#fall conference

On Saturday, Sept. 22, 2018, AABANY held its 9th annual Fall Conference. For the second year in a row, the conference took place at Fordham Law School. We had 20 programs running concurrently throughout the morning and afternoon, most of which offered CLE credits, including two programs that offered credits in the new Diversity and Inclusion and Elimination of Bias requirement. 

At the same time, throughout the day, there were Pitch Sessions that introduced law firm attorneys to in-house counsel that were interested in learning more about their legal services and capabilities. We also had an all-day Trial Advocacy Program (TAP) that featured a top-flight faculty of experienced trial lawyers and sitting judges teaching the attendees about effective opening statements and how to examine and cross-examine witnesses to achieve optimal results. There were also Professional Development Coaching sessions that matched attendees with a faculty of senior attorneys who offered professional development coaching and advice, focusing this year on personal branding. In addition to all that, we had a Diversity Career Fair and Expo in which numerous employers from all over New York City and State set up informational tables to speak with prospective candidates. Some of the employers set up onsite interviews to speak with Fall Conference attendees who submitted resumes in advance.

Between the morning and afternoon sessions, we had a Plenary Lunch Session on “Lessons and Legacy of the My Lai Massacre: 50th Year Commemoration.” It was a compelling presentation and discussion on the horrors of war and the challenges of enforcing legal norms and principles in the face of unspeakable atrocities.

After the programs were done, all attendees were invited to stay for the cocktail reception. During the reception, President James Cho presented the Norman Lau Kee Trailblazer Award to Kin Ng, the first Asian Pacific American prosecutor to lead a major trial bureau in one of the New York District Attorney’s offices. He has a long string of pioneering firsts to his credit over a long career in public service.

For those who were up for more food after the cocktail reception ended, they walked a few blocks south to Szechuan Gourmet for the Post-Conference Joint Committees Dinner and Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration. Our group filled up the entire second floor and we got to enjoy a wide array of spicy and not-so-spicy Szechuan dishes.

For the intrepid few for whom the day just wasn’t long enough already, there was karaoke to be sung at Duet 53. Thanks to GSPI Committee Co-Chair (and die-hard Karaoke Queen) Beatrice Leong for organizing the unofficial after-party.

Thanks to everyone who came, especially our speakers, moderators, and program chairs for putting together some excellent panels. Thanks to our sponsors for their support which made the entire day possible. Thanks to Fordham Law School for hosting us at their beautiful and modern facility.

AABANY’s Law School Roadshows continued on September 5 with a visit to Cardozo APALSA. Executive Director Yang Chen met with Cardozo’s APALSA members to share with them what AABANY is, why we exist, what we do, how we do it and most importantly, how law students can get involved and why they need to start connecting with AABANY, even as law students. Executive Director Chen offered some free memberships donated by AABANY’s sponsors, and many eager law students took him up on the offer. We look forward to seeing many Cardozo APALSA members taking part in AABANY events in the coming days and months, including the Fall Conference, taking place on Saturday, September 22, at Fordham Law School. We do offer a law student group rate at $45 per student, signing up in groups of four, so we hope law students will take advantage of that and join us at the Fall Conference. Law students can also attend the Fall Conference as volunteers. To sign up to volunteer at the Fall Conference, go here to complete the form.

If you would like AABANY to visit with your APALSA, contact the Student Outreach Committee.

On September 14, AABANY and Perkins Coie presented a panel on “How to Pitch,” which featured senior in-house attorneys alongside the moderator, Dennis Hopkins, a Partner in the Perkins Coie Intellectual Property and Patent Litigation practices. 

The diverse and incredibly experienced group discussed the challenging process of pitching companies on legal services. The practical strategies they offered were often accompanied by humorous anecdotes from their own careers that most often demonstrated what not to do. The panel agreed on the importance of diversity on the part of law firms when constructing presentations for companies, but authenticity was particularly stressed and much of the advice centered on the more social aspects of professional life, rather than the purely functional elements of practicing law. 

At one point, LaTanya Langley, Vice President & General Counsel at BIC, stated that if you are an attorney in the room, then she is going to often assume that you can do the job. Therefore, she focuses on the “how” of the pitch and not exclusively on the what. Additionally, Langley offered a useful structure for preparing a pitch, one that she called the four R’s of reliability, responsiveness, relationship, and rates. 

Many of the panelists expanded on these ideas and everyone agreed that a successful pitch is about so much more than just subject matter expertise. Sumeet Chugani, Senior Counsel & Vice President at Citizens Financial Group, Inc., highlighted the importance responsiveness has played in his own experience. Another panelist, Miki Kamijyo, Chief Compliance Officer & Legal Counsel at GreenOak Real Estate, shared her unique advice from the perspective of working at a smaller company. Amy Ngai, Associate General Counsel at The One Group, filling in for Sonia Low, General Counsel at The One Group, shared her thoughts coming from the hospitality industry. 

Overall, the panelists together with Mr. Hopkins provided a thoroughly enjoyable yet distinctly candid and rewarding discussion on how to pitch companies successfully.

All the companies represented at the how to pitch program will be participating in the pitch sessions at the Fall Conference on September 23. Many of the audience members will be participating in the pitch sessions, and we hope they will take to heart the panelists’ advice as they meet with in-house counsel participants at this year’s Fall Conference pitch sessions.

If you are planning to attend the DCF please note the following:

The DCF is being held in conjunction with AABANY’s Fall Conference at Fordham Law School, on Saturday, September 23. To attend the DCF you must first be registered for the Fall Conference. You must also complete an intake form. DCF is scheduled to take place from 10:30 am to 4 pm. More details here on the Fall Conference website.

Registration is open via the AABANY website at http://bit.ly/fc17reg

If you are an AABANY member who has not paid to attend the Fall Conference, you can attend DCF – and only DCF – for free. You may NOT attend any of the programs at the Fall Conference, including the lunch session and the cocktail reception at the end of the day.

To register to attend DCF for free as an AABANY member, click here.

If you are not an AABANY member, you can join online and pay the appropriate membership fee at http://www.aabany.org/?page=J2.  Once you have done that, follow the instructions above in paragraph 4.

If you are not an AABANY member and you are not interested in joining but you wish to attend DCF, then you must register for and pay to attend the Fall Conference at http://bit.ly/fc17reg.

The deadline to sign up for onsite interviews passed on Sept. 7.

If you have not already done so, please submit a copy of your resume to [email protected] by Thursday, Sept. 14. In the subject line, please list 2017 DCF, your name and “Informational Tables.” Your resume will be included in a resume book that will be circulated to participating employers.