NAPABA Convention 2008
In late November, Denise Chan, Hazel Chu, Nikki Dinh, Michelle Do, Shirlie Anne Ho and Cara Kim represented GGU at the annual National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) convention and the concurrent National APALSA conference. NAPABA is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors and law students. NAPABA aims to be the national voice of Asian Pacific Americans working in the legal profession, to promote justice, equity and opportunity for Asian Pacific Americans and to foster professional development and community involvement.
We attended many diverse panels focused on developing skills to succeed in the legal profession. Discussions on current substantive law included panels on International Intellectual Property and the Subprime Meltdown. Skills outside of the classroom were discussed in panels including how to navigate the good ol’ boy network, how to perfect the elevator pitch and how to contribute to the advancement of Asian Pacific Americans in law firms. The role of NAPABA was discussed during a retrospective of the past 20 years of NAPABA.
The convention provided many opportunities to meet new mentors and law students from across the country. One highlight was the speed mentoring session between students and NAPABA’s Best 40 under 40. Students were able to gain different perspectives on how to pursue their career in law. In student only events, we connected with other law students. In particular, we attended an inspiring call to action by Eric Liu, a former speechwriter and senior domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton. Eric asked us to take this moment to seek out our moral code and principles to guide our future actions.
One of the most interesting sessions was the “Conversation with the Federal Judges.” This was an informal panel consisting of three Article III judges: Hon. Denny Chin from the Southern District of New York, Hon. Amul R. Thapar from the Eastern District of Kentucky and Hon. A. Wallace Tashima from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In the U.S. district courts, Asian Pacific Americans are represented by only eight active Article III judges, and nine active magistrate judges. Considering there are hundreds of federal judges, this underrepresentation was quite a shock because we were sitting in a banquet hall filled with hundreds of successful Asian Pacific American lawyers. The discussion ranged from life behind the bench to the judges expectations for litigants to the need for a diverse judiciary and how to facilitate it. To learn more about Asian American Judges, check out Josh Hsu, Asian American Judges: Identity, Their Narratives & Diversity on the Bench, 11 Asian Pac. Am. L.J. 92 (2006).
Further, the convention was also the venue of the 2009 National Asian Pacific American Law Student Association (NAPALSA) executive board elections. Students from all over the United States were represented and running for various positions. Nikki Dinh, GGU's current APALSA Co-Chair, had the honor of winning the position of Northern Pacific Regional Director. In this capacity, she will not only represent GGU APALSA, but also all APALSA chapters in the Bay Area, Oregon and Washington.
Next year, the NAPABA/NAPALSA Convention will be held in Boston, Massachusetts.
For more information on NAPABA, check out: www.napaba.org
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