Announcements & News

AALAM Proudly Congratulates Board Member Jennifer Fang on her Election to Partnership at the Law Firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's Corporate Practice Group!

Jennifer Fang is a partner-elect in the Boston office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Her practice includes advising start-ups and high-growth, innovative clients and their board and management teams on a range of matters, including formation, corporate governance, securities laws, and other legal matters and assisting clients with equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, and other corporate transactions. She represents clients in a wide variety of industries, including biotechnology, therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, informatics, healthcare IT, enterprise software, and clean technology.

See Wilson Sonsini's official press release here: https://www.wsgr.com/en/insights/wilson-sonsini-goodrich-and-rosati-elects-17-new-partners.html

A link to Jennifer Fan's attorney profile is here: https://www.wsgr.com/en/people/jennifer-fang.html

AALAM congratulates Attorney Joseph Y. Wang for his recent election to partnership in the firm Sherin & Lodgen's Real Estate Department and Hospitality Practice Group!

Joseph has been engaged in several large development projects in Boston, where he has negotiated with local and state agencies and private parties to bring brand name hotels and residential stock to the city. He has participated in the negotiation and administration of complex agreements for multiphase development projects involving state and local tax incentives, sale-leaseback transactions, and multilayered contingencies and financial clawbacks, and has worked to resolve issues related to zoning, governmental confidentiality requirements, incentives applications, and site selection criteria. His experience also includes acquisition and disposition, finance, and foreclosure transactions.

Prior to joining Sherin and Lodgen, Joseph was an attorney at Mintz and Seyfarth Shaw, both in Boston. Earlier, he was a law fellow at Prudential Financial, Inc. in New Jersey as part of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) / Prudential Fellowship Program. While in law school, Joseph served as an articles editor of the Michigan Journal of International Law and was an extern for the Hon. Robert Eastaugh of the Alaska Supreme Court. He currently serves as co-chair of the NAPABA Real Estate committee and is active in the Boston Bar Association.

See Sherin and Lodgen's full press release here: https://www.sherin.com/firm-news/sherin-and-lodgen-adds-joseph-y-wang-to-its-established-real-estate-department-and-hospitality-practice-group/

A link to Joe Wang's attorney profile is located here: https://www.sherin.com/attorneys/joseph-y-wang/

AALAM proudly congratulates Attorney Catherine Ham on her appointment as an Associate Justice of the Boston Municipal Court. Catherine was nominated by Governor Charlie Baker on June 26, 2019 and confirmed by the Governor's Council by unanimous vote on July 31, 2019.  Attorney Ham has extensive experience in the Plymouth County and Suffolk County District Attorney's Offices and has spent her career protecting the Commonwealth's most vulnerable.  AALAM has the utmost confidence that Attorney Ham will serve the bench well.   About Catherine H. Ham: Attorney Catherine Hyo-Kyung Ham began her legal career as Staff Attorney at the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts, representing indigent domestic violence victims. From 2005 to 2015, she served as Assistant District Attorney in the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office in the Juvenile Court, Domestic Violence Unit, Brockton Trial Session and served as Supervising/Lead Attorney in the Brockton and Wareham District Courts. In 2010, Attorney Ham joined the Family Protection Unit and in 2014 became Deputy Chief of the Family Protection Unit. She was awarded the MDAA Spotlight Award for Outstanding Service/Professionalism in 2010 for her work in the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.  From 2015 to present, Attorney Ham has served as Assistant District Attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. In that office, she has investigated and prosecuted cases in the Child Protection Unit, Senior Trial Unit and Homicide Unit.  Attorney Ham has tried over 150 jury and bench trials in various District Courts and over 50 jury trials in various Superior Courts, including 12 homicide trials. She is Co-Chair of the Criminal Law Section at the Boston Bar Association and a member of Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts. Ham earned her B.A. from Haverford College in 2000 and her J.D. from New England School of Law in 2003.

AALAM proudly congratulates AALAM Board Members Peggy Ho and Uzma Saghir for being selected as 2019 "Top Women of Law" by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, a well-deserved recognition.

Peggy L. Ho is Executive Vice President, Government Relations and Chief of Staff - Compliance Legal & Risk at LPL Financial. LPL Financial is the nation's largest independent broker-dealer and supports over 14,000 financial advisors nationwide. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the New England Council, is chair of the LPL Financial Political Action Committee and is Secretary for the Committee for the Choral Endowment at Harvard University. 

Uzma Saghir is corporate counsel at the General Counsel's office of Liberty Mutual Insurance, a Fortune 100 company. In her role as counsel, Uzma serves as a strategic business advisor where she engages with stakeholders to identify, develop, and implement strategies to manage legal exposure, proposing practical risk mitigation strategies, providing creative legal solutions and ensuring compliance with various legislation, policies and regulations. Uzma has been and continues to be a Board Member of the Women's Bar Foundation since 2013 and is currently chair of the Pro Bono Programs Committee.   

AALAM joins its national affiliate partners, NAPABA and AALDEF, in applauding yesterday's U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming the lower court’s decision to block the addition of the citizenship question to the 2020 Census in Department of Commerce v. New York (18-966) and remanded the case for further proceedings.  The Supreme Court’s decision affirmed the decision of the Southern District of New York that the Department of Commerce’s rationale for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census was pretextual because “the evidence tells a story that does not match the explanation the Secretary gave for his decision.”

Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in this country and the largest segment of new immigrants. We will continue the fight to ensure that everyone in our country is properly counted in the 2020 Census and that our community receives its fair share of resources and representation. 

You can read NAPABA and AALDEF's full statement here: https://www.napaba.org/page/1906_napaba_aaldef_scotus_census_opinion

AALAM enthusiastically congratulates Board Member Len Ho for being honored with one of MA Lawyers Weekly's 2019 "Leaders in the Law" awards.  AALAM is immensely proud of Len for receiving this well-deserved recognition.

Len A. Ho is Division Counsel at Zipcar, the world's leading car sharing network. He previously served as Director and Senior Corporate Counsel at Boston Scientific Corporation, Managing Director at Sallie Mae/Upromise and Assistant General Counsel at Game Show Network Digital. His legal background also includes corporate experience at Mintz Levin (Boston), Edwards Wildman Palmer (Boston) and Brobeck (San Francisco). After receiving his B.S. in Business at the University of California at Berkeley, Len obtained certification as a CPA working in corporate tax at Arthur Andersen in Manhattan.

AALAM enthusiastically congratulates AALAM Board Members Melissa Wong and Eugene Ho for their election to partnership at their law firms, Holland & Knight, LLP and Verrill Dana, LLP, respectively. 

Melissa works in Holland & Knight's Boston office and is a member of the firm's national Healthcare & Life Sciences Team. Ms. Wong provides advice on a variety of healthcare regulatory and transactional matters, and represents a diverse group of healthcare clients, including pharmacies (retail, specialty, long-term care and mail order), pharmacy benefit managers, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturers, managed care organizations, third-party administrators and utilization review entities.  See her full bio here:  https://www.hklaw.com/melissa-wong/

Eugene counsels companies in all stages of their development from start-up through acquisition. Eugene has significant transactional experience in all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, sales and divestitures, joint venture arrangements, commercial loan transactions, and private offerings. He also advises startups and entrepreneurs on entity formation matters, founder issues, and business planning and strategy. In addition, Eugene represents individuals and companies in a wide variety of industries, including telecommunications, manufacturing, software, transportation, health care, and biotechnology.  See his full bio here: http://www.verrilldana.com/eho/

AALAM proudly congratulates Bethany Li for being named one of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association's (NAPABA) 2018 Best Lawyers Under 40 award winners.  

Each November, NAPABA recognizes talented individuals in the Asian Pacific American legal community who have achieved prominence and distinction in their respective fields — be it the practice of law, academia, business, civic and charitable affairs, the judiciary, or politics — and who have demonstrated a strong commitment to Asian Pacific American civic or community affairs.

In June, AALAM enthusiastically nominated and supported AALAM member, Bethany Li, for the NAPABA’s “Best Under 40” Award.  Bethany currently serves as director of the Asian Outreach Unit (AOU) at Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS).  GBLS’s mission is to provide free civil legal aid to help individuals and families achieve justice and meet basic needs such as food, security, safety and adequate shelter.  Bethany is an accomplished attorney and a tireless advocate for the underserved in the Asian American community. She has dedicated her life to public service, working to support low-income and Asian immigrant communities while partnering with grassroots organizations to train future generations of public interest attorneys.  AALAM is excited that Bethany has received this well-deserved recognition and honor.

On December 10, 2018, AALAM submitted public comments to the Department of Homeland Security's proposed changes to expand the definition a "public charge" to encompass any immigrant applying for legal permanent residency who would be likely at any time in the future to receive one or more government benefits from an expanded list of programs, including nutrition and housing assistance programs for children.  Because the proposed rule change makes it easier to designate an applicant as a public charge and deny their admission to the United States or reject their permanent resident application, AALAM is greatly concerned that these changes will negatively and disproportionately impact Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants, working families and children's health.

Please see AALAM submitted comments copied in full below:

The Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts (AALAM) strongly opposes the Department of Homeland Security (Department or DHS)’s proposed changes for “Inadmissibility on Public Charge Grounds,” published October 10, 2018, because such changes would disproportionately and severely impact approximately 1.5 million of the most vulnerable, low-income Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) immigrant households nationwide, including those that live within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

AALAM is a non-profit professional bar association comprised of over 300 lawyers, judges, professors and students, and is dedicated to serving the Asian American legal community and improving and facilitating the administration of law and justice.

AALAM opposes the proposed “public charge” rule changes because they will negatively affect the livelihoods, safety, health and security of Asian Pacific American and immigrant populations in a multitude of ways. 

First, because immigrants applying for legal permanent resident (green card) status are evaluated on whether they are likely to become a “public charge”, DHS’s proposed expanded definition of “public charge” imposes unjustified and unnecessary barriers on a widened category of individuals and families who would be likely at any time in the future to receive one or more government benefits from an expanded list of programs, including critical healthcare, nutrition and housing assistance programs for children. 

This is in stark contrast to the current rule, where someone would only be designated a “public charge” if determined “primarily dependent” on the government for cash assistance or long-term care.  The proposed new rule would therefore make it easier to designate an applicant as a public charge and deny their admission to the United States or reject their permanent resident application.  This disproportionately affects the over 22 million Asian and Pacific Islanders living in the United States, nearly two-thirds of AAPI immigrants are foreign born, and many more Asian Pacific Americans with immigrant parents.

Second, the confusion and ambiguity about enforcement of the proposed rule changes has already had a detrimental “chilling effect” on AAPIs locally and nationally as it has caused legal immigrant families who would not have be impacted by the rule change, to disenroll from or forgo necessary public programs they are legally entitled to, in fear of jeopardizing their status.   The Asian Outreach Unit of the legal aid organization Greater Boston Legal Services in Massachusetts, has firsthand dealt with clients experiencing fear and confusion about their ability to continue to receive public benefits and believing they need to disenroll from essential public benefit and government assistance programs if wishing to apply for a green card.  This chilling effect is detrimental to the overall well-being of immigrants living in the United States.  Decreased participation in Medicaid, public housing assistance, Emergency Assistance to Elderly, Disabled and Children, Food Stamps, Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and other government assistance programs will lead to uninsured, unstable immigrant families and will have a negative impact on their health and financial stability and the nation’s economy as a whole.  The proposed rule is physically harmful, as many immigrants will be forced to choose between life-saving government services or getting a green card.

Third, as a professional bar association of attorneys whose mission is to ensure the fair and equitable administration of law and justice and eliminating unfounded access barriers, AALAM is greatly concerned about the lack of clarity in how the proposed rules and stricter guidelines for assessing a “public charge” would be enforced.  The highly subjective and discretionary nature of the proposed rule poses a great risk that the new “totality of the circumstances” test will likely be unequally and inconsistently applied.  For example, DHS seeks to make determinations that are “predicated on an opinion as to the likelihood of future events,” and on the totality of the circumstances. In forming such “opinion”,  the following factors will be weighed heavily and negatively: being younger than the age of 18, older than the age of 60, having a chronic or pre-existing condition, making 125% of the federal poverty line (FPL) or lower, lacking a high school/secondary school degree, and being limited English proficient, among other factors.

The proposed rule further gives broad discretion to authorities to deny an adjustment of status to individuals who make less than 250 percent of the federal poverty line ($63,000 for a family of four), a standard double of the current income requirements.  As the Asian and Pacific Islander immigrant community continues to grow, the proposed rules are expected to have a more pronounced impact on Asian Pacific Islander communities. The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) predicts that “Asians would end up being the most disadvantaged group numerically under [the proposed rules], with more than 1 million recent legal noncitizens living in families with incomes under 250 percent of poverty.”

Finally, AALAM is gravely concerned about the continued attacks on the immigrant population in the United States, and in particular, believes the proposed rule change perpetuates the longstanding history of discrimination against Asian American and Pacific Islander immigrant communities from the 19th century, beginning with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Immigration Act of 1882.  The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 suspended immigration from China for ten years and declared that the Chinese population was ineligible for naturalization.  The Immigration Act of 1882 excluded from admission “any convict, lunatic, idiot, or any person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge.”  AALAM is concerned that the proposed rule returns to this indisputably repressive era in United States history and implements a rule that disproportionately discriminates against Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants.

For the reasons discussed above, AALAM strongly opposes the proposed rules for determining an immigrant’s inadmissibility on public charge grounds and urges the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw all of the changes proposed in its notice of proposed rulemaking.  AALAM thanks DHS for its careful consideration of its comments.

Sincerely,

Christina Chan

President of the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts

Public Charge Comments - AALAM.pdf

NAPABA Wellness Committee Survey | Friday, Sept. 21

Complete Survey Here

Dear AALAM members:

The NAPABA Wellness Committee asks that you please fill out the confidential survey linked below, in our effort to better understand and support the improvement of the health and wellness of our membership and profession.

NAPABA has created a Wellness Committee because of growing awareness that health is paramount to achieving success and advancement in the legal profession. Recent studies on health and wellness among lawyers have shown that members of our profession suffer from clinical depression, substance abuse, and high levels of auto-immune disease – all highly correlated with chronic stress. We also have anecdotal reports of heart attacks, stroke, and cancer among practitioners who are relatively young and otherwise in good health – and this has also prompted interest in creating this new committee.

Highly competitive businesses and law firms are integrating health and wellness practices into their organizations.  NAPABA would like to focus on the experiences of its members to see if there is an opportunity to add value to future program offerings through the regional and national meetings of the organization. To this end, the following confidential survey seeks your input for the NAPABA Wellness Committee to use in connection with future programs designed for our members.

Complete the survey here by Friday, Sept. 21: 
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/napabawellness

Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete our survey!

NAPABA Wellness Committee
Angela Oh and Rudhir Krishtel, Co-Chairs