Tag: women's committee

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AABANY Women’s Committee Hosts Second Annual Ice Cream Social on August 4th

On August 4, 2023, AABANY members gathered on the lawn of Madison Square Park for the second annual Ice Cream Social, presented by AABANY’s Women’s Committee. Organized by Co-Chairs Renee Yao, Wen Zhang, and Jennifer Wu, the event was a massive success. Twenty-nine members attended the event, enjoying ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. Special thanks goes out to Christina Seid, AABANY member and owner of Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, for providing the delicious ice cream.

On this particular Thursday in August, the city welcomed uncharacteristically beautiful weather, sunlight beaming down on attendees with not a cloud in the sky. Cool breezes throughout the evening helped maintain a pleasant temperature, perfect for an outdoor summer gathering. Attendees snacked on varied selections from the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, sampling flavors ranging from chocolate chip to pandan and taro. Jennifer supplemented the ice cream with lemonades from Shake Shack, refreshing and sweet.

While enjoying their ice cream, members struck up conversations with one another, gathering in little clusters all across the bright green lawn. Smiles could be seen on everyone’s faces as they got to know each other, both personally and professionally. Jennifer’s two dogs, Katsu and Mochi, joined in on the fun, playing with each other and the attendees, receiving lots of pats and kisses. The event ended at 7 PM, with attendees regretfully waving their goodbyes as they headed home, hearts warm and stomachs full with delectable ice cream.

We are grateful to the Women’s Committee for hosting this lovely event. In addition, we thank the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory for providing us with the tasty ice cream that made this event a success. Lastly, thank you to all of the AABANY members who showed up, sharing your time with us on a busy weekday evening. To learn more about AABANY’s Women’s Committee, click here. To learn more about the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, click here.

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AABANY Asia Practice Committee Co-hosts: Together for Christmas Dinner

On December 25, 2022, the Asia Practice Committee, along with the Membership, Student Outreach, Women’s, and Young Lawyers Committees, partnered to host a Christmas dinner and gift exchange event at 99 Flavor Taste in Manhattan Chinatown. Fourteen attendees filled the upper level of this Chinese restaurant to enjoy hotpot and BBQ.

After all guests arrived, each attendee gave a one-minute self-introduction, which gave the guests a good opportunity to learn more about each other. While enjoying the delicious fare, attendees played Two Truths and a Lie, a fun icebreaker.

After everyone ate, the Christmas gift exchange took place, with order determined by lottery. To receive the gift, the recipient had to repeat the self-introduction of the gift giver.

After Christmas dinner, some attendees went on to enjoy an after-dinner karaoke party.

The event welcomed a wide range of attendees, including law students, corporate and tax law practitioners, retired professors and their significant others, who gathered to celebrate Christmas even though they do not have family around in New York, finding home and family among their AABANY friends.

Thanks to the Co-Chairs and Vice Chairs of all the co-sponsoring Committees for helping to organize and promote this enjoyable event and to everyone who came. We look forward to more fun events from these Committees in 2023 and hope you can join them!

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AABANY Prosecutors, ADR and Women’s Committees Host Self-Defense Class

On November 19, 2022, the Prosecutors, ADR & and Women’s Committees teamed up to learn self defense at the NY Wutang Chinese Martial Arts Institute (“NY Wutang”) in downtown Flushing.

During these times of anti-Asian violence, AABANY members wanted to be prepared. Prosecutors Committee Co-Chair Joe Gim first taught members about the New York laws on the justification defense, particularly in connection with the use of physical force in defense of a person.

Next, the Master of NY Wutang and Prosecutors Committee Co-Chair Dave Chiang trained the attendees. Here, Dave wore his ADA hat as well as his Master Chiang hat.

Master Chiang taught the group that the first step is to be aware of one’s surroundings: “Don’t keep your head down looking at your phone.”  The group also learned how to quickly turn their camera on to try to capture photos or video of the perpetrator. 

Next, Master Chiang warmed everyone up with stretching exercises and the group practiced shouting, “Stay away! Leave me alone!” so that witnesses will know that you are not the initial aggressor.

The group then learned that the three weakest parts of an attacker are their eyes, throat and groin. Master Chiang taught attendees how to strike and target those body parts during an attack. The group practiced with each other and took away valuable information we will not soon forget. 

If you want to take lessons at NY Wutang see:  http://wutang.org/

To donate to NY Wutang: http://Paypal.me/nywutang

Thanks to all the co-sponsoring Committees for putting together an informative and useful program on self-defense during these challenging times, and thanks to Prosecutors Committee Co-Chair Joe Gim for teaching us the law on self-defense and Prosecutors Committee Co-Chair (and Kung Fu Master) David Chiang for teaching those who attended how to protect themselves while following the law.


To learn more about the Prosecutors Committee, click here. To learn more about the ADR Committee, click here. To learn more about the Women’s Committee, click here.

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AABANY Women’s Committee Hosts Virtual Breakfast

Over 40 attendees gathered for a virtual breakfast hosted by AABANY’s Women’s Committee on March 10th. The featured speakers were Grace Fu, General Counsel of KAYAK/Open Table and incoming AABANY Board Director, and Kazuko Wachter, Chief Legal and Strategy Officer of Prism Financial Products and current AABANY Board Director. The conversation was moderated by Jennifer Wu, Partner at Paul, Weiss and AABANY Women’s Committee Co-Chair.  

The discussion opened with the speakers’ transition to an in-house career path. Grace and Kazuko both had to quickly gain business knowledge in their new roles. Both affirmed the importance of asking questions from people with different types of expertise. Grace and Kazuko then shared their views on making connections in the workplace, taking risks and trying to achieve work-life balance. 

One key theme from the conversation was authenticity at work. Coming from her own experience as a mother of three, Jennifer asked Grace and Kazuko how much of their personal lives they bring into their professional ones. Kazuko said she makes a point to be herself even if it does not align with conventional expectations. Grace highlighted that the pandemic has given many people, herself included, the opportunity to show more of themselves when taking calls at home or with family in the background. 

Attendees were engaged throughout the hour-long conversation, most keeping their cameras turned on until the end. Those who pre-registered received a Grub Hub gift card to enjoy breakfast delivered to their homes. The Women’s Committee hopes to resume in-person breakfast meetings going forward, as has been done in the past, before the pandemic. 

Thank you to everyone who attended and to the Women’s Committee for organizing this event. To learn more about the Women’s Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/122. 

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