of the population of New York City being of AAPI descent. Hon. Shahabuddeen Ally, Supervising Judge of New York County Civil Court, and President of AAJANY, emphasized: “[T]he numbers tell us there is a lot of work to do. When the numbers go up, we all do better.” In light of current events and the rise in anti-Asian violence, AAPI representation on the bench is more important than ever. AABANY thanks the honorees for their pioneering and inspirational role.
Thanks to everyone who joined us for this event and the Judiciary Committee for organizing it. To learn more about AABANY’s Judiciary Committee and its work, click here. To see more photos, go here.
Chief Judge Margo K. Brodie announced today that the Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York have appointed a Merit Selection Panel composed of attorneys and residents of the district (see Administrative Order No. 2023-12 on the Court’s website). The Panel will consider candidates for an anticipated United States Magistrate Judge vacancy in Brooklyn, New York, for an eight (8)-year term. The vacancy will be created by the anticipated elevation of U.S. Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes to United States District Judge.
All applications for the magistrate judge vacancy must be received by May 5, 2023. The application form can be accessed online at the district’s website. Application forms also may be obtained from the Clerk of Court in the Public Announcements. Please see the public notices below for instructions on how to submit applications for the magistrate judge vacancy.
Within ninety (90) days from its appointment on April 4, 2023, the Panel must report to the Court its recommended slate of candidates for consideration for the Magistrate Judge vacancy.
PUBLIC NOTICE
ONE FULL-TIME FEDERAL MAGISTRATE JUDGE VACANCY
There is one (1) anticipated full-time United States Magistrate Judge vacancy at the Brooklyn Courthouse of the Eastern District of New York at 225 Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, New York. The duties of the position are demanding and wide-ranging, and will include: (1) conduct of preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; (2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; (3) conduct of various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from the judges of the district court; (4) trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants; and (5) assignment of additional duties not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States.
The jurisdiction of a United States Magistrate Judge is specified in 28 U.S.C. § 636. To be qualified for appointment, an applicant must: (a) be a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands for at least five years; (b) have been engaged in the active practice of law for a period of at least five years (with some substitutions authorized); (c) be competent to perform all the duties of the office, of good moral character, emotionally stable and mature, committed to equal justice under the law, in good health, patient and courteous, and capable of deliberation and decisiveness; (d) be less than 70 years old; and (e) not be related to a judge of the district court. An applicant should have federal court experience and be knowledgeable in federal civil and criminal practices and procedures.
A Merit Selection Panel (appointed by Administrative Order 2023-12) composed of attorneys and residents of the district will review all applications and recommend in confidence to the judges of the district court the five persons whom it considers best qualified for the vacancy. The Court will make the appointment following FBI and IRS investigations of the appointee. An affirmative effort will be made to give due consideration to all qualified candidates, including women and members of minority groups. The salary of the position is, as of this notice, $213,992 per annum. The term of office is eight years.
Please note that the application form can be accessed online at the district’s website. Application forms also may be obtained from the Clerk of Court at 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York 11201. Applications must be personally prepared by potential nominees and must be received no later than May 5, 2023. Applications should be submitted as one PDF file, by email, to NYED [email protected]. Instructions are available on the court’s website.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is accepting applications for full-time Magistrate Judge positions at New York, NY. The duties of the position are demanding and wide ranging and will include: (1) conduct of preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; (2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; (3) conduct of various pretrial matters, including settlement proceedings, and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from the judges of the district court; (4) trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants; (5) inquests and reports and recommendations on dispositive motions and evidentiary matters on reference from the judges of the district court; and (6) assignment of additional duties not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States.
Candidates should submit hard copies of the applications to the physical address below and email a copy to: [email protected].
Edward A. Friedland District Court Executive United States Courthouse 500 Pearl Street, Room 820 New York, NY 10007-1312 Tel: 212-805-0500
An original plus fifteen (15) copies of a cover letter, resume and application must be received by February 28, 2023. Application forms are available on the Court’s web site: ww.nysd.uscourts.gov. (Subject to funding, multiple vacancies may be filled from this posting.)
For more details, including the application form, click here.
**Deadline extended from the October 26, 2022 posting.
**If you applied to the previous posting, you do not need to reapply.
The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) congratulates Judge Florence Pan on her historic and overwhelmingly bipartisan (68-30) confirmation to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Pan will become the first Asian Pacific American (APA) woman to serve as an Article III judge in the District of Columbia.
In 2009, Judge Pan was nominated by President Obama to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and was confirmed by unanimous consent by the Senate. She was the first judicial nominee to be confirmed under the Obama Administration, and became the first APA judge to be appointed to any court in the District of Columbia. Judge Pan has over a decade of judicial experience serving in the Criminal, Family Court, and Civil Divisions, and has presided over more than 650 trials. She also has sat by designation on the D.C. Court of Appeals twice.
“Judge Florence Pan, who has ably served our nation’s capital for over a decade on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, is now the first Asian American woman to serve on the U.S. District Court,” said A.B. Cruz III, President of NAPABA. “NAPABA applauds the Senate’s historic bipartisan vote confirming this eminently qualified jurist.” Previously, Judge Pan served for 10 years as an Assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including two years as the deputy chief of the appellate division. She also held positions in the Department of the Treasury and at Main Justice, notably in the Office of the Solicitor General. Judge Pan taught at Georgetown University Law Center and American University, Washington College of Law, and is active in her community having served as the Secretary of NAPABA’s Judicial Council.
Judge Pan is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford Law School. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable Ralph K. Winter, Jr., of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the Honorable Michael B. Mukasey of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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.
United States District Court, Eastern District of New York
July 7, 2021 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
There is one (1) upcoming full-time United States Magistrate Judge position vacancy at the Central Islip Courthouse of the Eastern District of New York at 1100 Federal Plaza, Central Islip, New York, effective February 24, 2022. The duties of the position are demanding and wide ranging, and will include: (1) conduct of preliminary proceedings in criminal cases; (2) trial and disposition of misdemeanor cases; (3) conduct of various pretrial matters and evidentiary proceedings on delegation from the judges of the district court; (4) trial and disposition of civil cases upon consent of the litigants; and (5) assignment of additional duties not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States.
The basic jurisdiction of a United States Magistrate Judge is specified in 28 U.S.C., section 636. To be qualified for appointment, an applicant must: (a) be a member in good standing of the bar of the highest court of a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands for at least five years; (b) have been engaged in the active practice of law for a period of at least five years (with some substitutions authorized); (c) be competent to perform all the duties of the office, of good moral character, emotionally stable and mature, committed to equal justice under the law, in good health, patient and courteous, and capable of deliberation and decisiveness; (d) be less than 70 years old; and (e) not be related to a judge of the district court. An applicant should have federal court experience and be knowledgeable in federal civil and criminal practices and procedures.
A Merit Selection Panel (appointed by Administrative Order 2021-16) composed of attorneys and residents of the district will review all applications and recommend in confidence to the judges of the district court the five persons whom it considers best qualified for each vacancy. The Court will make the appointments following FBI and IRS investigations of the appointees. An affirmative effort will be made to give due consideration to all qualified candidates, including women and members of minority groups. The salary of the position is, as of this notice, $201,112 per annum. The term of office is eight years.
Please note that the application form can be accessed on-line at the district’s website: www.nyed.uscourts.gov. Application forms also may be obtained from the Clerk of Court at 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York 11201. Applications must be personally prepared by potential nominees and must be received no later than August 8, 2021. A submission can be made by email in PDF format sent to [email protected] or submitted online at this linked address. Instructions are available on the court website.
WASHINGTON – On June 30, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Jennifer Sung to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Shalina D. Kumar to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. If confirmed, Ms. Sung would be President Biden’s first Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) to serve on the appellate court and the first AAPI to serve on the Ninth Circuit in Oregon. Judge Kumar would be the first AAPI Article III judge on the federal courts in Michigan.
“NAPABA congratulates Jennifer Sung on her nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Judge Shalina Kumar on her nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan,” said A.B. Cruz III, President of NAPABA. “It is indeed a historic slate for the AAPI legal community. If confirmed, Judge Kumar would be the first AAPI Article III judge in the state of Michigan. President Biden’s intent to nominate Ms. Sung is critical for our community to increase the visibility of AAPI jurists on the appellate bench. Of the 179 authorized federal appellate court judges, there are only 10 AAPIs who are actively serving.”
Ms. Sung is currently a member of the Oregon Employment Relations Board, where she adjudicates disputes involving labor relations for an estimated 3,000 Oregon employers and 250,000 workers in the public and private sector covered by collective bargaining laws. Prior to her appointment to the Board, she was a partner at McKanna Bishop Joffee, LLP in Portland. Earlier in her career, Ms. Sung was an executive board member of the New York chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. She is a graduate of Oberlin College and earned her J.D. from Yale Law School.
Judge Kumar currently serves as Chief Judge of the Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court in Michigan. She has been on the bench since 2007, has served as presiding judge of the Adult Treatment Court, and was appointed Chief Judge by the Michigan Supreme Court in 2018. Judge Kumar previously practiced at the Weiner & Cox law firm and served on the executive board of the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association and as a member of the Women’s Bar Association. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, and her law degree from the University of Detroit-Mercy.
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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the largest Asian Pacific American membership organization representing the interests of approximately 60,000 legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American 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 color in the legal profession.
On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s Judiciary Committee hosted its annual Judges’ Reception on Zoom. The reception honored newly inducted, elevated and retiring judges in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.
Will Wang, Co-Chair of the Judiciary Committee, served as Master of Ceremonies and welcomed the judges and the attendees to the virtual reception. Last year’s event did not happen, due to COVID-19, and we were pleased to be able to host judges and attendees virtually via Zoom this year.
The following elevated judges were honored:
Hon. Shahabuddeen Ally, Supervising Judge, New York City Civil Court, New York County
Hon. Katheryn S. Paek, New York City Criminal Court, New York County
The following newly elected judges were honored:
Hon. Wyatt Gibbons, New York Supreme Court, Queens County
Hon. Philip T. Hom, New York Supreme Court, Queens County
Hon. Leigh K. Cheng, New York City Civil Court, Queens County
Hon. Hyun Chin Kim, County Court, Orange County
Hon. E. Grace Park, New York City Civil Court, New York County
Hon. Meredith Vacca, County Court, Monroe County
Hon. John Z. Wang, New York City Civil Court, New York County
The following newly appointed judges were honored:
Hon. James R. Cho, United States Magistrate Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York
Hon. Diane Gujarati, United States District Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York
The reception also recognized and honored two judges who had retired from the bench:
Hon. Peter Tom, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department
Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Term, First Department
The honorees recognized at the event are trailblazers for Asian Americans in the judiciary. Of Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians, Asians remain the least represented group in positions within the judiciary. Although Asians make up around 6% of the United States population, in 2020, they comprised less than 3% of federal judges. In the state of New York, although Asians make up 9% of the population, Asians represent a mere 2% of state judges. That number raises even more concern when we consider that Asians account for some 14% of the population in New York City, and Manhattan’s Chinatown is literally right around the corner from State and Federal courthouses. In light of current events and the rise in anti-Asian violence, AAPI representation on the bench is more important than ever. AABANY thanks the honorees for their pioneering example.
In honor of AAPI Heritage Month, the Judiciary Committee also held a short trivia game where participants would answer questions about the history of Asian American Pacific Islanders in the United States. Questions included: What was the purpose of the Chinese Exclusion Act? Which President signed the joint resolution commemorating APA Heritage Month? What was the reason for boycotting Miss Saigon on Broadway? The winners, who each answered nine out of the ten questions correctly, were Joseb Gim, AABANY Prosecutors’ Committee Co-Chair; L. Austin D’Souza, AABANY Judiciary Committee member and SABANY President-Elect; and the Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan, an AABANY Founding Board Member and the AABANY Trailblazer Award honoree from the 2020 Fall Conference. The winners received buttons which had been created to raise funds for AABANY’s Pro Bono Clinic, inscribed with the words “One Humanity against the Virus.”
Congratulations to all the judges who were recognized and honored at this year’s Judges’ Reception, and thanks to everyone who joined us for this event.
To learn more about AABANY’s Judiciary Committee and its work, click here.
The Criminal Justice Act Committee of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York is soliciting applications from highly qualified and experienced criminal defense attorneys for membership on the CJA Panel for the District.
Applications will be accepted from attorneys who are available for case assignments in either the Brooklyn or Central Islip Courthouses, or both. The Committee is also seeking applications from practitioners whose experience is uniquely suited to handling petitions for post-conviction relief.
Assignments to the Panel will be for a three-year period, beginning January 1, 2020.
Applications are available at the Clerk’s Offices at the Courthouses in Brooklyn and Central Islip. The form of the application has also been posted at the Court’s website at:
On December 14, 2018, AABANY member Judge Pamela K. Chen, of the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of New York, made news with her decision in Maloney v. Singas. Judge Chen held that a 44 year old New York state law banning nunchucks is unconstitutional. In her ruling, Judge Chen stated that the ban violated both the Second Amendment and State Constitutional right to bear arms.
Judge Chen noted, “The centuries-old history of nunchaku being used as defensive weapons strongly suggests their possession, like the possession of firearms, is at the core of the Second Amendment.”
