Khin Mai Aung
Khin Mai Aung is a staff attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), where she directs the Educational Equity and Youth Rights Project. She filed a Supreme Court amicus brief supporting the school districts in the recent Seattle and Louisville desegregation cases, and is working with local partners to preserve racial integration in San Francisco and Chicago schools. She was active in the battle against Michigan’s anti-affirmative action Proposition 2, and won reinstatement for three veteran Cambodian and Latino teachers in Lowell, Mass., who were fired after discriminatory English fluency testing. Ms. Aung is a 1996 graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law at University of California at Berkeley, where she was on the California Law Review and Asian Law Journal.
Tung Chan
As Securities Commissioner of Hawai’i, Tung Chan led the effort to pass Act 95, one of the first state laws in the country increasing penalties for securities violations against senior citizens. A number of other states and the U.S. Senate are now considering similar measures. Her office has also worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission to initiate the first major case resulting from a nationwide sweep to protect senior investors and expand investor education outreach to more than 60,000 senior citizens this year. She clerked for Chief Judge Stephanie K. Seymour on the U.S. Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit, and for the Constitutional Court of South Africa. She is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and graduated from Dartmouth College and the University of Michigan Law School.
Theo Cheng
Theo Cheng recently joined Proskauer Rose LLP, where he handles complex litigation involving patents, copyrights, trademarks, and commercial disputes. Previously, he played integral roles in the Napster and Grokster litigations. He has also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Julio M. Fuentes (3rd Circuit) and the Honorable Ronald L. Buckwalter (E.D. Pa.). Committed to public service and pro bono work, Theo is active in several bar associations, has been appointed a special prosecutor on criminal appeals, and maintains a docket involving civil rights and intellectual property matters. Governor Eliot Spitzer recently recognized this commitment by appointing Theo to a statewide diversity commission. Theo graduated from Harvard (A.B. with honors) and NYU (J.D.), where he was editor-in-chief of the Moot Court Board.
Christine Yong-Hwa Chi
Christine Yong-Hwa Chi is a litigation partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP in New York. Her practice focuses on representing organizations and individuals in criminal and regulatory investigations and related civil litigation. She regularly conducts internal investigations and counsels companies on regulatory and legal compliance issues. From 1997 until 2003, Christine was an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where she conducted criminal investigations, jury trials, and appeals in cases ranging from bank, wire, and securities fraud to racketeering. Christine served on the board of the Asian American Bar Association of New York from 2005 until 2007, currently serves on the advisory board of the School of the Blessed Sacrament, and is an active member of the Harvard Law School Alumnae Association.
Harmeet Kaur Dhillon
Harmeet Kaur Dhillon is managing partner of Dhillon & Smith, a San Francisco commercial, real estate, and entertainment boutique. Throughout her career in private practice, Harmeet has devoted substantial pro bono assistance to victims of domestic violence, human rights violations, ethnic/religious discrimination, and hate crimes. She is civil rights chair of the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California, trustee of the Sikh Foundation, counsel for the South Asian Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), former director of the ACLU and numerous other nonprofits, and a Schwarzenegger appointee. Harmeet immigrated to the United States from India as a child, earning her B.A. from Dartmouth and her J.D. from the University of Virginia. She served as law clerk to the Hon. Paul V. Niemeyer (4th Circuit) before joining Shearman & Sterling in New York and London.
Vincent A. Eng
Vincent A. Eng is the deputy director of the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC). Before joining AAJC, he was managing editor of Bernan Press and prior to that position he was an attorney-advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice. Vincent is an adjunct professor of law at American University, Columbia University, and The George Washington University, where he lectures on Asian Americans and the Law, Criminal Sentencing, and Legal Research. He is also the faculty advisor for the National Security and Law Society at American University Law School. He has written and edited more than ten books on various legal and political matters. His latest major publication, “Sentencing, Sanctions, and Corrections,” a law school casebook, was published by Foundation Press, a division of West Publishing.
Jennifer Choe Groves
Jennifer Choe Groves works for the White House as director for intellectual property in the Office of the United States Trade Representative. She coordinates U.S. intellectual property (IP) policy, leads international treaty negotiations for the United States, and oversees IP in Russia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and North Africa. Jennifer chairs the Special 301 Committee on international IP and authors the annual Special 301 Report. Previously, she was a prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and an IP and entertainment litigator with several prominent law firms. She graduated from Columbia Law School, Rutgers Law School, Princeton University, and the Juilliard School of Music. She serves on the Asian Pacific American Bar Association (APABA)-DC’s Judicial Nominations Committee and Educational Fund (AEF) Executive Committee and is past-president of AEF.
Shirish Gupta
Shirish Gupta is a senior litigation associate at Mayer Brown, focusing on high tech, securities, derivative, consumer law, and employment cases. Increasingly, Shirish has been defending employers in arbitrations and administrative proceedings brought by former executives. Shirish is the president of the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California and recently co-chaired the North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA) Annual Convention, which was attended by 750 attorneys from around the country and South Asia. Recently, he fought for and obtained insurance coverage for an Indian family whose house had been burned down in a hate crime and secured the release of a prisoner who had been convicted of a third-strike offense for stealing a bottle of vitamins.
Sharon A. Hwang
Sharon A. Hwang is a shareholder at McAndrews, Held & Malloy in Chicago, where she practices intellectual property law with an emphasis on patent litigation. A graduate of Boston College Law School, with a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Sharon has successfully litigated significant patent cases from coast to coast in technologies ranging from digital cellular telephony to orthopedic implants. Sharon currently serves on the board of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Chicago affiliate, while also serving as her firm’s marketing partner. She recently established her firm’s Diversity in Patent Law Fellowship and represents her firm in the Chicago Women’s Leadership Initiative to promote the advancement of women in large law firms. Sharon is actively involved with raising three daughters, including serving as vice president of their school’s parent-teacher organization.
Judy Kim
Judy Kim is assistant general counsel at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in Bentonville, Ark. A member of the Realty Division, her responsibilities include negotiating and drafting various contracts on behalf of the energy management and facilities maintenance departments. She is the former president of the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Before moving to Bentonville, she assisted in establishing a monthly legal referral clinic focused on serving the Asian American and Latino American communities in metro Atlanta. Her current project is helping to establish an Arkansas affiliate of NAPABA. She received her B.A. from Columbia University, magna cum laude, and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Emily T. Kuo
Emily T. Kuo recently joined The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center as associate general counsel, practicing corporate and health law. She graduated with honors from Harvard University, received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, and clerked for U.S. District Judge Sim Lake. Emily is the 2007 president of the Asian American Bar Association of Houston and the 2007–2008 vice-president for membership of NAPABA. She also serves as appointed member to the State Bar Committee on Judiciary Relations and the Mayor’s International Affairs & Development Council, director of the Society for the Performing Arts, and director of Houston Early Music. This year, Emily was named a Texas Super Lawyer—Rising Star and also received the inaugural “Young Achiever’s Award” from the Chinese Professional Club.
Minh-Duc (“Ducie”) Le
Minh-Duc (“Ducie”) T. Le is an assistant general counsel at Capital One, where she advises the business lines on consumer banking laws. Prior to joining Capital One, Minh-Duc was with the Federal Reserve Board handling such matters as mortgages, fair lending, financial privacy, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices. She was also an attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, and a law student intern for Baker & McKenzie in Bangkok and a refugee organization in Hong Kong.
Minh-Duc is a frequent speaker on banking at American Bar Association conferences. She recently served as a Fellow of the ABA Business Law Section and board member of the Domestic Violence Resource Project. She graduated from the College of William & Mary and the Georgetown University Law Center.
Patricia Lin
As counsel in the Environmental Practice Group of Chevron’s law department, Patricia Lin manages environmental litigation in the Gulf Coast region, advises Chevron’s supply and trading companies on asset transfers, and leads the legal team assigned to supporting Chevron’s global risk management and capital project impact assessment processes. Patricia is a member of Chevron’s Law Function Diversity Council, previously served on the Houston Bar Association’s Gender Fairness Task Force, was the youngest person to serve as president of Houston’s Asian American Bar Association, and founded the Asian American Bar Foundation of Houston in 2005. Patricia also performs in the Houston Bar Association’s annual Night Court musical, chairs the Houston Young Lawyer Foundation’s Grant Committee, and is an avid underwater photographer and gourmet cook.
Marty Lorenzo
Marty B. Lorenzo is a partner in the Corporate and Securities Group of DLA Piper’s San Diego office. He represents public and private growth companies, venture capital firms, and investment banks in capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and SEC matters. He is a member of DLA Piper’s National Diversity Committee and Chairman of its San Diego Diversity Committee.
Marty is chairman of the Southwest Center for Asian Pacific American Law, NAPABA regional governor for Southern California, and a past-president of the Filipino American Lawyers of San Diego. He is also a member of the San Diego Asian Business Association Board and the University of San Diego School of Law Alumni Board. He has proudly served for more than 19 years in the Marine Corps Reserve.
Thuy Thi Nguyen
Thuy Thi Nguyen has been general counsel since 2003 at Peralta Community College District, which consists of Laney College, Merritt College, Berkeley City College, and College of Alameda. She also oversees risk management and serves as District-wide Strategic Planning Manager.
Thuy is active in several community organizations and is a frequent keynote speaker at community events. She co-produced a publication titled “25 Vietnamese Americans in 25 Years,” which is archived at the Library of Congress. In recognition of her community service, the Mayor of Oakland proclaimed June 23, 1993, “Thuy Thi Nguyen Day.” In 2002, she was named one of “30 Most Influential Asian Americans Under 30” in the country by PoliticalCircus.com/Rainmaker Political Group.
Thuy received her B.A. at Yale College and J.D. at UCLA School of Law.
Colin Owyang
Colin Owyang is assistant general counsel for commercial litigation at National Grid, the second largest electricity and gas utility in the United States. Colin was previously an assistant U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts, where he prosecuted al-Qaeda terrorist Richard Reid (the “Shoe Bomber”) and mobster Stephen Flemmi (the “Rifleman”). Outside of work, Colin has served on the boards of community nonprofit organizations, including the Boston Center for Community and Justice and the Chinese Economic Development Council, as well as by political appointment to the Massachusetts Governor’s Judicial Nominating Commission and the Middlesex District Attorney’s External Diversity Committee. Colin is a graduate of Yale College, Yale University, and the University of Michigan Law School. He and his wife, Emmeline, have two sons, Ryan, age 7, and David, age 4.
Garner Weng
Garner Weng is a partner at the San Francisco office of Hanson Bridgett, a firm of about 140 attorneys. When he was elected partner in late 2002, Garner became the fastest to make partner out of law school at the firm in roughly 30 years. He then became one of the youngest to chair a practice group and one of the youngest to serve on the Management Committee. With a practice focusing on technology and IP, Garner has handled multimillion-dollar transactions and litigation, and represents leading Fortune 500 companies, emerging companies, and public agencies. He is currently treasurer of the Asian American Bar Association (AABA) and serves on the executive committee and board of the California Minority Counsel Program. He has also written and spoken widely on diversity issues.
William Yu
William Yu is a partner in the Chicago office of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. His practice includes commercial litigation, class action litigation, products liability and professional liability. He has successfully tried high exposure cases in both federal and state court. His service includes the following: regional governor to NAPABA, president of AABA Chicago, Federal Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel, and the City of Chicago’s and Lt. Governor of Illinois’ Advisory Councils on Asian Affairs. He was recently appointed to the boards for the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Heiwa Terrace senior residence, and the Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Lend-A-Hand Program. He graduated from Oberlin College and earned his J.D. from the John Marshall Law School while working as an aldermanic aide to Chicago’s City Council. DB
From the January/February 2008 issue of Diversity & The Bar®