The Pro Bono & Community Service (PBCS) Commmittee is launching a monthly Bring Your Own Lunch (BYOL) Sidebar Meeting, on Thursdays. The first one was held over Zoom on September 28. The PBCS Committee thanks Trusts & Estates Committee Co-Chairs Pang-Mei (P.M.) Natasha Chang and Yi Stewart for speaking at the inaugural event.
At the clinics, the PBCS Committee has been seeing more and more clients asking questions about estate planning. The attendees had the opportunity to discuss issues generally asked, such as setting up trusts vs. wills, spousal elective share, advanced directives, guardianships, and intestacy vs. probate.
For this area of practice, one should be familiar with the laws under EPTL and SCPA. To learn more about the Trusts & Estates Committee and how you can get more involved, sign up for their upcoming meeting on October 4 here.
The next BYOL Sidebar is on October 12, 2023 at 1pm. Please sign up here.
The next pro bono clinic is on October 14, 2023 from 12:30pm – 3:30pm. Please sign up here to volunteer.
On June 22nd, 2023, AABANY’s Student Outreach Committee hosted a Students Meet Firms event, connecting law students with attorneys at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. The Students Meet Firms event series aims to connect rising second-year law students (2Ls) and other students pursuing law degrees with a range of diverse law firms, providing both insight into the legal profession and valuable networking opportunities.
The panel, held on Zoom from 7:00- 8:00pm EDT, was moderated by Siqi Li (AABANY Student Leader, Seton Hall Law School ‘24), and featured associates Chihiro Isozaki, Sharon Wang, Samson Lim, and Long Dang. The panelists gave detailed insight into navigating Cleary’s recruitment process, summer associate program, and life at Cleary as a lawyer.
The event kicked off with panelists sharing useful tips on how to succeed in the interview process. In particular, they highlighted the importance of creating a compelling narrative of yourself as an applicant. While intensive research into Cleary and its practice areas are vital, the associates noted how outstanding candidates demonstrated connections between themselves and the firm that went beyond surface superficialities. To best accomplish this, the panelists recommended that interviewees reach out for coffee chats with Cleary attorneys working in the practice areas they are interested in, building both insight into the firm and comfortability with conversations.
The panelists then shared their own experience as summer associates and highlighted Cleary’s unique global rotation program. Through the program, summer associates are given the opportunity to spend four weeks in one of Cleary’s many overseas offices, including Beijing, Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Milan, Paris, Rome, São Paulo, and Seoul. Cleary also provides many other unique opportunities for professional development, such as their “miniMBA” training program and comprehensive mentorship system.
The associates also discussed the workplace culture at Cleary and how they were drawn to the firm because of its friendly, collaborative, and intellectually stimulating environment. The panelists emphasized that work is equitably distributed at Cleary, through a central staffing system. Many associates were also attracted to Cleary’s strong international presence and the opportunity to work with sovereign governments and international institutions.
Finally, the panelists emphasized Cleary’s strong mentorship system, both on a formal and informal level. Panelist Samsom Lim shared how his relationship with his mentor continued months after he finished the summer associate program. Expanding on this point, panelist Sharon Wang discussed the diverse range of opportunities she has encountered in her day-to-day work to connect with more experienced lawyers as an associate at Cleary.
Ultimately, panelist Chihiro Isozaki emphasized that the interview process is a two-way street, where applicants are also given a glimpse into Cleary and the chance to determine if it is the right fit for them. She gives the advice for future Cleary associates to be open, honest, and vulnerable; they should really get to know people on a deeper level.
Thank you to the Student Outreach Committee and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP for organizing this informative program. To learn more about the Student Outreach Committee, click here.
Interested in attending a Students Meet Firms event? Upcoming events include:
Kirkland & Ellis: July 6th, 2023 at 6:00pm, with registration closing on July 3rd
On March 31, 2023, the Student Outreach and Corporate Law Committees presented the panel: “What Do Corporate Lawyers Do?” at Orrick’s New York office. Moderators Long Dang (litigation associate at Cleary) and Jay Hawlader (law student at Brooklyn Law School) spoke to corporate attorneys Alice Hsu (Capital Markets partner at Orrick), Chris Min (Finance partner at Orrick), Cherry Liu (M&A/PE associate at Paul, Weiss), and Ashley Wong (M&A/PE and Capital Markets associate at Sidley).
In a relaxed setting with pizza and soft drinks, students listened to Alice and Chris speak about building relationships with clients, managing associates, and how they succeeded in becoming partner at their firm. Cherry and Ashley gave advice on how law students should judiciously select practical law classes, how they can ace the law firm interview process, and how to be resourceful, self-starting junior associates.
The panelists also shared what drew them into their respective fields. Ashley, for example, was inspired by purchasing Teavana tea from a Starbucks menu and was then intrigued by high-level transactions that affected consumers. Chris was drawn into her group because she enjoyed the personalities and the work combination.
Students on Zoom and in person listened closely as Alice described her day in a life as a partner and when Cherry gave advice on interviewing with law firms. The event concluded with Q&A and light mingling among the panelists and students.
On July 20, 2022, AABANY’s Student Outreach Committee hosted a virtual panel discussion to provide advice on the On-Campus Interviewing (OCI) process and how to get a small and mid-sized firm job. The event, part of the Student Outreach Committee’s Pre-OCI Series, ran from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm on Zoom. The panel was moderated by Student Outreach Committee Vice Chair Jay Hawlader (Summer Associate ‘22 – Barasch & McGarry) and featured the following panelists:
Carolynn Beck (Partner – Eisner, LLP)
Keli Liu (Senior Associate – Greenwald Doherty LLP)
Richard Sui (Associate – Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP)
James Lee (Associate – Littler Mendelson P.C.)
Panelists discussed the pros and cons of joining a small and mid-sized firm, interview tips, and advice for pivoting into big law. The main takeaways included the increased accountability and resilience built at small and mid-sized firms, networking with associates in addition to partners at law firms to better understand the firm culture, and being proactive in utilizing resources such as mock interviews and the career center. The discussion was followed by a Q&A session, where audience members asked questions about hours, which the panelists stated can vary depending on weekly workload, and recession considerations, to which the panelists mentioned that there exists a demand for a variety of legal services during a recession.
AABANY thanks the Student Outreach Committee for organizing the event and all panelists, moderators, and students who attended. To learn more about the Student Outreach Committee, please visit https://www.aabany.org/page/121.
After a year of online mixers due to the pandemic, the Membership Committee held its 56th and final Online Weekly Mixer on Zoom, on Friday, June 25, 2021.
The beginning of the mixer featured a celebration of the Asian American Law Fund of New York (AALFNY) Public Interest Scholarship Recipients, hosted by Sylvia Chin, President of AALFNY. The awardees were: Amanda Jimenez (CUNY School of Law, Class of 2022), Evelyn (Meng) Lin (Syracuse University College of Law, Class of 2022), and Shelley Wu (Cardozo School of Law, Class of 2023). AALFNY also honored the recipient of the AALFNY-SABANY Public Interest Fellowship: Dawa Lhamo (CUNY School of Law, Class of 2023), who will be interning with Catholic Migration Services. AALFNY awards Public Interest Scholarships each year to law students with a demonstrated commitment to the Asian American community. Congratulations to the recipients for their good work!
During the mixer, AALFNY held a Give Lively text to pledge fundraiser to support the Turning the Tide Project and nearly raised $1000. Thank you to everyone who donated! We are continuing to take donations via Give Lively and if you would like to donate, text “TIDE3” to 44-321. (A copy of AALFNY’s latest annual report may be obtained from P.O. Box, 161, 41 Purdy Ave, Rye NY 10580 or from the NY Attorney General’s Charities Bureau website www.charitiesnys.com. Information may also be obtained from us at [email protected] or the NYS Attorney General at 212-416-8686.)
After the AALFNY presentation, AABANY members went around the Zoom Room for the mixer portion. The participants introduced themselves, and answered the icebreaker question: “How will you change your lifestyle now that the city has reopened?” Participants told the group their various plans, including “adjusting their commute to work from home on most days,” “going back to travel internationally” and “going back to attend large gatherings.”
The participants expressed gratitude that there was a weekly outlet to connect, talk and share their thoughts every week, and appreciated that the mixers allowed people to form friendships through video. A few members requested that the mixers continue.
Membership Committee plans on meeting in person beginning in July; please stay tuned for the announcements. The Committee is looking to host a cruise later this summer. Be on the lookout for the survey!
Thanks to everyone who attended the final mixer and to our members and friends who joined us for one or more mixers over the past year! Thanks to Beatrice Leong, Membership Director, for being such a gracious host.
We look forward to seeing everyone in person for future Membership Committee events.
Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit (CAU), Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants (MOPT) and Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit (PEU) will host a Tenant Protection Training in English, Mandarin and Cantonese and share anti-eviction and tenant protection tools on Tuesday, 10/20/2020 at 3pm.
Participants will be able to learn about tenant rights, tenant protection resources, and referral processes.
Empire Mock Trial is a nonprofit that brings together extraordinary high school students from across the U.S. plus 6 countries. Over the past 6 months, the nonprofit has worked hard to plan a mock trial program for them that is fun, safe, and educational during the age of COVID-19 — this fall, it is finally happening.
Volunteer to judge a mock trial on October 28-31 or November 14-16 (attorneys can judge one trial or multiple). All trials will be held online via Zoom. For most of the students, this is the first time they’ve been able to participate in mock trial in 2020, with COVID having canceled their last season.
The format of each trial depends on which competition you sign-up to judge. Here is a description of each:
Empire @ Home on October (28-31) – students compete from the comfort of their own homes (i.e. you’ll see 12-14 students separately connect to your virtual courtroom). It’s called ‘Empire Chicago’ because we are hosting Chicago themed events for the kids;
Empire One (November 14-16) – one mock trial team assembles in one room to compete against another team (i.e. you’ll see only 2 teams separately connect to your virtual courtroom). It’s called ‘Empire New York’ because we are hosting New York themed events for the kids.
Attorneys can earn up to 3 CLE credits for judging.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Empire Mock Trial via phone or email on their website.
On Wednesday May 27th, the AABANY Intellectual Property Committee kicked off the season with our first ever Zoom mixer. The session started off with some TV and movie-based Rebus puzzles, which were easily crushed by the codebreaking attendees. There will be more challenging games to come. We followed with learning a bit about each other and finding out what people have literally been cooking with more time at home. Fun ideas and plans for future events and activities were discussed, so there will be more to come this year in the form of intro to IP sessions, career track discussions, case study discussions and ways to provide practical knowledge to artists, creators and inventors in New York City.
On May 22, 2020, the Membership Committee hosted their weekly Zoom Mixer Membership Mixer, with 21 participants in attendance. The icebreaker question posed to the participants was “What song would be playing if you had to make an grand entrance?” Members named “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Game of Thrones” theme song, “Eye of the Tiger,” “Final Countdown,” K-Pop classics, “‘Law and Order” theme, “Juicy,” “Young, Scrappy and Hungry,” and more great songs.
This mixer featured AABANY Treasurer Will Hao, Alston & Bird Associate Will Lee, Pro Bono Committee Vice Chairs Karen King and Kwok Ng who gave members a preview of an upcoming COVID-19 small business relief community presentations.
The Membership Committee previously hosted Monthly Mixers at bars, ballparks, stadiums, operas, etc, but due to COVID, we are moving online to offer members a weekly outlet to share their feelings, see old friends, and make new connections. Mixers start at 6:30pm on Friday and the main event ends at 7:30pm but feel free to stay on after 7:30pm for smaller breakout groups.
We are giving away door prizes on some weeks. In order to win, you must be a member and must RSVP via the calendar entry on aabany.org to get a raffle number. Non-members can join the Zoom mixer but won’t be eligible to win a prize. Mixers are not recorded, and are LIVE, so don’t miss out.
This week we gave away a Hulu subscription – congratulations to Bryan Cheah for winning! Congratulations to Bryan also for graduating from Rutgers Law School, and we wish you the best of luck in preparing for the bar exam!
On May 15, 2020, the Membership Committee hosted their weekly Zoom Mixer Membership Mixer, with 24 participants in attendance. The icebreaker question posed to the participants was “If you were not a lawyer or did not have a job in law, what would your career be?” Members said they would be chefs, producers, directors, comic book illustrators, standup comics, cosmologists, and food critics.
The Membership Committee previously hosted Monthly Mixers at bars, ballparks, stadiums, operas, etc. But, due to COVID-19, we are moving online to offer members a weekly outlet to share their feelings, see old friends, and make new connections. Mixers start at 6:30 pm on Friday, and the main event ends at 7:30 pm but feel free to stay on after 7:30 pm for smaller breakout groups.
We are giving away door prizes in some weeks. To win, you must be a member and must RSVP on the aabany.org to get a raffle number. Non-members can join the Zoom mixer but won’t be eligible to win a prize.
This week we gave away PBS’s Asian Americans DVD! Congratulations to Francis Chin for winning!
