Asian Pacific American Bar Association-DC (APABA-DC)

02/07/2025

A message from our APABA-DC President

11/21/2024

APABA-DC congratulates Amir H. Ali on being confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as a district judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Mr. Ali will be the first Arab American and first Muslim district judge on the Court.

Mr. Ali recently served as President and Executive Director of the MacArthur Justice Center, Co-Director of the Criminal Justice Appellate Clinic at Harvard Law School, and an Adjunct Professor at UDC David A. Clarke School of Law. He was lead counsel on dozens of federal court cases, from the district court to the U.S. Supreme Court, and will bring an important perspective to the district court given his extensive civil rights background. After maintaining an active criminal pro bono docket while in private practice, he achieved groundbreaking victories, persuading the Supreme Court to expand the constitutional right to counsel and recognize the right to sue government officials who pursue false charges against an innocent person.

APABA-DC is proud to have endorsed Mr. Ali’s candidacy. He previously clerked for the Supreme Court of Canada and the Honorable Raymond C. Fisher of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He graduated from the University of Waterloo with distinction, and Harvard Law School, magna cm laude.

Please join us in congratulating Mr. Ali!

07/15/2024

APABA-DC warmly congratulates Danny Lam Nguyen on being confirmed by the U.S. Senate earlier this week to serve as the first Vietnamese-American associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia!

Mr. Nguyen is currently Associate General Counsel at Booz Allen Hamilton. He has litigated a wide range of civil and criminal matters as a former trial attorney in the Market Integrity and Major Frauds Unit of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Superior Court Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and a former Counsel at WilmerHale. Mr. Nguyen also previously clerked for Judge Reggie Walton on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education degrees from UCLA, and Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

APABA-DC is proud to have endorsed Mr. Nguyen’s candidacy. As a child of Vietnamese refugees to the United States and his family’s first attorney in the United States, Mr. Nguyen brings a unique perspective on the American justice system that is informed by his experiences. Mr. Nguyen has been active member of the AAPI legal community, including APABA-DC, and was a founding member of the Vietnamese American Bar Association of the Greater Washington, DC Area, Inc. (VABA-DC).

Please join us in congratulating Mr. Nguyen!

08/02/2023

APABA-DC is accepting nominations for our annual awards honoring the extraordinary contributions and achievements of APA attorneys in our community. If you would like to nominate yourself or others for any of the four awards described below, please submit your nomination using a short Google nomination form linked here (https://ow.ly/jqjy50PqYEO). All nominations must be submitted no later than August 4, 2023. All 2023 award recipients will be announced later this summer, and awards will be presented at APABA-DC's 2023 Awards and Installation Gala on October 5, 2023 at Conrad Washington DC.

Pioneer Award: Recognizes the outstanding achievements, commitment, and leadership of an individual who has paved the way for the advancement of APA attorneys.

Member Appreciation Award: Recognizes an individual's outstanding service to APABA-DC (including service to our charitable affiliate, AEF). The purpose of this award is not to recognize a single achievement, but rather to recognize continuous contributions that exemplify the objectives and goals of APABA-DC.

Community Appreciation Award: Recognizes an individual or organization in the greater Washington area such as community leaders, judges, or leaders of other bar associations who may not be an APABA-DC member but has demonstrated strong support for APABA-DC and its members.

Rising Star Award: Recognizes talented individuals within the APABA-DC community, which may include the AEF community, who are under the age of forty and have achieved prominence and distinction in their respective field while demonstrating a strong commitment to APABA-DC and the APA community.

We also welcome your nominations of individuals or entities in our community that deserve recognition outside of the four awards above. For any questions, please contact Awards Committee Co-Chairs Ben Cheng and Wenxi Li at [email protected].

The Call for Nominations for the APABA-DC 2023 Awards Period Begins July 7, 2023 and runs through August 4, 2023. --- APABA-DC is seeking nominations from its membership and the greater DC-area AAPI community for its APABA-DC 2023 Awards. If you know a worthy candidate, please fill out the form belo...

06/24/2023

Please save the date for 2023 APABA-DC Gala to be held on Thursday, October 5, 2023, at 6 pm, as we celebrate the diversity, alliance, and resilience of our communities. Click to add to your calendar: https://tinyurl.com/3kryrhyp

06/12/2023

Join APABA-DC and APABA-MD on June 23 at 8 pm for a night at the Arena Stage for the play, Exclusion. Tickets for members of APABA-DC and APABA-MD are comped at $40 per attendee. Please register and bring cash or check to the event.

The Page Act of 1875 was the first of many Chinese Exclusion acts passed by the United States government, marking the end of open borders. The Page Act specifically barred Chinese women from entering the United States. Seven years after that, the Chinese Restriction Act, which is now known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, was signed into law, prohibiting the entry of all Chinese people into the United States. Kenneth Lin’s Exclusion explores these issues through a brave world of comedy, debate, and artistry.

Set in present-day Hollywood, the land of storytelling, Exclusion puts a magnifying glass on the personalities and power structures that create the larger than life worlds we see on small and big screens. Each of Lin’s characters fight for control over which narrative gets told, whether it be on the screen for the world to hear, or in how each of their own stories play out in reality. Through the act of dramatizing history, audiences and communities are invited into the conversation beyond the role of a silent listener. They are asked to invest in the characters of a story beyond the lines of a textbook, and see them as active participants in the lives they might lead today.

Please register at https://ow.ly/4Sqt50OLsxy, and email [email protected] (APABA-DC) or [email protected] (APABA-MD) for questions.

06/12/2023

Join APABA-DC and APABA-MD on June 23 at 8 pm for a night at the Arena Stage for the play, Exclusion. Tickets for members of APABA-DC and APABA-MD are comped at $40 per attendee. Please register and bring cash or check to the event.

The Page Act of 1875 was the first of many Chinese Exclusion acts passed by the United States government, marking the end of open borders. The Page Act specifically barred Chinese women from entering the United States. Seven years after that, the Chinese Restriction Act, which is now known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, was signed into law, prohibiting the entry of all Chinese people into the United States. Kenneth Lin’s Exclusion explores these issues through a brave world of comedy, debate, and artistry.

Set in present-day Hollywood, the land of storytelling, Exclusion puts a magnifying glass on the personalities and power structures that create the larger-than-life worlds we see on small and big screens. Each of Lin’s characters fight for control over which narrative gets told, whether it be on the screen for the world to hear, or in how each of their own stories play out in reality. Through the act of dramatizing history, audiences and communities are invited into the conversation beyond the role of a silent listener. They are asked to invest in the characters of a story beyond the lines of a textbook, and see them as active participants in the lives they might lead today.

Please register at https://ow.ly/EqUT50OLsvf, and email [email protected] (APABA-DC) or [email protected] (APABA-MD) for questions!

06/02/2023

2023 Rooftop Summer Soirée
A Gathering of All Law Students Summering in the Nation's Capital
June 22, 2023 at 6 p.m.
APABA-DC cordially invites you to the first networking event of its kind -- open to all law students spending this summer in the nation's capital. Everyone is welcome, regardless of whether you are interning at a government agency, a non-profit organization, a court, or a law firm. Come join us and meet your peers in town.
Date: June 22, 2023 at 6 p.m.
Location: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
1440 New York Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005
REGISTER NOW at https://apaba-dc.org/event-5285864
This event is co-sponsored by
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund
District of Columbia LGBTQ+ Bar Association
Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
National Asian Pacific American Law Student Association
South Asian Bar Association of Washington, D.C.
Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia
Cornell Law School
Georgetown Law
University of Virginia School of Law

06/01/2023

APABA-DC is excited to host our annual picnic at Virginia Highlands Park in Arlington on Saturday, June 10 from 12 - 3pm. We have reserved the picnic shelter. APABA-DC will be providing food and beverages from AAPI restaurants. Bring the whole family for an afternoon of fun!

05/30/2023

Please join us for a virtual fireside chat with award-winning author Steph Cha, as she shares her experiences and the critical role storytelling plays in raising collective awareness of history, heritage, and the human connections instrumental to binding relationships and communities together.
Cha is the author of Your House Will Pay, a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the California Book Award, as well as one of the Los Angeles Times’ 110 essential Los Angeles books, which is set against the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles unrest. The LA uprising was sparked in part by the acquittal of white police officers who were responsible for the beating of a Black man, Rodney King, as well as the shooting of a Black girl, Latasha Harlins, by a Korean store owner in South Central LA. Fueled by years of racial and economic inequality in the city, the subsequent unrest spread from South Central LA to Koreatown and other areas. Existing resentment and fear between newly immigrated Koreans and Black residents of South Central LA was especially enflamed by cultural differences and a lack of awareness and understanding of the intense civil rights struggles and history of police brutality in Los Angeles’ Black communities. Memories of the 1992 riots and the corresponding issues continue to influence our society today.
Cha is also the author of Follow Her Home, Beware Beware, Dead Soon Enough, and Treasures in Heaven. Her work has made appearances in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She also served as noir editor and is the current series editor of the Best American Mystery & Suspense anthology.
Cha was born in San Fernando Valley, CA and is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School.
Please RSVP at http://ow.ly/IOEV50OvyXw

05/30/2023

A wonderful opportunity to serve! APABA-DC is now accepting nominations (including self-nominations) for the 2023-2024 Board of Directors. All nominations must be submitted using this form (https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSchALvB.../viewform...) no later than Tuesday, May 30, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.
Per the bylaws of APABA-DC, the following eight officer positions will be elected in June by majority vote of ballots cast by those members eligible to vote.
- President-Elect
- Vice President for Communications
- Vice President for Community Affairs
- Vice President for Membership
- Vice President for Program
- Vice President for Education
- Secretary
- Treasurer
The elected officers will serve on the Board for one year, together with incoming President Minsuk Han, starting on August 1, 2023.
For more information on the role of each officer position, please visit our nomination page (https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSchALvB.../viewform...). If you are interested in serving on the APABA-DC Board of Directors and have any questions about the nomination and election process, please contact President-Elect Minsuk Han at [email protected].

05/24/2023

Please join us for a virtual fireside chat with award-winning author Steph Cha, as she shares her experiences and the critical role storytelling plays in raising collective awareness of history, heritage, and the human connections instrumental to binding relationships and communities together.

Cha is the author of Your House Will Pay, a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the California Book Award, as well as one of the Los Angeles Times’ 110 essential Los Angeles books, which is set against the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles unrest. The LA uprising was sparked in part by the acquittal of white police officers who were responsible for the beating of a Black man, Rodney King, as well as the shooting of a Black girl, Latasha Harlins, by a Korean store owner in South Central LA. Fueled by years of racial and economic inequality in the city, the subsequent unrest spread from South Central LA to Koreatown and other areas. Existing resentment and fear between newly immigrated Koreans and Black residents of South Central LA was especially enflamed by cultural differences and a lack of awareness and understanding of the intense civil rights struggles and history of police brutality in Los Angeles’ Black communities. Memories of the 1992 riots and the corresponding issues continue to influence our society today.

Cha is also the author of Follow Her Home, Beware Beware, Dead Soon Enough, and Treasures in Heaven. Her work has made appearances in the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She also served as noir editor and is the current series editor of the Best American Mystery & Suspense anthology.

Cha was born in San Fernando Valley, CA and is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School.

Please RSVP at http://ow.ly/IOEV50OvyXw.