APALA/NJ News & Announcements

Jin Hwang to Serve as Northeast Regional Governor to NAPABA for 2010-2012
Date posted: 7/16/2010

Congratulations to APALA/NJ member, Jin Hwang, on her appointment to serve as the Northeast Regional Governor to NAPABA for the 2010-2012 term.

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APALA/NJ Applauds Senator Menendez For His Strong Stand In Support of the Indian American Community in NJ
Date posted: 7/13/2010

Read Senator Menendez's letter.

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Letter to APALA/NJ Members
Date posted: 6/24/2010

On Friday, June 11, 2010 and Saturday, June 12, 2010, APALA/NJ successfully hosted the NAPABA Northeast Regional Conference and Gala Dinner (in conjunction with the APALA/NJ Annual Dinner & Installation of Officers) at the beautiful Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick, NJ. Numerous dignitaries and attendees from the Northeast region, including NJ, NY, PA, CT, MASS. and Canada, attended the weekend's events. Highlights of the Conference and Dinner:

• The Corporate Counsel Event had approximately 75 attendees and featured Don Liu, General Counsel of Xerox as our special guest host, and honorees from the Northeast Region - Raja Chatterjee, Executive Director of Morgan Stanley (NY); An-Ping Hsieh, Associate General Counsel of United Technologies Corporation (CT); Elaine Hua, Legal Counsel at Stewart Title Guarantee Co. (Canada); Michael Korniczky, General Counsel of Graham Packaging (PA); Vivian Tseng, General Counsel of Welch's, Inc. (MASS); and Peter Tu, Vice President & Chief IP Counsel, moksha8 (NJ).
• We had a number of well attended, informative panels with distinguished panelists such as former NJ Public Advocate Ron Chen; Judge Bauman (NJ Sup. Ct.); the Judge Chin (2nd Cir.); Judge Matsumoto (EDNY); former NJ Transportation Comm. Kris Kolluri, and so many other distinguished panelists! We were also treated to a captivating performance of the Massie Trials by AABANY.
• The luncheon had approximately 115 attendees and featured Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, Mayor Cory Booker and Judicial Excellence Award Recipient Judge Chin (2nd Circuit).
• The Gala Dinner had approximately 220 attendees and featured Special Guest Comedian Dan Nainan; Lt. Governor Kim Gaudagno (NJ) and Honorees from the Northeast region, including Philip Kwon, NJ First Assistant Attorney General; Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the SDNY; Paul Uyehara, U.S. Department of Justice (Civil Rights); Sandra Leung, General Counsel of Bristol-Myers Squibb and Marc Berson, Chairman of the Fidelco Group.
• We had over 60 sponsors at various levels of commitment. To see the full list of our sponsors, please refer to the back cover of the program book from the Conference and Gala Dinner which is available on the apala website homepage at www.apalanj.com.
• Pictures from conference events are also available on the homepage of www.apalanj.com in slide-show format.
• Financially, we were able to meet all of our financial obligations and were also able to generate enough revenue to grant our first annual APALA/NJ Scholarship Program, which awards $1000 scholarships to three deserving students from Rutgers Newark, Rutgers Camden and Seton Hall Law Schools (total of $3000 in scholarships). In addition, we also made a donation to the NAPABA Charitable Foundation in the amount of $2000. A full budget analysis will be made available to any current member of APALA/NJ after July 9, 2010 after all outstanding receivables are collected.
• Finally, THANK YOU to all of you who participated in planning various aspects of the Conference and attending the Conference and Dinner. It was a tremendous success because of our collective efforts!

APALA/NJ has so much in store for the coming year. We look forward to everyone's participation in our upcoming events for the remainder of 2010. Please periodically log onto our website at www.apalanj.com for details of upcoming events and be sure to register now to get preferential rates for our Annual Golf Outing.

Warm regards,

Aney K. Chandy
President of APALA/NJ

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New APALA/NJ Executive Board Elected
Date posted: 5/21/2010

APALA/NJ Executive Board elections were held on May 20, 2010. Congratulations to the 2010-2011 Executive Board:

• Aney K. Chandy - President
• Sapana Shah - President Elect
• Eric Fikry - Vice President
• Paul Yoon - Treasurer
• Eric Wong - Secretary

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APALA/NJ and SABA/NJ Denounce Arizona Immigration Law SB 1070
Date posted: 5/17/2010

The Asian and Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey (APALA/NJ) and the South Asian Bar Association of New Jersey (SABA/NJ) stand with their fellow state bar associations, including the Hispanic Bar Association, the Garden State Bar Association and the Association of Black Women Lawyers in denouncing Arizona's new immigration law (SB 1070).

This new law expands existing state trespass laws and gives law enforcement expansive rights to randomly stop, question and verify immigrant status of any person in the State of Arizona based merely on a "reasonable suspicion" that the person is unlawfully present in the United States. The law also requires immigrants to carry documents establishing their immigrant status. Recent reports indicate that twelve other states, including New Jersey, have introduced or are considering introducing similar legislation.

APALA/NJ and SABA/NJ have serious concerns about the discriminatory impact that this legislation can have upon Asian and Pacific Americans and other minority communities. The State of New Jersey is all too familiar with the bane of racial profiling and the distrust that it can engender in our communities. Measures such as the one being implemented in Arizona and being proposed elsewhere, undermine basic notions of justice, fairness and equity and have the potential to create widespread discord in our communities.

APALA/NJ and SABA/NJ join the long line of advocacy organizations in the call to boycott all conferences and conventions in the State of Arizona. In addition, APALA/NJ and SABA/NJ appeal to President Barack Obama and Congress to take swift action to ensure equal protection by exercising federal legislative authority through comprehensive immigration reforms.

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APALA/NJ Expresses Disappointment with Governor Christie's Decision Not to Reappoint Justice Wallace
Date posted: 5/4/2010

The Asian and Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey (APALA/NJ) is deeply concerned by Governor Christie's decision to replace Justice John E. Wallace on New Jersey's highest court. Justice Wallace is a Harvard Law School graduate with sterling academic credentials and has served with distinction in our state's judiciary since 1984. His record in the judiciary is exemplary and, by all accounts, he is a model jurist. Justice Wallace's reputation, experience and service clearly establish that he is eminently qualified to serve as a NJ Supreme Court Justice.

Moreover, the Governor has offered no legitimate reason not to reappoint Justice Wallace. Justice Wallace's judicial record reveals that he is a moderate judge whose opinions are well-reasoned, non-partisan and pragmatic. APALA-NJ fully supports the New Jersey State Bar Association's Resolution on Judicial Independence, and joins the NJSBA in requesting "that the Governor and the Senate adhere to the establishment and maintenance of a Judiciary that is free from the influence of partisan politics, and that each of these elected officials apply the highest standards of impartiality and integrity when evaluating members of the bench for tenure."

The ramifications of the Governor's decision are even more disturbing as it further diminishes the diversity of our state's judiciary. Based upon currently available census data, the state of New Jersey has a total population estimated at 8.6 million. About 8% of the population is Asian and Pacific American (APA), approximately 14% is African American, and approximately 16% is Hispanic. As we conclude this year's census, these numbers will likely increase. Despite the significant numbers of minorities who reside in New Jersey and despite the increasing numbers of diverse attorneys and litigants who appear before our state's judiciary, the state judiciary is not reflective of this diversity. APA judges comprise less than 1% of the state's judiciary and have no representation on this state's highest court. Hispanic judges account for less than 6% of the state's judiciary. African-American judges account for less than 10% of the State's judiciary and, as a result of Governor Christie's decision, there are now no African-American judges sitting on this state's highest court.

Our democracy is founded upon principles of justice, equality, and a representative government by the people for the people. Governor Christie's actions take our state further away from these very important ideals. It is a sad day for the state of New Jersey. APALA/NJ remains hopeful that the Governor's actions are not intended to foreshadow a lack of commitment to judicial independence and diversity in our state's judiciary.

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Lunar Banquet
On February 13 at Grand Shanghai in Edison, New Jersey, APALA/NJ hosted a Lunar Banquet.

Download a ZIP archive of the photos.

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APALA/NJ New Member/Member Appreciation Event
APALA Hosted a New Members/Member Appreciation Event at the Highlawn Pavillion on January 21, 2010. APALA wishes to thank HSBC Bank USA and The Hartford for their generous sponsorship and support of APALA, and to again thank all of its members for attending.

Download a ZIP archive of the photos.

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APALA/NJ Holiday Reception
On Tuesday, December 15th, APALA Hosted a Holiday Reception for it's members at Café Bonte in Morristown NJ. APALA wishes to recognize and thank HSBC Bank and Mercedes-Benz for their kind sponsorship of the event, support of APALA and also providing the generous doorprizes. Happy Holidays To All, Indeed.

Download a ZIP archive of the photos.

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Congratulations to Hany Mawla and Phillip Kwon
Congratulations to APALA/NJ Member, Hany Mawla, on his appointment as a New Jersey Superior Court Judge and Phillip Kwon on his appointment as the first APA to serve as the First Assistant Attorney General in the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety

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"Pathways to the State Judiciary" Seminar
The Pathways to the State Judiciary Seminar which took place on October 14th at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick, NJ was a tremendous success. APALA, which co-sponsored this inaugural event in conjunction with other specialty bar associations.The seminar providedprincipaled guidance as well as practical insights on how to become a judge in the State of New Jersey. The distinguished panel consisted of:

• Mr. David Anderson, Jr., Director of Office of Professional and Governmental Service-Administrative Office of Courts;
• Senator Bill Baroni, N.J. Senate Judiciary Committee
• Hon. David Bauman, Presiding Judge-Civil
• Hon. James Coleman, Former N.J. Supreme Court Justice
• Michael Griffinger, Esq., N.J. State Bar Association JPAC Committee Chair
• Senator Paul Sarlo, Chair of the N.J. Senate Judiciary Committee
• Tiffany Williams, Deputy Chief Counsel to the Governor
• Hon. Theresa Yang, Workers' Compensation Judge

APALA wishes to again acknowledge and thank the panelists for their knowledge and insight; thank the organizing committee for their hard work; and thank those that took part by attending.

Download a ZIP archive of the photos.

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South Jersey Networking Event
Thanks to the many members, friends and sponsors of the South Jersey Networking Event that took part in the event to contribute towards its success. In particular, APALA wishes to recognize and give thanks to Shereen Chen and the Hyland & Levin firm for their kindness in sponsoring the event, and to Roger Lai of the Archer & Greiner firm for his efforts in organizing the event.

Download a ZIP archive of the photos.

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Annual APALA/NJ Picnic
On September 26th we held APALA/NJ's annual Picnic at Merrill Park in Edison.

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Somerset Patriots Baseball Game Outing
On July 20th, APALA/NJ members and their families enjoyed a wonderful time at this year's annual Somerset Patriots Baseball Game Outing in Bridgewater, New Jersey. APALA/NJ thanks Somerset Freeholder Pat Walsh for the continued, generous donation of the suite for this event.

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4th Annual APALA/NJ Golf Outing
On August 10, 2009, APALA/NJ hosted its 4th Annual Golf Outing. Thanks to all of our sponsors and participants, APALA/NJ enjoyed a record turnout of both golfers and attendees at the post-golf Cocktail and Dinner. More importantly, through our Golf Outing, APALA/NJ was once again able to support a wonderful New Jersey organization. This year, APALA/NJ selected Manavi, a New Jersey-based organization that provides services to women of South Asian descent who are survivors of violence and exploitation. Manavi, which means "woman" in Sanskrit, helps their clients live a life of dignity that is safe and free from violence. APALA/NJ proudly presented Manavi with a donation of $1,500 from the proceeds of the Golf Outing, and that amount was generously matched by our friends at Verizon Wireless.

View photos in the Picasa web album.

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Annual APALA/NJ Mock Interview Workshop
On September 3, 2009, APALA/NJ hosted its annual Mock Interview workshop. This workshop is designed to assist our law student members and recent graduates in their job search, by providing them constructive feedback on their interviewing skills and resumes. APALA/NJ thanks this year's event host, the Gibbons law firm, for the generous use of their facilities and for the wonderful remarks of our event speaker, Peter Torcicollo, who is the firm's Director of Professional Development, Recruiting, Associate Retention and Lateral Hiring, and who offered great, practical tips and insights into the do's and don'ts of interviewing. APALA/NJ also thanks its members who volunteered to serve as mock interviewers, and each interviewed several law students and recent graduates and provided detailed feedback on their interviewing skills and resumes.

Download a ZIP archive of the photos.

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APALA/NJ Annual Dinner & Installation of Officers Held on June 25th
On June 25, 2009, APALA-NJ held its 12th Annual Dinner & Installation of Officers Ceremony at Sunny Palace, at which we honored Keynote Speaker Tommy Shi, of Mercedes Benz USA, with the APALA-NJ Achievement Award, and presented our Professional Achievement Awards to Phil Cha and Shaji Eapen to recognize their recent promotions to partnership at their respective firms. APALA-NJ also installed our new Officers for the 2009-2010 term - David Kwon (President); Aney Chandy (President-Elect); Will Shih (Vice President); Sapana Shah (Treasurer); and Stephen Kim (Secretary). APALA-NJ is grateful for the historic turnout of almost 130 persons comprised of our members, our sponsors, and distinguished members of the New Jersey legal community, who all enjoyed a wonderful networking cocktail reception, formal dinner program and terrific food. See photos from the event below:

Download a ZIP archive of the photos.

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APALA/NJ Annual Lunar Banquet
On February 17, 2009, APALA/NJ held its annual Lunar Banquet at King's Chef restaurant in Iselin, which was well attended by friends and family.

Download a ZIP archive of the photos.

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APALA/NJ Professional Development Workshop
On January 22, 2009, APALA/NJ held a professional development workshop providing guidance on searching for jobs in today's challenging market, featuring speakers from the Topaz Attorney Search firm.

Download a ZIP archive of the photos.

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2009 APALA/NJ Officer Elections
Download the ballot in PDF, and submit your vote per the instructions in the ballot. You can view candidate statements by clicking on the names below, or downloading this ZIP archive of all of the statements and the ballot.

Office Candidates (in alphabetical order)

President Elect
  Aney Chandy
  Jin Hwang

Vice President
  Willard Shih

Treasurer
  Erik Fikry
  Sofia Lipman
  Sapana Shah

Secretary
  Stephen Kim
  Carlos Manalansan

If you have any questions regarding the voting process, please contact any of the Members of the Nominating Committee:
  Eugene Huang at ehuang@wmands.com or 973.539.1313
  Michael Angulo at angulo24@comcast.net or 609.954.6218
  Sudha Tiwari Kantor at apalapres@gmail.com or 973-404-5224

We look forward to receiving your vote and seeing you on May 13th. APALA/NJ's continued success depends your membership participation.

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APALA/NJ Letter to the Editor of the NJLJ
March 20, 2008
Letter to the Editor:

Last week, an unfortunate incident was revisited before the Senate Judiciary Committee. During his reappointment hearing, Superior Court Judge Fred Kieser, Jr., acknowledged saying "no tickee, no laundry" to a litigant during a support hearing. This, in addition to other concerns discussed during the hearing, caused Governor Jon Corzine to withdraw Judge Kieser's reappointment. The purpose of this letter is not to assess Judge Kieser's qualifications for reappointment. Rather, this seeks to reinforce that a fair and impartial Judiciary is a minimum and basic expectation of litigants as well as lawyers.

Make no mistake, Judge Kieser's statement is widely viewed as a racial slur perpetuating a negative stereotype of Asian business owners, and mocking Asian accents. Regardless to whom it is directed, these words are hurtful and offensive. From a Judge sitting on the bench in open court, the words undermine the public's basic expectation of a judiciary that is fair and free from bias.

The issue of bias, under representation, and disenfranchisement of Asian Americans in the judicial system transcends this singular episode. However, this incident highlights the challenges that minorities in the legal profession routinely face. A meaningful first step towards addressing bias is through diversity. Diversity decreases the likelihood of insensitivity or ignorance towards culture, religion, race, and gender, among others. Diversity also reassures litigants of inclusiveness within the Judiciary.

In terms of the Asian community, New Jersey has never had more than 2 Asian American judges - out of 441 seats - in New Jersey's Superior Court, a mere .0045% representation. Due to retirement, we risk having no Asian American judges as of June 30, 2008. Moreover, no Asian Americans serve on New Jersey's Appellate Division or Supreme Court. This under representation is particularly alarming in light of New Jersey's burgeoning Asian American community. New Jersey is home to approximately 650,000 Asian Americans, or nearly 8 percent of the State's population. In fact, the Asian American community is one of the fastest growing in New Jersey, and the nation. Only California and Hawaii have a greater proportion of Asian American residents.

Governor Corzine and his administration continue to actively engage all communities to ensure that qualified diversity candidates are considered for the bench, as well as the public sector. Towards this end, Governor Corzine has worked closely with the Asian Pacific Lawyers Association of New Jersey (APALA/NJ). Notably, Governor Corzine is the first New Jersey Governor to appoint two Asian Americans to cabinet level positions (the Public Advocate and the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation).

However, Asian American representation in the Judiciary cannot be achieved without the cooperation of the Legislature. Our elected State Senators must join Governor Corzine and actively identify, encourage, and support qualified Asian American judicial candidates. Additionally, given the applicability of the Hughes Compact, the respective county bar associations, and the New Jersey State Bar Association should strive toward meaningful diversity within their internal Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committees, and also seek out more diversity candidates for judicial consideration.

New Jersey is home to a large number of outstanding Asian American attorneys including public officials and government attorneys, law professors, in-house counsel for New Jersey's top companies, and prominent private sector lawyers. There is a robust pool of qualified Asian American attorneys in New Jersey interested in serving in the Judiciary. We ask our State Senators and County and State Bar associations, to join Governor Corzine and focus their collective efforts on increasing Asian American representation in the judiciary.

Though regrettable, this incident can positively serve as a "wake up call" for the legal profession to demand true diversity in the Judiciary. In light of New Jersey's diverse, high quality, and competent legal community, there should be no excuse.

The APALA/NJ Board

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APALA/NJ Member Eugene Huang Honored with the Professional Lawyer of the Year Award

Former APALA/NJ President and current member Eugene Huang was presented with the award for the Professional Lawyer of the Year Award at the Annual Professionalism Awards Luncheon held at the New Jersey Law Center on September 28, 2007. He is pictured with United States District Court Chief Judge Garrett E. Brown Jr. and New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Barry T. Albin. Mr. Huang is also accompanied by a family member.

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APALA/NJ Hosts Northeast Regional Conference
On April 13th & 14th, APALA/NJ proudly hosted the NAPABA NE Regional Conference in Atlantic City, NJ. The conference theme, ALL IN, resonated throughout the conference. Many members and guests played a memorable round at the beautiful Harbor Pines Golf Club during Friday's golf outing, then enjoyed the welcome reception/dinner with special guests, Edison Mayor Jun Choi and NJ Department of Transportation Commissioner (and former NJ Acting Governor) Kris Kolluri.

Saturday's conference panelists provided terrific perspective and expert insight on significant legal and professional issues impacting the legal sector, particularly Asian American attorneys. Over 100 attorneys and friends from NJ, NY, PA, CT, MA and nationwide joined NYC Councilman John Liu and NAPABA President Phil Shinn on Saturday for the Conference's gala dinner. Our Mistress of Ceremonies, NBC News anchorwoman Denise Nakano, presided over a festive evening that included the induction of APALA/NJ's Board for 2007-08: Michael Angulo (President), Sudha Kantor (President-Elect), David Kwon (Vice President), Jin Hwang (Treasurer), and Will Shih (Secretary). The Hon. Patricia Medina Talbert adminstered the swearing-in. APALA/NJ also honored Lora Fong with its 2007 Achievement Award in re cognition of Lora's commitment and effort towards advancing APALA/NJ's mission.

APALA/NJ is grateful to NAPABA and our NE affiliates for the strong support and attendance that made this year's conference a resounding success. APALA/NJ would also like to congratulate the Conference Co-Chairs, Ed Sun Kiel and Moly K. Hung, on their terrific work.

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APALA/NJ Member Mark Ali Receives the Professionalism Award from the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law
On October 13, 2006, APALA/NJ member Mark Ali, an Assistant Prosecutor with the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, was recognized by the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism in the Law at the Commission's Annual Professionalism Awards Luncheon. For more information on the Commission and the Award received by Mark, please see the attached link to the Commission's website. http://www.njsba.com/commission_on_prof/. Congratulations Mark!

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Meeting Summary Between APALA/NJ and U.S. Senator Robert Menendez
On September 22, 2006, representatives of APALA/NJ met with U.S. Senator Menendez to discuss the judicial appointments process. The following is a report of that meeting from Michael Angulo, Chair of APALA/NJ's Political and Judicial Appointments Committee ("PJAC").

Read the full report here.

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APALA/NJ Members Chen & Kolluri Named to NJ Governor Corzine's Cabinet
APALA/NJ is proud to announce that two of its distinguished members - Ron Chen and Kris Kolluri - have been nominated by New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine to join his Cabinet. Ron will serve as Public Advocate, and Kris will serve as Commissioner of Transportation. Ron formerly served as Dean for Academic Affairs at Rutgers University Law School. Kris was most recently Counsel at Parker McCay, P.A., and was formerly Chief of Staff at the Department of Transportation. Following their respective Senate confirmation, this will represent the first time that Asian Americans have ever served in the Governor's Cabinet in New Jersey. Please join APALA/NJ in congratulating Ron and Kris on this historical occasion.

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APALA/NJ Founder Judge Sue Pai Yang Receives Tenure
APALA/NJ founder and supporter Judge Sue Pai Yang received her tenure as a Judge of Compensation in New Jersey. She is the first and only Asian American in New Jersey to be appointed as a workers' compensation judge by the governor.

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