he NAPABA LawFoundation (NFL), a 501(c)(3) sisterorganization of the

National Asian PacificAmerican Bar Association,was formed in 1994 to serveand educate APA lawyersand the APA community. It has grown to effectuate its mission through theimplementation of variousprofessional development,scholarship and fellowshipprograms. These effortsinclude the NAPABA andNLF diversity Symposia, internationallyrecognized Thomas Tang Moot CourtCompetition, the NLF Scholarship programs, the NAPABA Partners and In-House Counsel Community LawFellowship.

Diversity Symposium on APA AttorneysNLF began this year exploring

uncharted territories by hosting its first bi-coastal Diversity Symposia. Thesesymposia focused on issues unique to the APA community, highlighting the disproportionate lack of APA partners inlarge law firms relative to the number ofAPA associates. The symposia attractedover 250 attorneys from over 50 of thenation’s largest law firms. Many of theseattorneys were senior partners at leadinglaw firms, the target audience for theseprograms. Bruce Ishimatsu, chair of theNAPABA Partners committee and an NLFboard member, commented that “Thesymposia were important and effective to bring awareness to law firms about thedearth of APA partners at these firmsgiven the number of APA associates. As afirst-time effort to address this issue, NLFis proud of the success of this event andwill continue to craft new ways to educateand serve the APA community.”

A grant from the Minority CorporateCounsel Association’s (MCCA) DiversityDollars Grant Program allowed NLF tohire a part-time staffer solely focused on

NATIONAL

ASIAN PACIFIC

AMERICAN BAR

ASSOCIATIONVolume XVIII No. 2 Spring 2008

NAPABANAPABAL A W Y E RL A W Y E R

191

I N T H I S I S S U E

NAPABA Law Foundation: Expanding Our Vision 1

President’s Message 2

Introducing Our New Executive Director:Tina R. Matsuoka 4

NAPABA Gains CBAC’s Support for Court Interpreter Funding 4

NAPABA Welcomes Oldest and Largest South Asian Bar Association As A New Affiliate 6

Regional News 8

People in the News 15

continued on page 5

T

NLF Board Members at 2007 NAPABAConvention. Left to right: Mike Chu, JeannieLin and Al Wong

this diversity initiative. NLF plans tocontinue its law firm diversity projectwith a working report that will highlightthe next steps for law firms, APA lawyersin these firms, APA partners, NAPABAand the NLF.

NLF Scholarship ProgramsNLF has recognized law students

who have demonstrated leadership in and commitment to the APA community.Through the generosity of its numerousdonors and sponsors, NLF’s scholarshipsare wide-ranging, providing many oppor-tunities for awards to APA law students.Scholarships are chosen by committee andare given to students who demonstrateoutstanding leadership potential to servethe APA community, students who werethe first in their family to attend lawschool, and students who demonstrate astrong commitment to civil rights andequality. These various scholarships areprovided by the support of sponsors suchas Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., theUnited Parcel Service Foundation, theCoca-Cola Foundation, the Lim, Ruger & Kim law firm, and benefactors such asthe Chris Nakamura family and JudgeRobert Takasugi.

NLF also engages in other efforts to

NAPABA Law Foundation:Expanding Our Vision

reward APA law students for their com-mitment to the community. In recogni-tion of monetary constraints preventingmany law students from entering publicinterest service, NLF established a loanrepayment program. Diane Yu, a longtime supporter of NAPABA and NLF,donated funds to start this program toassist recent law graduates who are work-ing in APA legal service organizations torepay a portion of their student loans.These and many other scholarships allowNLF to continue its efforts to encourageyoung APA law students to engage andtake pride in their community as well astheir profession.

NAPABA Partners and In-House CounselCommunity Law Fellowship

Many law students enter law schoolinterested in pursuing a career that willbenefit their community, further civilrights and better serve the public interest.Recognizing that many obstacles preventthese law students from actually begin-

192

NAPABA LAWYER

Vol. 18 No. 2 Spring 2008© National Asian Pacific

American Bar Association

EDITORAlexander C. Chae

EDITORIAL BOARDLisa Westergaard • Alexander Lee

Jennie Shi • Alex Sun Koji Fukumura

Letters to the Editor (250 words of less),newsletter articles (500 words or less),Announcements (100 words or less)

and change of address, may be emailed to administrator@napaba.org.

The opinions expressed in the NAPABA LAWYER are those of the authors

and do not necessarily reflect NAPABApolicy or editorial concurrence. Publication

of any written or graphical material or advertisement does not

constitute an endorsement. The editorsreserve the right to edit, accept or reject

prospective materials or advertisements inaccordance with their editorial judgment.

NAPABA retains the copyright to thispublication and its contents, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact

NAPABA for permission to reproduce any of its contents.

MessagePresident'sHelen B. Kim

Dear NAPABA Members and Friends,It is hard to believe that we are already

past the midpoint of the 2007-2008 term.In the past quarter, we have attended toboth recurring and new matters.

In May of every year, NAPABA meetsin Washington, D.C. with its sister barassociations, the Hispanic National BarAssociation, the National Bar Associationand the Native American Bar Association,which comprise the Coalition of BarAssociations of Color (“CBAC”). I ampleased to report that, at this year’s CBACmeetings, the NAPABA Board voted tosupport 11 resolutions, which were thesubject of meetings on Capitol Hill withrelevant members of Congress:

• Resolution to increase the 2009 fundsprovided to the Legal ServicesCorporation (proposed by HNBA)

• Resolution supporting the reauthoriza-tion of the Higher Education Act of1965 (proposed by HNBA)

• Resolution on the Voter AccessProtection Act of 2007 (proposed by HNBA)

• Resolution in support of the CivilRights Act of 2008 and the LedbetterFair Pay Act (proposed by HNBAand NBA)

• Resolution in support of S. 2136 – TheHelping Families Save Their Homes inBankruptcy Act of 2007 (proposed byHNBA and NBA)

• Resolution supporting H.R. 460 – The Crack-Cocaine EquitableSentencing Act of 2007 (proposed by NBA)

• Resolution supporting sentence mitigation for youth offenders (proposed by NBA)

• Resolution supporting State CourtInterpreter Grant Program Act (proposed by NAPABA)

• Resolution supporting acceptance of tribal governmental ID cards for all official purposes (proposed byNNABA)

• Resolution supporting examination ofIndian law on state bar examinations(proposed by NNABA)

• Resolution urging Congress to reauthorize the Indian Health CareImprovement Act (proposed byNNABA)

As the national voice for the AsianPacific American legal profession whoseaim is to promote justice, equity andopportunity for all Asian PacificAmericans, I hope that NAPABA will continue to support federal legislationconsistent with the interests of the APAcommunity and other minority communi-ties. I also want to thank NAPABA’sPolicy Director, Aleli Samson, whoworked tirelessly in the weeks prior toand during the CBAC meetings and pre-pared excellent and thorough analysis ofthe various resolutions considered andapproved by the NAPABA Board.

I am also pleased to report that NAPABA and its affiliates have put onfour regional conferences this year – a record. The 2008 Southeast RegionalConference, hosted by the Georgia AsianPacific American Bar Association, tookplace April 18-19, 2008 in Atlanta,Georgia. The 2008 Northeast RegionalConference, hosted by the Connecticut

Asian Pacific American Bar Association,took place May 2-3, 2008 in Norwalk,Connecticut. NAPABA’s first ever 2008Central Regional Conference, hosted byAPABA-Minnesota, took place June 13-14,2008 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And our2008 California Regional Conference, hosted by the Asian/Pacific BarAssociation of Sacramento, took placeJune 20-21, 2008 in Sacramento, California.All four regional conferences put oninformative, valuable panels that featuredtop-notch speakers. I thank all four affiliates, their boards and volunteers for their excellent job and hard work.

In this issue, we are also proud tohighlight one of our newest affiliates, theSouth Asian Bar Association of NorthernCalifornia.

Finally, we are very excited to introduce Tina Matsuoka, who willbecome NAPABA’s new ExecutiveDirector in August 2008. I look forward to formally introducing Tina to the NAPABA membership in person inSeattle, Washington at our annualConvention in November 2008. In themeantime, however, as you will see fromthe article on Tina, NAPABA is very fortunate to have her come on board. I want to thank the other members ofNAPABA’s Personnel Committee, com-prised of John Yang (Chair), Michael P.Chu and Nimesh Patel for conducting asuccessful search for our new ExecutiveDirector and screening all of the candi-dates. I also want to thank the NAPABABoard, which interviewed the final candidates and made such an excellentchoice. And many thanks to the NAPABAmembers who responded to our call tohelp find our next Executive Director. I’m not sure we would have found Tinawithout our member support.

I hope NAPABA is serving you andyour affiliates well and that you will let us know how we can serve you even better. If you’re not already involved with NAPABA or one of our 55 affiliates,please get involved, stay involved andstay in touch!

Best regards,

Helen B. Kim

3

We are proud to partner with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Associationto advance diversity and promote excellence in the legal profession.

©2008 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Working together to make a difference.

194

As the Vice-President of Communications,it is my extreme pleasure to introduceTina R. Matsuoka, the new ExecutiveDirector. After months of searching foran Executive Director, the NAPABA Board unanimously agreed to extend the position to Ms.Matsuoka, who has agreed to come onboard, effective August 4, 2008.

When Les Jin announced earlier thisyear that he would be leaving NAPABA,the Board asked the Personnel Committeeto embark on a nationwide search for hisreplacement. The Personnel Committee,comprised of Michael Chu, Helen Kim,Nimesh Patel and John Yang, reviewednumerous applications and conductedseveral telephonic interviews with poten-tial candidates. On May 17, 2008 the final-ists recommended by the PersonnelCommittee appeared before the entireboard in Washington DC for presentationand interview by the board. After lengthydeliberations, the board unanimouslyagreed to extend the Executive Directorposition to Tina Matsuoka. We are very excited about Ms. Matsuoka joiningNAPABA and the board believes that she is the right person to carry

on the excellentwork of Les Jinand his predeces-sors.

Ms. Matsuokahails from Bostonafter being an active participant in theAsian American Lawyer AssociationMassachusetts and Asian AmericanCommission. Her participation in theseorganizations have provided her withimportant insights about APA visibilityand political power, as well as the invalu-able roles that community and coalition-building play in advancing the interests ofAPAs at both the local and national levels.Ms. Matsuoka’s broad legal background,extensive experience in dealing withissues critical to the APA Community, and commitment to the mission of NAPA-BA provide her with the versatile skillsneeded to be NAPABA’s ExecutiveDirector.

Ms. Matsuoka currently serves as assistant counsel in the Office ofCounsel to the Massachusetts State Senate, where her primary duties involvecollaboration with both Democratic and

Introducing Our New ExecutiveDirector: Tina R. Matsuoka

NAPABA’s new Executive Director, Ms. Tina Matsuoka

CBACCBAC 2008Summary

NAPABA Gains CBAC’s Support for Court Interpreter FundingDuring this year’s meetings by theCoalition of Bar Associations of Color(CBAC), comprised of the National BarAssociation, Hispanic National BarAssociation, National Native AmericanBar Association, and NAPABA, NAPABAgained CBAC’s collective support for theState Court Interpreter Grant Program Act(S. 702). If passed, this legislation wouldincrease access to justice for individualswith limited English proficiency (LEP) bymaking new funding available to eligiblestates to recruit, train, and certify qualifiedinterpreters. As such, the State CourtInterpreter Grant Program Act would help state courts implement many of therecommendations in NAPABA’s LanguageAccess Report, such as its call to addressshortages of qualified interpreters, to

create programs to oversee the use ofinterpreters, and to increase the number of qualified Asian Pacific American interpreters.

With the backing of all member barassociations, NAPABA led the CBAC delegation’s discussions on the Hill about the importance of passing this legislation as one measure to increase language access in the justice system. This year, CBAC met with the followingCongressional offices regarding the StateCourt Grant Program Interpreter Act andother issues of common concern to CBAC:Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), theHouse Judiciary Committee (Democraticstaff), and the Congressional Asian Pacific

Republican Senate staff on all aspects ofthe legislative process including draftinglegislation, and advising Senate staff onlegal issues raised by pending legislation.She has also worked in government litiga-tion, private practice, and academia andestablished a strong background in civilrights law while serving as an assistantattorney general in the Civil RightsDivision of the Massachusetts AttorneyGeneral’s Office. She currently serves onthe Asian American Commission ofMassachusetts. The board is confidentthat her experience, skill set, and commit-ment to the legal profession will keepNAPABA on the growth path for manyyears to come as we approach our 20thyear as a national organization. Pleasejoin me in welcoming Ms. Tina Matsuokaand we look forward to you meeting herin Seattle!

Alex C. ChaeVice- President of Communications

American Caucus. CBAC’s meetings with offices of the current Administrationincluded the Department of Justice’sOffice of Legal Policy and Office of LegalCounsel and the Office of White HouseCounsel. CBAC also met with variousoffices that will influence policy for thenext administration, such as theRepublican and Democratic NationalCommittees. Of all three presidential campaigns with whom meetings wererequested, staff from Senator BarackObama’s campaign met with CBAC.

In addition to the State Court GrantProgram Interpreter Act, CBAC supportedmeasures to address the currently inadequate funding for Legal ServicesCorporation, opposition to Indiana’s voter identification requirements, lawschools’ increasingly heavy reliance onLSAT scores, legislation to overturnSupreme Court decisions restricting various labor and employment rights,inclusion of tribal law for certain barexams, mitigated sentencing for juvenileoffenders, and equitable sentencing forcrack and powder cocaine offenses.

195

ning their legal career in the public sector,including the shortage of entry-level jobs,the NAPABA Partners and In-HouseCounsel Community Law Fellowship wasconceived by former NAPABA president,Paul Lee, who generously funded the initial two-year fellowship. Launched in2004, the Fellowship provides an opportu-nity for a new attorney to gain substantivepublic interest experience during a two-year fellowship period. The Fellowshipseeks to remedy the under-representationof APAs in the ranks of advocates, policy-makers and lawyers who make the decisions that affect their communities.

NLF established the Community LawFellowship at the Asian American JusticeCenter in order to encourage law studentsto consider careers in public and commu-nity service. Juliet Choi, NLF’s firstFellow, focused on language access andhelped propel the APA community’sawareness and advocacy relating to thisextremely important issue affecting manyAPAs. While focused on this issue, shealso spent time working on HurricaneKatrina issues that impacted APAs in theNew Orleans area. The current Fellowproject focuses on immigration and immi-grant rights, with the goal of educatingthe APA community on immigration lawsand representing the APA voice to statelegislatures and relevant governmentagencies. NLF’s new Fellow will continueto work on this project by expanding onthe initial work performed by formerFellow George Wu.

The Fellowship has proven very suc-cessful in achieving the goals establishedby Paul Lee. In addition to the tangibleresults it produces through research, dataand reports, the two former Fellows havegone on to pursue careers in public inter-est law, a key goal of the program. JulietChoi has become the senior associate ofthe Response Partner Services team at theRed Cross, and George Wu is the assistantdirector of the Organization of Chinese

Americans, continuing to serve the APAcommunity. According to Michael Chu,NLF’s President, “The NAPABA Partnersand In-House Counsel Community LawFellowship develops young lawyers intoleaders who make a significant differenceserving APA communities. However, theFellowship has the capacity to accomplishmuch more, and it is our goal to increasethe number of Fellowship opportunitiesprovided each year.”

Thomas Tang National Moot CourtCompetition

The Thomas Tang National MootCourt Competition, an NLF signature program, encourages APA law students to develop trial and appellate advocacyskills. The program began as an effort toallow APA law students to explore litiga-tion as a career path, eventually preparingthem to become future judges in an effortdiversify the bench. The Competition isopen to all law students, while reachingout to APA law students interested in trialadvocacy. Competitors are provided witha unique opportunity to showcase theircourtroom talent through oral advocacyand brief writing. Teams from lawschools in the United States and fromabroad challenge one another for theCompetition’s trophy and for scholarshipstotaling $10,000, which are generouslyfunded by the Anheuser-BuschCompanies, Inc.

The Thomas Tang National MootCourt Competition, founded in 1993 bythe APA law student association of SouthTexas College of Law, honors the late US Circuit Court Judge Thomas Tang ofthe United States Court of Appeals for theNinth Circuit. Judge Tang championedindividual rights and advocated for theadvancement of minority attorneys. Dr. Pearl Tang and members of her familyhave continued to be involved in the program, attending the finals of theCompetition each year at the NAPABA

Convention to furtherJudge Tang’s legacy.Today the competitionhas gone from a national to an interna-tionally-recognized com-petition. In 2007,Taiwan submitted thefirst international teamto participate in theMoot CourtCompetition. In 2008, the Competition willinclude teams fromSouth Korea andAustralia. The successof the Competition alsocan be measured by thecommitment of the stu-dents that participate init. The students who

compete often go on to coach future com-petition teams, as well as become activemembers of the NAPABA community.The Thomas Tang National Moot CourtCompetition is a testament to the dedicat-ed teamwork of many volunteers workingwith Judge Alvin Wong, the NLF Board liaison, together with the currentco-chairs, Kimi Kondo and Andy Le.

Looking Into the FutureNLF continues to seek ways to

grow and carry out its mission of educating and serving the APAcommunity. With greater resources, NLF can strengthen its current efforts and design new programs to achieve itsmission and goals. NLF is seeking moresupport from grant funding to enable further expansion and growth. Likewise,an annual increase of corporate sponsor-ship will allow the Foundation to developinto areas currently not reached due to alack of resources. Mr. Chu and NLF’sVice-President, Vivian Hsu, have launcheda capital campaign, working with APAIn-House counsel members and partnersat large law firms, to generate individualcontributions. As Ms. Hsu has stated,“The generosity of individual donors inthe APA community has enabled NLF to establish meaningful and effective programs such as the NAPABA Partnersand In-House Counsel Community LawFellowship. With the increased and sus-tained support of NAPABA’s members,NLF will be able to reach incredible newheights in serving our community andfurthering the professional developmentof APA attorneys.”

Recognizing the need to invest in itsinfrastructure and build upon the work of many NLF volunteers, NLF recentlyhired its first full-time staff person inWashington D.C., Emily Wolkowicz.Ms. Wolkowicz’s background includesfundraising, economics, politics and vol-unteer work with the Peace Corps inChina. Ms. Wolkowicz assumes her role from Junerose Juan, NLF’s part-time staffmember, whose dedication and hard workhelped NLF during the past year.

The NLF Board is enthusiastic aboutwhat Ms. Wolkowicz brings to NLF andbelieves that adding her as a full-time staff dedicated to NLF fundraising andorganizational efforts will bring NLF tonew heights, expanding NLF’s ability toeducate and serve the APA community.For more information about NLF and its projects, or if you have ideas to share,please contact Mike Chu atmchu@brinkshofer.com or Emily Wolkowicz at ewolkowicz@napaba.org. Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition Finalists from Loyola

University in Chicago and UC Hastings at the 2007 NAPABAConvention. Left to right: Judge Brian Kim, Caroline Kwak, JudgeAmul Thapar, Huda Krad, Dr. Pearl Tang, Judge Michael Douglas,Kathy Dong, Judge Denny Chin and Simone Pang.

NAPABA Law Foundation continued from page 1

6

History and Growth of the South Asian

Bar Association of Northern California

Since 1993, the South Asian Bar

Association of Northern California

(SABA) has given Northern California

South Asian lawyers an avenue to

develop professionally, network among

peers, and volunteer within the South

Asian community.

The organization was established after

one attorney, Mukesh Advani, recognized

the need for an organization to marshal

the small but growing number of South

Asians entering the legal profession. Mr.

Advani used a local attorney directory to

organize a meeting about the formation of

a new bar association, which took place in

June of 1993. The group was originally

called the Indo-American Bar Association,

but in 1999, changed its name to the

South Asian Bar Association of Northern

California to better reflect inclusion of all

South Asians.

SABA’s mission is multi-faceted and

includes promoting alliances between

South Asian legal professionals in

Northern California and throughout the

nation, advocating for the South Asian

community, supporting those who value

diversity in the legal profession, assisting

law students and those interested in

the law with developing contacts with

practitioners, providing information to

members on careers and the legal market

in Northern California, and providing

an avenue for professionals and other

community leaders to take an interest

in matters of concern to South Asian

attorneys.

As the number of South Asians in

the legal profession has grown, so too

has SABA's presence in the Northern

California legal community. Since its

founding in 1993, SABA’s membership has

risen from a handful of attorneys to over

500 to date. In 2007, paid membership

doubled. Most notably, SABA President

Shirish Gupta launched a life member

program that brought 20 senior members

of the bar back into the organization. The

life members now serve as a resource for

the organization and the SABA Board.

Highlighting SABA Programs

SABA undertakes a variety of

programs and activities to further its

missions. In 2008, SABA focused on a sus-

tained voter registration drive, tabling at

temples, gurdwaras, community centers,

popular community stores, and festivals

throughout the summer and into the fall.

These efforts registered over 50 new South

Asian voters for the primary alone. Last

year, SABA focused on ending the State

of Emergency declared in Pakistan and

organized rallies and presentations in

partnership with Asian American Bar

Association of the Greater Bay Area

(AABA). The November 2007 rally turned

out approximately 100 members of local

majority and minority bar associations.

Also in 2007, SABA helped launch and

seed the South Asian Bar Association

of Sacramento (SABA-Sacramento),

providing it with funding, website hosting

and guidance.

SABA often works in partnership with

other NAPABA affiliates—such as AABA

(as mentioned), the Vietnamese American

Bar Association, Asian Pacific American

Bar Association of Silicon Valley, the

Korean American Bar Association of

Northern California and South Asian

Bar Association of Southern California—

and other local bar associations—such as

the South Asian Bar Association of San

Diego (SABA-San Diego)—to further

its missions.In 2007, SABA, SABA-

Sacramento, and SABA-San Diego issued

a joint letter to Senators Barbara Boxer

(D-CA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in

support of Amul Thapar’s confirmation as

federal district court judge for the Eastern

District of Kentucky. Mr. Thapar is now

the nation’s first South Asian American

Article III judge.

Indeed, SABA’s Endorsements

Committee has been working especially

hard in recent years. For the past year,

SABA worked with the Governor’s

appointments secretary to get two of its

judicial candidate applications on to the

statewide judicial evaluation commission.

SABA forecasts that a South Asian will be

appointed judge in Northern California

within 1-3 years. SABA’s Pro Bono

Committee has taken a leadership role

NAPABA Welcomes Oldest and Largest South Asian BarAssociation As A New Affiliate

SABA members Monali Sheth and Nisha Shah register voters while tabling at the Fremont Hindu Temple.

and is helping craft a pro bono challenge

for bay area law firms.

SABA has been able to develop its

programs because of the drive of impas-

sioned members. Mukesh Advani and

Manuela Albuquerque, for example, were

instrumental in establishing SABA’s hate

crimes hotline. Monty Agarwal was the

force for establishing the SABA

Foundation that now maintains the hot-

line. Manuela Albuquerque organized the

voter registration drive that SABA backed

in 2000. Shirish Gupta, Hitesh Barot and

Inderpreet Sawhney hosted the 2007

NASABA Convention, which reinvigorat-

ed the chapter and the membership.

Many other members have made SABA’s

work possible. Notably, SABA President

Shirish Gupta and SABA Civil Rights

Chair Harmeet Dhillon have received

NAPABA’s Best Lawyers Under 40

distinction.

Recent SABA Events

For the past two years, SABA has

hosted at least five local events each

month, including the 2007 National South

Asian American Bar Association

Convention with over 750 lawyers from

North America and Asia, the 15th

OFFICERS

PresidentHelen B. Kim

President-ElectAndrew T. Hahn, Sr.

Vice-President of Finance & DevelopmentJoseph Juco Centeno

Vice-President of Programs & OperationsBettina W. Yip

Vice-President of MembershipEmily T. Kuo

Vice-President of CommunicationsAlexander C. Chae

Secretary Esther H. Lim

TreasurerPaul O. Hirose

Immediate Past PresidentPhillip F. Shinn

Executive DirectorLes Jin

REGIONAL GOVERNORS

California (San Francisco) RegionBilly Chan

California (Los Angeles) RegionPaul Estuar

California (Orange County/San Diego)Region

Marty B. Lorenzo

California (Eastern California/Las Vegas)Region

Bryce K. Kunimoto

Central RegionSumbal Mahmud

Northeast RegionJames P. Chou

Southeast RegionPaul T. Kim

Northwest RegionAlice L. Wong

Southwest RegionAnnie T. Kao

NAPABABoard of Governors

2007-2008

SABA President, Shirish Gupta, speaks out onbehalf of SABA against the State of Emergencyin Pakistan. (Photo courtesy of The BarAssociation of San Francisco.)

Anniversary Gala, and various MCLE

events, monthly luncheons, mentorship

events, happy hours, and fundraisers to

support the South Asian community

and social service organizations. Most

recently, SABA, in conjunction with the

Bar Association of San Francisco and

AABA, raised over $200,000 for the

cyclone victims in Burma.

On May 15, 2008, the SABA

Foundation held its Award Reception,

which was hosted by Coblentz, Patch,

Duffy and Bass. The Foundation awarded

fellowships to Purva Charu Satia (Santa

Clara '10, Asian Law Alliance, $3,500),

My Linh Nguyen (Hastings '09, API Legal

Outreach, $2,500) and Maryam Sayyed

(Davis '10, California Attorney General's

Office, $3,000). In addition, the

Foundation awarded a $3,000 fellowship

to Narika, a South Asian domestic

violence organization, to fund a law clerk

position to assist with immigration and

family law, as well as domestic violence

matters. Narika's law clerk this summer

will be Rajwant Virk (USF, '08). To high-

light the fellowship program’s success,

the 2007 Fellow, Daljit Dhami, is working

on migrant and immigrant rights for

the California Rural Legal Assistance

in Fresno.

Recently, the Foundation honored

Shirin Sinnar with the SABA Foundation's

award for Public Attorney of the Year.

Ms. Sinnar is a staff attorney at the Asian

Law Caucus. Avantika Shastri received

the SABA Foundation's award for Pro

Bono Attorney of the Year. Ms. Shastri is

an associate at Van Der Hout, Brigagliano

& Nightingale, LLP.

NAPABA welcomes SABA as a new

affiliate!

7

CALIFORNIA (SAN FRANCISCO) REGIONAsian Pacific Islander Legal Outreachhosted its 20th Annual National AsianAmerican Trivia Championships onMarch 1st at the JCCNC in San Francisco.

The Asian American Bar Association(AABA) held its 31st Annual Celebration& Installation Dinner on March 7th at theHyatt Regency in San Francisco.

Also on March 7th, the Asian PacificBar Association of Silicon Valley (APBASV) held a Domestic Violence Information& Resources Workshop at De AnzaCollege in Cupertino. On March 11th,APBA SV sponsored a talk by Stanfordprof. Deborah Rhode at McDermott Will& Emery in Palo Alto. Prof. Rhode spokeon the “Subtle Side of Sexism,” includingappearance issues and unconscious bias.

APBA SV held a reception on March20th celebrating the swearing in of LucyKoh as a Santa Clara Superior CourtJudge at San Jose City Hall Rotunda.

On March 23rd, APBA SV hosted ascreening of “Pretty to Think So”, starringSouth and East Asian actors and producedby lawyers, at San Jose World premiere!

On March 27th, APBA SV hosted anew member reception, in Palo Alto.

On May 27th, the APBA SV and AABAhosted a General Counsel Round Table:Climbing the In-House Corporate Ladderfor AABA and APBA SV in-house counsel.Speakers were from Verigy, Sun andGenentech.

On March 18th, the Filipino BarAssociation of Northern California,together with the San Mateo Legal AidSociety and the Pilipino BayanihanResource Center, sponsored a free legalclinic at the PBRC. The Filipino BarAssociation of Northern California held itsAnnual Installation Dinner on April 25th.

The Korean Bar Association ofNorthern California hosted a SpringMixer & Membership Drive on April 24that The Public Resto-Lounge in SanFrancisco.

CALIFORNIA (LOS ANGELES) REGIONThe Asian Pacific American BarAssociation (APABA) hosted its 6thAnnual APA Heritage Month CommunityForum, entitled “The Next Sleeping Giant:Is There An Emerging Asian PacificAmerican Swing Vote?” A distinguishedgroup of panelists discussed the impact ofAPA voters in modern political races.

The Japanese American BarAssociation of Greater Los Angeles(JABA) held its 32nd Annual Installationand Awards Gala on April 4th. Over 530people attended this event in which JABApaid special tribute to Mitsuye Endo,Gordon Hirabayashi, Fred Korematsu,and Minoru Yasui, all of whom coura-geously challenged the mass internmentof Japanese Americans during World WarII. Family representatives of each of thesehonorees attended and spoke at the din-ner, and received awards on their behalf.The keynote speaker for the dinner wasDale Minami, Esq., the leader of the legalteam representing Fred Korematsu inKorematsu v. United States (1984), whohelped overturn Korematsu's 40 year-oldconviction for refusing to obey exclusionorders during World War II.

The Korean American Bar Association(KABA) held its Annual Law Day on May5th in Los Angeles, CA. Supplementing its monthly pro bono clinic and tenant'srights clinic, Law Day also provides anadditional opportunity for lawyers fromKABA and its volunteers to give back tothe community by providing free legal services to the community.

The Southern California ChineseLawyers Association's (SCCLA) held its Annual Installation & Awards Dinneron March 28th, Los Angeles. The dinnerwas attended by over 700 judges, attor-neys, elected officials, and communityleaders. This year's community awardrecipients included Ted Lieu, CaliforniaAssembly member (former NAPABA“Best Under 40”); Julie Su, LitigationDirector of the Asian Pacific AmericanLegal Center (former NAPABA BU40);Charlie Woo, founder of Megatoys, Inc.;and U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge RobertKwan. Paul S. Chan (former NAPABABU40) was installed as SCCLA Presidentfor the 2008-2009 year.

The Taiwanese American LawyersAssociation (TALA) will be hosting itsAnnual Seminar at the Chinese CulturalCenter; in El Monte, California on July13th. TALA members will speak to thegeneral public and answer questions on arange of legal topics. Annual Seminar hasbeen a TALA signature event with morethan 15 attorneys participating and 150attending from the Chinese-speaking com-munity. TALA’s annual member meetingwas held on June 21st and its installationbanquet will be on September 27th, 2008

at the Almansor Court in Alhambra,California.

On April 23rd, the Ventura CountyAsian American Bar Association (VCAABA) hosted its third annualInstallation and Scholarship AwardsBanquet. The event featured StewartKwoh, founder and director of the AsianPacific American Legal Center of SouthernCalifornia (APALC). Mr. Kwoh spokeabout the mission of APALC, which is toincrease access to legal services and edu-cation for the poor, protect and advancethe civil rights of the diverse Asian PacificAmerican (APA) community, and improveintergroup relations. The 2008 VCAABAScholarship in the amount of $2,000 wasawarded to Angela Buendia, a 3rd yearlaw student at the Southern CaliforniaInstitute of Law in Ventura.

The Philippine American BarAssociation (PABA) recently installed its2008-09 Officers and Board of Directors at a dinner highlighted by Retired ArmyGeneral Antonio Taguba's remarks aboutthe Abu Ghraib detainee abuse scandal. PABA has also participated as an exhibitorat the Inter-Pacific Bar Association con-vention in Los Angeles. PABA co-spon-sored APABA's annual APA HeritageMonth event and PABA representativesparticipated in the APIAVote Town Hallon May 17th at the University ofCalifornia, Irvine.

CALIFORNIA (ORANGE COUNTY/SANDIEGO) REGIONIn March and April, Filipino AmericanLawyers of San Diego (FALSD) contin-ued to volunteer for the Southwest Centerfor Asian Pacific American Law. On April11th, the Legal Aid Society of San Diegohonored FALSD and Pan Asian Lawyersof San Diego (PALSD) for volunteeringover 100 hours pro bono in the communi-ty. Additionally, PALSD student represen-tative Dana Chapnick and SouthwestCenter for Asian Pacific American Law(SCAPAL) Executive Director PalmaHooper were honored for volunteeringsignificantly more hours of assistance toLegal Aid projects.On April 15th FALSD,along with the Korean American BarAssociation (KABA-SD) and PALSD participated in the Spring Mixer of the San Diego County Bar Association’sEthnic and Racial Diversity Committee.Also on April 1st, PALSD organized acoalition of bar associations to produce

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Student Mixer where students from thethree regional law schools met and social-ized with Superior Court and federalcourt judges and commissioners.Associations joining with PALSD for this event were the Earl B. Gilliam BarAssociation, Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego, Korean American BarAssociation, La Raza Lawyers of SanDiego, South Asian Bar Association, TomHomann Law Association, and the SanDiego County Bar Association.

On April 17th: PALSD's MentorshipCommittee, in conjunction with PillsburyWinthrop Shaw Pittman, presented its“TIPS FOR INTERVIEWING SUCCESS”panel program for law students and newattorneys. The program panel was: JudgeJohn Houston (U.S. District Court),Jerrilyn Malana (Littler Mendelson) andLt. Toren Mushovic (Navy JAG).

On May 2nd: PALSD immediate pastpresident Erika Hiramatsu was awardedthe San Diego County Bar Association's2008 Diversity Award for her many yearswork to build the communications net-work between the county's diversity barassociations.

On March 29th, the Korean AmericanBar Association – San Diego (KABA-SD)hosted its First Annual Family Picnic. OnMay 13th KABA-SD kicked off itsMentoring Program with a reception.

On January 31st the Orange CountyAsian American Bar Association (OCAA-BA) hosted a Chinese New YearCelebration. On April 17th OCAABA heldits 15th Annual Installation Dinner andSupreme Court Justice Ming Chin spoketo a sold-out crowd.

The Orange County Korean AmericanBar Association (OC KABA) held its 3rd Annual Community Law School –May 3rd.

CALIFORNIA EASTERN REGIONOn May 1st, the Asian Bar Association ofLas Vegas (ABALV) had an installationdinner for its new officers and directors.The new 2008 officers and directorsinclude: Joice Bass (President); PuoyPrmsrirut (Vice President); Jamieson Poe(Treasurer); Evangelin Lee (Secretary);Lisa Lakcland (Events Chair); Grace Kim(Membership Chair); Lauren Pena(Communications Chair) and Pauline Lee,Robert Kim and Tina Yan (as directors).

The Asian Bar Association of

Sacramento (ABAS) swore in its newABAS Officers and ABAS Law FoundationDirectors for 2008 into office on January16th. Justice Tani-Cantil Sakauye of the3rd District Court of Appeal officiated atthe swearing-in and graciously greetedthe board members with a rare glimpseinto her chambers. The ABAS officers for2008 are: Dee Brown (President), KathrynDoi (President-Elect), Grace Arupo (VicePresident), Jeannie Lee (Secretary),Jennifer Rosario (Treasurer), Angela Lai,Roy Yang and Lee No (Directors at Large).The ABAS Law Foundation Directors for2008 are: Yoshinori Himel, Jeri Paik,Darrel Woo, Mona Tawatao, Henry Nanjo,Janice Lai, and Michael Iwahiro.

On February 27th, ABAS hosted its27th Annual Installation Dinner. TheHonorable Russell Hom of the SacramentoCounty Superior Court served as Masterof Ceremonies, and Yul Kwon, winner ofSurvivor: Cook Islands was guest speaker.

On April 22nd ABAS and the ABASLaw Foundation held a reception for localarea law students, and awarded over$15,000 in ABAS scholarships to deservingstudents. Students had to write an essay,show academic merit and financial need.Also in April, ABAS hosted its quarterlySpeaker Series Luncheon. The HonorableShellyanne Chang was guest speaker, whoilluminated the audience on The Keys toLaw and Motion Success: One Judge’sPerspective.

On May 8th, ABAS Law Foundationhosted its annual Wine Tasting. Moneyraised goes to annual scholarships.

CENTRAL REGIONThe Asian American Bar Association ofKansas City (AABAKC) will hold itsAnnual Dinner on July 24th. The KeynoteSpeaker will be Jimmy Lee, formerExecutive Director, The White HouseInitiative for Asian Americans and PacificIslanders. AABAKC will be hosting the2009 Central Regional Conference.Tentative plans are for July 2009.

NORTHEAST REGION REPORT: The Asian American Bar Association ofthe Delaware Valley (AABADV) ispleased to announce the launch of itsChild Advocacy Program. Collaboratingwith the non-profit agency is the SupportCenter for Child Advocates (ChildAdvocates); AABADV is working withThe Honorable Daniel J. Anders, of the

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, tomatch Asian Pacific American attorneyswith abused, neglected and disadvan-taged Asian Pacific American children inPhiladelphia who need legal representa-tion. At the introductory meeting, JudgeAnders spoke to AABADV membersabout his experience presiding over juve-nile court cases. Child Advocates provid-ed information on its program and theopportunities, training and support avail-able to volunteer attorneys. About a dozenAABADV members attended, includingThe Honorable Ida K. Chen, also of thePhiladelphia Court of Common Pleas.

On February 1st, AABADV hosted aluncheon for APALSA members fromWidener, Villanova, Temple, and theUniversity of Pennsylvania where theyengaged in a roundtable discussion overlunch with AABADV ExecutiveCommittee Members Kay Kyungsun Yu ofPepper Hamilton, Erica Smith- Klocek ofMorgan Lewis & Bockius, Suzanne Youngof Community Legal Services ofPhiladelphia, and John Encarnacion ofWhite and Williams.

AABADV presented a free legal semi-nar to the Vietnamese Hung VuongAssociation of South Philadelphia onMarch 30th. The Hung Vuong Associationis a social services and cultural preserva-tion organization serving a majority elder-ly, refugee population with limitedEnglish proficiency. Four topics were pre-sented: legal services available to the eld-erly by the Senior Law Center (based inPhiladelphia) – presented by RaquelSmith, legal advocate, wills and estateplanning - presented by Alisa Shin, autoinsurance and what to do in an auto acci-dent – presented by Tsiwen Law, andwhat to do about domestic violence —presented by Djung Tran.

AABADV sent volunteers to, andhelped publicize, a Citizenship Driveorganized by the Korean AmericanLawyers Association (KALA) ofPhiladelphia on April 12th, at Holy AngelsChurch in North Philadelphia. KALA’sdrive served 78 walk-in participants, with 40 applicants able to complete theirapplications. Applicants who did not have enough information to complete theapplication received critical review oftheir applications and instructions on howto submit the form. KALA has been hold-ing a citizenship drive on an annual basisfor the past few years.

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AABADV co-sponsored a Pro BonoCitizenship Day drive on April 19th, at Nationalities Service Center inPhiladelphia. AABADV recruited volunteers from its membership and sentan eight attorney volunteer contingent:Rahat Babar, Melissa Kim, Gerry Kita,Helen Sunga, Elaine Cheung, KarenAlzert, and Winston Yuan. TheCommunity Outreach committee ofAABADV helped spread the word to thelocal Asian population through personaloutreach to specific social services andreligious organizations, and through localAsian language media outlets.

The Community Outreach Committeeof AABADV has been invited to providekeynote speakers at a fundraising dinnerfor the Korean Women’s Center ofMontgomery County on the topics ofimmigration and domestic violence. Min Suh and Djung Tran are slated to bethe speakers and the dinner will be heldon June 7th.

Asian American Pacific BarAssociation of New York (AABANY)held its Annual Banquet on February 7thwhere Yul Kwon was the MC. Thekeynote speaker was the Hon. Randall T. Eng, recently appointed to theAppellate Division, Second Department.The honorees at the banquet were: JohnChou, General Counsel of AmeriSourceBergen; Vernon Chu, Vice President,Business and Legal Affairs, BBCWorldwide Americas; Tommy Shi,Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC; Lawrence Tu, Senior VPand General Counsel, Dell, Inc. Also honored was Hon. Gilbert Hong, recentlyappointed to the Criminal Court in New York.

AABANY participated in a receptionon March 19th hosted by the Brooklyn BarAssociation and other minority bar associ-ations honoring newly inducted SecondDepartment justices, Hon. Randall T. Eng,Hon. Cheryl Chambers, Hon. JohnLeventhal, and Hon. Ariel Belen.

On April 15th AABANY issued a pressrelease voicing its support for lawsuitsthat have been filed seeking to increasejudicial pay, including Kaye v. Silver,brought by Chief Justice Kaye of NewYork’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.The press release appeared in AsianWeekon April 18th. On April 17th AABANY’sYoung Lawyers Committee hosted a pri-vate sale at Theory to help raise funds fora judicial internship fund. More than 100Asian American attorneys participated inthe event and helped to raise over $2000for the fund.

On April 29th, AABANY’s YoungLawyers Committee and Women’sCommittee co-hosted a CLE program onHigh Impact Communications Skills forLawyers, presented through Fred PryorSeminars and graciously hosted by WillkieFarr & Gallagher. More than 30 AABANYmembers attended this highly informativesession.

On May 1st, the New York LawJournal published an article by AABANYPresident Yang Chen entitled “Our IdealsRequire Embracing All Americans,” aspart of its Law Day special supplement.

AABANY participated in numerousAsian Pacific Heritage Month events during the month of May, starting withMayor Bloomberg’s Asian Pacific HeritageMonth Celebration at Gracie Mansion onMay 1st and culminating with an eventorganized by AABANY at the New YorkState Supreme Court.

On May 14th, AABANY sponsored aSpring Time Celebration and Dinner inFlushing, Queens, reaching out to the significant community of Asian Americanlawyers serving New Yorkers living andworking in New York’s most populousborough.

On April 17th, the Asian AmericanLawyers Association of Massachusetts(AALAM) held its 23rd Annual Banquetwith Massachusetts Attorney GeneralMartha Coakley as the keynote speaker.Also at the banquet, Superior CourtJustice Richard Chin, the first AsianPacific American jurist to be appointed (in 1989) in Massachusetts history, waspresented with the AALAM Founder’sAward. AALAM also presented HarvardLaw School Student Ming Zhu with theAALAM Scholarship award.

On a real high note for this year and in anticipation of next year, AALAMis tremendously excited to have won the bid to host the National NAPABAConvention in Boston in 2009. The NAPABA steering committee membershave already hosted a planning meetingto prepare for the Convention. Last year,this event drew over 1200 attorneys. The NAPABA steering committee coremembers are: Paul Lee, Honorary Chair,and Directors Victor Diune, Brian Eng,Peggy Ho, Jeffrey Hsi, G. Perry Wu and Emily Yu.

On February 28th AALAM again co-sponsored the annual Walk to the Hill for Legal Aid at the State House inBoston. In its ninth year, this event of theEqual Justice Coalition is to advocate foradequate budgets to ensure preservationof equal access to the justice system.

On March 31st AALAM hosted a stellar program organized and moderatedby AALAM Treasurer Edward Cheng onAsian-American Attorneys in privatepractice. Panelists Steve Chow, Burns &Levinson LLP, Meerie M. Joung, BinghamMcCutcheon, John Chu, Chu Ring &Hazel and Eunice Chapon, State Streetshared their views on hard hitting issues.

On the Boston Neighborhood Networkfront, AALAM’s Legal Line call-in television show completed its third season. Recent interviewees on the showinclude one of AALAM’s founding members, Attorney Francis Chin, DanaLecesse, who heads up the CyberProtection Program at the MiddlesexDistrict Attorney’s Office, BBA CouncilMember John Chu, a Partner at Chu Ring& Hazel LLP, Renee Inomata, a Partner atBurns & Levinson LLP and FoundingMember and Member of the Board ofDirectors of the Asian Women’sConnection (committed to empoweringand inspiring Asian women professionalswww.awconnect.org) and Matthew Lee,Managing Partner of Tocci, Goss & LeePC. The topics on the show ranged fromcyber crime to entrepreneurship toemployment and immigration law issues.

The Asian Pacific American LawyersAssociation of New Jersey (APALA/NJ)held a Corporate Counsel and APALA/NJMembers Networking Dinner on January29th. The standing room only crowdincluded numerous in-house counselsfrom various local, national, and multi-national enterprises. The objective was topromote diversity in the pool of corporateoutside counsel. The Corporate Counsel in attendance provided brief introductoryremarks, along with suggestions on securing corporate work. The focus of the evening was on networking anddeveloping mutually beneficial contacts.Due to the popularity of the event, a sec-ond similar event is planned for August.

A capacity crowd attendedAPALA/NJ’s Lunar Banquet on February16th. The Banquet’s guest speaker, MayorCecilia Birge, New Jersey’s first and onlywoman Asian mayor, provided inspiringcomments about her remarkable experi-ence as a student protester in TiananmenSquare, and her rise in politics.

On April 1st, APALA/NJ held a professional development seminar entitled“How to Network Like Pro”. PanelistsEdward Kiel, Moly Hung, and Jin Hwangshared their insight on networking strategies to over 25 APALA/NJ membersand law students.

Regional News continued from page 9

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Thanks to the generosity of theSomerset County Freeholders, APALA/NJmembers sat in their own box and picnicarea for the May 10th Somerset Patriotsbaseball game. This popular annual eventis sold out each year, and is a favorite ofAPALA/NJ members and their families.This year’s game featured fireworks inrecognition of Asian-American HeritageNight. In honor of Asian Pacific AmericanHeritage Month, APALA/NJ co-spon-sored with the New Jersey State BarAssociation an event on May 14th featur-ing Asian artists and Asian cuisine.

SOUTHEAST REGIONAL REPORT:On April 18th and 19th, Georgia AsianPacific American Bar Association(GAPABA) hosted over 100 attendees atthe third annual NAPABA SoutheastRegional Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.The conference, which was held at theOmni Hotel and the State Bar of Georgia,was a great success with an openingreception and a variety of CLE offeringson Saturday. The conference concludedwith a Banquet at the Omni Hotel cele-brating both the conclusion of a successful conference and GAPABA's 15th anniver-sary. At the Banquet, several of GAPABA'sfounders, Professor Natsu Saito, JudgeAlvin Wong and Linda Klein of the BakerDonelson firm recounted the beginningsof GAPABA and the unique challengesfaced by Asian American attorneys inGeorgia in the 1970s. At the conclusion of the Banquet, Han C. Choi, the chair ofGAPABA's organizing committee, alsoannounced that proceeds from the confer-ence will help endow the GAPABA LawFoundation's scholarships to students atGeorgia law schools.

In March, the Tennessee Asian PacificAmerican Bar Association (TAPABA)hosted a “Mentoring Happy Hour” forlocal APA law students. In April, TAPABAand Vanderbilt University's APALSAchapter presented a panel discussion forthe Vanderbilt University Law School student body entitled, “How to Get theJob Offer You Want and Succeed Once You Get There.” APALSA President Curtis Chow kicked off the discussion andintroduced the speakers with TAPABAPresident Kaz Kikkawa (HCA), VicePresident Jon Stanley (BridgestoneFirestone), Board Member ShilinaChatterjee Brown (TN RegulatoryAuthority) and Bob Wood and CharlesWilliamson participating on the panel. In late May, TAPABA participated in aDiversity conference sponsored by StateFarm Insurance Company as part of its

celebration of Asian Pacific AmericanHeritage Month. On June 4th, TAPABAheld its first Annual Meeting where atten-dees enjoyed a specially-prepared dimsum dinner and the company of thenewly-forming Tennessee chapter of theNational Association of Asian AmericanProfessionals (NAAAP). Last but not certainly not least, TAPABA is honored to host the 2009 NAPABA SoutheastRegional Conference and look forward to seeing everyone in Nashville this coming spring.

On May 7th, the Asian PacificAmerican Bar Association of DC(APABA-DC) Women's Forum hosted abrown bag lunch discussion of work-lifebalances issues. Additionally, on May13th, in recognition of APA HeritageMonth, APABA-DC and Wiley Rein, LLPhosted a screening of The Cats ofMirikitani, winner of the 2006 AudienceAward at the Tribeca Film Festival. On May 17th-18th, Team, APABA-DCcompeted in the annual DC Dragon BoatFestival Race. APABA-DC is very pleasedto announce that, on May 20th, it hostedits first CLE program, PROFESSIONALRESPONSIBILITY FOR GOVERNMENTATTORNEYS. Finally, in June 2008,APABA-DC had its annual summer associates program.

NORTHWEST REGION REPORT:Two new affiliates joined the NorthwestRegion! Welcome, the VietnameseAmerican Bar Association of Washington(VABAW) and the Korean American BarAssociation of Washington (KABA)!

On February 2nd, the 2008 Board ofDirectors of the Asian Bar Association ofWashington (ABAW) held its annualboard retreat to set goals and objectivesfor the year. VABAW held its annual Tetcelebration on February 11th, celebratingthe Lunar New Year with its friends, supporters, and members. KABA’s 8thAnnual Banquet was held on February21st in Seattle, with Mark Keam, VPand Counsel for Federal GovernmentRelations for Verizon Communications, as keynote speaker. ABAW’s first generalmembership meeting was help on March18th. The first of the ABAW Mix NMingle series was kicked off on March26th, followed by a second one on May7th. On April 18th VABAW members participated in the annual InternationalDistrict/Little Saigon Cleanup, removinggraffiti in the area in the sleet and snow.On April 30th, VABAW hosted a sushisoiree with more than 40 people in atten-dance. During the last quarter of 2007,

VABAW created the Hong Duc Clerkship,whereby VABAW will partner with a lawfirm in Vietnam who will host a law student for summer 2008. VABAW willprovide airfare, housing, and reasonableliving expenses for the law student. Thisunique clerkship will provide the law student with substantive legal work andclient relations while working and livingin Vietnam for the summer.

SOUTHWEST REGIONThe Asian Pacific Interest Section of theState Bar of Texas, a statewide Bar sectionfor Asian Pacific American lawyers andlawyers interested in the Pacific Rim, heldits 13th annual retreat entitled “EmergingIssues in an Increasingly Diverse BusinessEnvironment” in Houston, Texas. TheSection brings together Asian PacificAmerican lawyers from all over the state,and members of the Austin AsianAmerican Bar Association, Dallas AsianAmerican Bar Association and the AsianAmerican Bar Association of Houstonattended the event. The Section honoredthe revered immigration attorney, HarryGee, with its annual Justice DavidWellington Chu award for his tremendouscommitments to the Asian American community in Texas. Also, the eveningfestivities featured a private receptionheld at Lot 8, the Houston fashion boutique of “Project Runway” winner,Chloe Dao. Proceeds from the receptionraised money for the Asian American BarFoundation and the Lone Star Legal Aid.

In Colorado, the Asian PacificAmerican Bar Association of Colorado(APABA) held its annual Minoru YasuiAnnual Banquet, this year honoringColorado attorney Kerry Hada for his lifetime of contributions to the APAcommunity. The Banquet also highlightedAPABA’s 2008 Judicial History Projectdetailing the history and short biographiesof APA judges in Colorado’s history, andfeatured a fashion show of traditionalclothing from diverse Asian cultures, hosted by local TV news reporterChristine Chang. Proceeds from thisevent, attended by hundreds of Coloradoattorneys, judges and dignitaries, raisedmoney for the Asian Pacific American Bar Foundation of Colorado.

NAPABA Direct MembersKen MinamiSherry Yee MulloyFrancis NakamotoLien-Ha NguyenChristine NomaRonald OgomoriRuth OhJaneen-Ann A. OldsColin OwyangJames PabarueSean PakLorelie PapelYoo-Sun ParkJean Marie R. PechettePeter QuonEkwan E. RhowEkwan E. RhowEdmund SafferyMark SalvacionMaulik SanghaviGregory M. SatoSherry ScottRaymond SheenGina Nobuko ShishimaRaag SinghalJoyce Kao SolimanKim StarrDomingo P. SuchRichard (Rick) K. SueyoshiMichelle K. SugiharaDouglas SugimotoMatti SurhTara SwaminathaKeiko TakagiJohn TangJudith Y. TangJeff TaoSherly Thomas-PhilipJean ThompsonVivian L. ThoreenDat T. TranJohn M. TranPhong (Jacques) N. TranTo-Quyen TruongAnthony Tu-SekineNoel ValesMelissa VongtamaNorris K. WangElise WhangKaren WongSylvaine WongCalvin WooDarryl M. WooCatherine WoodGordon YamateRoy YangYong Yeh

Jae YiJudy YiThomas YihClifford E. YinGerald YoshidaAlice YoungStanley YoungDeborah YueEdward Yun

BronzeEdward AhnKristina AlmquistLisa AminiKen AnnoAntonio ArochoEunice P. AustinAnuradha BanerjeeRachelle Hong BartonJoice BassNorman BayKara BoonsirisermsookGrace H. BrownJack BurdenJoseph J. CentenoSusan Chae CorcoranRoy ChamcharasChristopher ChanMay ChanPaul S. ChanThomas T. ChanVishal ChanderGina ChangShelleyanne ChangVincent ChangDustin ChaoSeema ChawlaGeorge C. ChenLedan ChenYang ChenDouglas ChiaBrad ChinDonna ChinAlexis ChiuChong ChoeAlex ChoiDonald ChoiJames ChouAndrew ChoungJamie ChuMorgan ChuWilson ChuEric ChungGrace ChungKristine ChungMichael ChungTheodore T. Chung

Wendy CohenCindy CrosbyMarion V. CruzJames DixonGenevieve M. DominguezGordon EndowChristine EpresKenneth EssonPaul J. EstuarY. Jack FanWilliam D. FisherDaniel FlemingSehee FossLeah FrazierSandra FujiyamaCharina GarciaAngela GawDelbert C. GeeRaj GoyleJennifer Choe GrovesTed GrovesRita GunasekaranShirish GuptaAndrew T. HahnKazumi HasegawaSarah HawkJessica K. HewJayanne HinoEric HitchcockGary HoLeonard HoPeggy HoValerie HoJason HobbiePaulyn HolandezTadashi HorieMichelle HouMelissa HsiehAnita HsuEdwin HsuZhigang HuangKimberly HuangfuDaniel HwangMarian C. HwangSamuel James HwangSung-Ho HwangAlice ImBruce L. IshimatsuDeepa IyerChristopher JavillonarMyong JounGreg JungArlene KahngDavid KahngBlossom KanGail KaneshiroJeanette Kang

PlatinumAlfonso ChanJames C. HoHelen B. KimChester LeePaul W. LeeEsther H. LimYabo LinGrace PanEdwin PratherMichael A. ShimokajiJohn C. Yang

GoldTara L AdyanthayaRobert BrownlieBrian CalubDenny ChinJames DerryKevin M. FongEdward KimSandra LeungLeighton K. OshimaLarry R. SchmadekaHenry C. SuJoe SuyemotoPeter M. SuzukiMy Chi ToWillard K. TomAdonica-Jo WadaDiane C. Yu

SilverEleasalo (Salo) AleMark Aoki-FordhamAurora AustriacoAl AuYeungKim BurtonCourtney ChaiThad ChaloemtiaranaDaniel ChangChristine ChaoNicholas V. ChenKaren ChengChristine Y. ChiSylvia Fung ChinCarolyn ChoiWilliam C. ChoiAndrew ChoungAmy Christensen ChunAnnie Y.S. ChuangEvan ChuckFrederick ChungJeffrey DivneyRichard W. ElliottJeannie FigerGrace Parke Fremlin

Victor KaoArindam KarNaoki KawadaKaz KikkawaDavid KimGrant KimHelen KimJean KimJoseph K. KimJudith KimPatricia KimRaymond B. KimRudy Y. KimVictor I. KingJarrod KiyunaJulie KoLisa KobialkaLucy H. KohErica KuoDavid KwanLisa Wong LacklandSelena LaCroixJoseph LamBill Lann LeeDennis LeeFrank N. LeeIlhyung LeeIrene LeeJaime LeeJason LeeJeanney LeeJohann LeeJulia LeeMarian LeeRobert LeeShirley H. LeeWoo LeeAgnes LeungChristine LiJun LiConnie LiemFred LimFrank LinCarl Lindstrom Jr.Ashley Liu KirkmanPeter LohDale W. LumJanice LuoRose LuzonKevin LynNeera MakwanaJerrilyn T. MalanaStella ManabeJoseph ManaliliHenry MannMichael ManuelJulia Markley

12

Wendell H. FujiAni GulatiKim Hahn David G. HalmSean HanaganAnnie C. HaselfeldDouglas HiraiCurtis HomLisa HsuKi Yun HwangBruce IwasakiJohn JonesMark JungAnnie T. KaoChristopher KaoEmmalynn KarabellJane KimJason KimKevin KimLeezie KimMichael S. KimP. Stephen KimPaul T. KimSoo KimYoung J. KimRaymund KingShannon KingBryan KoJohn KodachiDmitry KomarovEdward Kubo, Jr.Gerald KuciaEmily T. KuoEric KuwanaDavid LamJudy M. LamJohn S. LansdenChung-Han LeeDaniel LeeEvangelin LeeJack W. LeeJames LeeJohn Z. LeeRandall R. LeeTomas LimS. Tony LingSofia LipmanAndy LiuDiana C. LiuGilbert LiuElizabeth LoggiaCynthia LooLeonardo LooDavid LouieYufeng (Ethan) MaDarren ManibogCatharina Y. Min

13Please go to www.napaba.org to become a Direct Member today!

M. Kay MartinTarun MehtaAlicia MewMikio MiyawakiRoger MokSe Ho MoonAudra MoriJason MurataSarah NagaeCraig I. NakanishiEvan NgAnhkiet NgoJohn NguyenLauren NguyenTracey NguyenHao NiLee NoAmanda NoasconoPaul ObicoDavid OnoJohn PaikBJay PakMichelle PangNita ParikhAnn H. ParkSteve Bomjim ParkRakhee PatelDarcy PaulBermel PazEunice PetersLynn PhanMichael PhillipsWayne PurcellKelvin QuanNancy QuanSheldon QuanRobert Wai QuonManu RattanIzabelle ReyesPeter J. RhoDavid RichardsonEthan RiiSheeba RoyAndris S.H.Naomi SakamotoH SakaniwaKenneth SamPunam SaradJaya SaxenaGrace ShinPhillip F. ShinnRonald SiaEdmund SimAlexandra SmithAndy Sohrn

Shuman SohrnChristine SonEddy J. SongEddy J. SongEunice SongSoo SongWayne SongGreg SueokaRob SuhHirohisa TachibanaMiki TaguchiTed TaiSusan TaingChuanchi TangJohn A. TangDarren S. TeshimaSusan TienPatrick TofilonGeoffrey TongCarole TowneLynne ToyofukuAndrea TranJennifer TranKim TranQuyen TuSharyne TuJennifer TungNhan VuKay WakatakeAustin WangDavid WangEric WangLi WangPeter WangStacey WangTimothy WangGarner WengLynn WhitcherJason WhongBethany Mito WimsattBonnie Lee WolfRay WongBurke WongCarol WongLinda WongCraig WooDaniel WuLydia W. WuWendy WuJay YanMichelle YangRoger YangThomas H. YangSerena YeeAmy Yeung

Michael M. YiWilliam YooTacie YoonWilliam YoonBonnie YounSharon YuanJulianne YunRichard YunJohn P. YungKatherine ZarateKatherine ZarateJinshu (John) ZhangPhilip Xuan ZhangJames Zhu

StudentTravis AgustinNazia AhmedWarren AlarkonAfhan AmanHyojin BaeMarie BarandaKathleen BergquistJim BobChristie BolsenGinger BredemeierNichole CadienteArthur CannonKristopher CarpenterChris CentenoJasmeer ChahalDeeptichandra ChakkaEvan ChanJudy ChanKimmy ChanLawrence ChanLily ChanNatalia ChanSteven D. ChanJulie ChangRobert ChangDana ChapnickChe-Yang ChenDanny ChenGlen ChenHuoy ChenYixing (Leon) ChenJustin ChiJason ChienAnthony ChoeHanna ChoiJohn ChoiSarah ChoiAndrew ChouJimmy Chu

Kim ComstockJustin CruzApril DavenportMarco De LunaHan DengJoseph DiRuzzo IIIDavid DoKathy DongRegina DuBetty DuongMae-Elaine EdnalagaMarjorie EspinaDiana FanVictoria FarrenJoseph FungsangJiaying GeAndrew GhimYin Xuan GuoShilpa GuptaMarlene GuyotCharles HanLauren HashimotoJoseph HoMichael HongChih-Wen HsiaoMatthew HsiehTeddie HsuCollin HuHsin-Jui HuangKatie HuiVenora M. HungS. Asra HusainDerek IshikawaJiwon JeongBrent JoLawrence JoeAnthony JohnsonHo Jung JunShariq KathawalaRika KidoCarol KimCaroline KimDouglas KimDwight KimEliza KimKenneth KimRichard KimSamuel KimSophia KimWoo-Jin KimMarisa KrisintuJoanna KuDeepak KulkarniAngela KuoChun Kuo

Jonathan KwanLily KwanSophia KwanChristina KyeDaniel LaiNathan LamHarjot LasherAlan Lawann leeDonald LeeGrace LeeHelen LeeJennifer LeeJennifer LeeJung LeeLarry LeeLloyd LeeMatthew LeePaul LeeSehyung LeeYoomi LeeHongtao LiEdward LiangSamea LimAnna LinAriel LinJonathan LinHow-Ying (Albert) LiouCindy LiuSabrina Lohr-SchmidtBarbara LumCaroline MaWillis MaBetty MacMarcus MartinezParag MehtaRattanaphone MekmaysyDavid MesaElaine MoBrian MonjeChanjoo MoonShawn MoonJeremy MoorehousePamela NakagawaSatsuki NakamuraGordon NgWaymond NgaiAn NguyenJimmy NguyenKim NguyenLynn NguyenSang NguyenTrong NguyenVi NguyenFumichika Ogawa

Masako OishiMelanie PaekNimita ParekhDaRong ParkGrace ParkAntonio PatacaAmit PatelMatt PuthukulamDavid PyunMelissa RheeAbigail RivamonteTanasawat SatayaviboonLois SeongAnkur ShahShaili ShahGeorge ShenSana SimWonje SongJuthamas JudySuwatanapongchedMasahiro M. TakedaThao ThieuPamela ThomasMai ThuKyaw TinElizabeth TranKim Tina TranViet TranPeter TsaiSeaton TsaiSteven TsuyukiSherlin TungAdam C. VenciusClaudine ViadoAbirami VijayanLinda VuWilliam Joseph WalravenLeslie WangNan WangAaron Jones WongKimberly WongSophie WongJohn WuShishi XuLulu YanGrace YangNing YangYu YaoMing YenDaniel YooCynthia ZhangStephanie A. ZoetRaymond Zulueta

PeopleNewsin the

California ALL has hired Ruthe CatolicoAshley – diversity expert and formerDiversity Officer for External Affairs atCalPERS (California Public EmployeesRetirement System) -- as its chief executiveofficer.

On May 5, New Jersey’s Governor nomi-nated David Bauman, an Asian American(and APALA/NJ member), for SuperiorCourt judge. This is the first such nomina-tion in the State in nearly 9 years.

On March 8, 2008, the New York CountyDemocratic Committee honored JamesChou for his work in helping to obtain a9-0 decision from the United StatesSupreme Court in New York State Board ofElections v. Lopez Torres, a case involvingthe state’s method of nominating candi-dates for trial court judges.

Congratulations to Maria Kuriakos Ciesiland Neera Lall Walsh for their recentappointments (4/11/07) as AssociateJudges of the Circuit Court of CookCounty. They join the five other AsianJudges: Hon. Sandra Otaka, Hon. LynneKawamoto, Hon. Rena Van Tine, Hon.Sanjay Tailor, and Hon. Israel Desierto,who are active Judges in Cook County.

Congratulations to Honorable Israel“Izzy” Desierto for receiving theCommunity Service Award from CookCounty State's Attorney Richard Devine inMay 2007.

Lora L. Fong has joined salesforce.com,inc. (NYSE: CRM) as Senior CorporateCounsel, and will lead the San Franciscoheadquartered technology company'sexpansion of its Legal Department in theEast Coast, based in its New York Cityoffice.

Joan Haratani receives both the ThurgoodMarshall College Fund (TCMF) Award ofExcellence and the CLEO Bar Association

Diversity Award, as well as named one ofthe Top 75 Women Litigators in Californiaby the Los Angeles and San FranciscoDaily Journal. Joan has also been hon-ored with The Council on Legal EducationOpportunity’s (CLEO) Bar AssociationDiversity Award for her endless dedica-tion, commitment, and passion to diversi-ty in the legal profession.

Palma Hooper, Executive Director of theSouthwest Center for Asian PacificAmerican Law (SCAPAL) and a pastPresident of FALSD and PALSD was hon-ored for Outstanding Volunteer Service bythe Legal Aid Society of San Diego.

Helen B. Kim, current President ofNAPABA and litigation partner at KattenMuchin Rosenman LLP, was named oneof the Top 75 Women Litigators inCalifornia by the Los Angeles and SanFrancisco Daily Journal. Also, effectiveJuly 1, she will become a Trustee of theLos Angeles County Bar Association.Helen’s litigation practices focuses onsecurities litigation, class action defenseand complex business litigation.

Carolyn Kubota, a partner withO’Melveny & Myers, was named one ofthe Top 75 Women Litigators in Californiaby the Los Angeles and San FranciscoDaily Journal. Her focus is on civil andcriminal trials, white-collar criminaldefense, internal corporate investigations,and civil fraud actions.

Congratulations to Calvin Manshio forreceiving the 2008 Vanguard Award,which recognizes those who make the lawand legal profession more accessible toand reflective of the community at large.

On April 21, 2008, Magistrate Judge KiyoMatsumoto received a rating of “WellQualified” from the ABA StandingCommittee on the Federal Judiciary.

Congratulations to Jessica Arong O'Brienfor receiving the Community ServiceAward from John Marshall Law School inMay 2007.

Sunah Park was selected as one of the2008 “40 Under 40” by the PhiladelphiaBusiness Journal.

Congratulations to Christina M. Tchen,Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP,for being nominated by 2008 Illinois SuperLawyers' Top 50 Women as well as receiv-ing the Vanguard Award in April 2007.which recognizes those who make the lawand legal profession more accessible toand reflective of the community at large.

Djung Tran joined Smith & McMaster, PC,a small firm in Newtown, Bucks County,Pennsylvania, in March 2008.

Stella M. Tsai joined Archer & Greiner,P.C.’s Philadelphia office as a Partner onApril 1, 2008.

On April 24, 2008, the Pennsylvania BarAssociation president Andrew Susko rec-ognized Tsiwen Law as a pioneer and pastchair of the Association’s minority barcommittee, on the occasion of the commit-tee’s twentieth annual minority attorneyconference in Philadelphia.

Suzanne J. Young, past President ofAABADV and a longtime ExecutiveCommittee member, was recognized inFebruary 2008 for her outstanding com-munity service and commitment to theAsian American community by theRutgers-Camden School of Laws APALSAchapter at its annual lunar banquet.

Kay Kyungsun Yu, current President ofAABADV, and a Partner in PepperHamilton’s Commercial LitigationDepartment, recently won a major victoryin the case of Communication Workers ofAmerica v. Comcast CableCommunications, Inc, winning summaryjudgment for a client.

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NATIONAL

ASIAN PACIFIC

AMERICAN BAR

ASSOCIATION

PRSRT STDUS Postage

PAIDPermit No. 31050Los Angeles, CA

NAPABA1612 K Street, NW,

Suite 1400

Washington, DC 20006

Tel. 202-775-9555

Fax. 202-775-9333

www.napaba.org

Participate in the power

of our membership.

Become a direct member

of NAPABA at one of the

following levels:

Students $25

Bronze $50

Silver $100

Gold $250

Platinum $500

Participate in the power

of our membership.

Become a direct member

of NAPABA at one of the

following levels:

Students $25

Bronze $50

Silver $100

Gold $250

Platinum $500

Your direct support of NAPABA will be recognized in our convention program

and other publications.

Payment can be made by credit card (VISA and MasterCard accepted) online

through the Joining section of NAPABA’s website (www.napaba.org) or by check

for the applicable payment level amount, payable to NAPABA, and should be sent to:

Emily T. Kuo – VP Membership

NAPABA

1612 K Street, NW

Suite 1400

Washington, DC 20006

NAPABA is a 501(c)(6) tax-exempt organization. Contributions or gifts to NAPABA are not tax

deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. However, membership

dues may be tax deductible as ordinary and necessary business expenses and contributions or

gifts may be tax deductible under other provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. This general

statement may not apply to your specific situation; please consult your tax advisor.