#summer reception

On June 28, at Paul Hastings LLP, AABANY and AALFNY held their annual Summer Reception, featuring Hon. Toko Serita, Acting Justice, NYS Supreme Court, as the event’s distinguished guest speaker and the recognition of AALFNY’s scholarship and fellowship recipients. 

Sylvia Chin, President of AALFNY delivered the opening remarks, introducing AALFNY and AABANY’s board members and thanking all attendees for their support and contributions to both organizations. AABANY President James Cho followed up with a meaningful reminder that AALFNY’s scholarships help dozens of aspiring attorneys commit to public service or public interest without being weighed down by financial burdens.

After opening remarks, Sylvia recognized each recipient of AALFNY’s scholarship and fellowship awards: Corinne Merdegia, Henna Kaushal, and Nishat Bella Tabassum. 

Corinne, a student at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law, is a recipient of the 2018 Edward G. H. Chin Memorial Scholarship for her dedication to the advancement of APA and Asian immigrant communities. She will be working with the Legal Aid Society’s Immigration Law Unit this summer. 

Henna, a student at the UC Berkley School of Law, is a recipient of the 2018 AALFNY Community Service Scholarship for her extraordinary community service initiatives, including domestic violence awareness campaigns, “Know Your Rights” presentations translated into Punjabi, and political education workshops for South Asian youth. She will be working with the New York Ciivl Liberties Union (NYCLU) this summer.

Nishat, a student at the City University of New York Law School, is the recipient of the 2018 AALFNY/SABANY Fellowship Award due to her devotion to assisting the South Asian community and victims of domestic violence through organizations such as Sanctuary for Families. She will be working at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office.

The event’s guest speaker was Hon. Toko Serita who presides over three problem solving courts in Queens County Criminal Court. She delivered a powerful address that discussed the reality of human trafficking. As a judge at the Queens Human Trafficking Intervention Court since 2008, Justice Serita shared insights about the causes, consequences, and conditions of human trafficking that often remain unseen, especially in large metropolitan areas like New York City. Justice Serita began to dedicate herself to this field when she realized that the lack of an efficient judicial response to human trafficking has led to female defendants—many arrested on prostitution charges. The Human Trafficking Intervention Court, she explained, seeks to address this complex issue by first redefining female defendants involved in sex trafficking as victims rather than criminals.

On June 2, AALFNY and AABANY co-hosted their annual  Summer Reception, for the first time at Baker McKenzie’s New York Office.

This year’s honoree and keynote speaker was Manisha Sheth, recently appointed as Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice by the New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. Thank you, Manisha, for sharing inspirational episodes from your amazing career path and practical as well as inspirational advice with all the attendees at the reception!

We congratulate the 2016 recipients of AALFNY’s Community Service Scholarship: Michelle Chan (Univ. of Virginia School of Law ‘18) and Alice Thai (NYU School of Law ‘18), and the 2016 recipient of the AALFNY/SABANY (South Asian Bar Association of New York) Public Interest Scholarship, Maria Imam (NYU School of Law ‘18), and also the 28 law students selected for summer judicial internships by the 2016 Sonia and Celina Sotomayor Judicial Internship Program (SCS JIP). AALFNY and AABANY have been consistent supporters of this program since its prior incarnation as the Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program.

AALFNY will honor Carmelyn Malalis, NYC Commissioner of Human Rights, at its Summer Reception on July 20.  Carmelyn Malalis’ dedication to the poor and underrepresented makes her a fitting role model as AALFNY presents its Community Service scholarship award.  Please be sure to join us for this event.

For the past decade, Carmelyn P. Malalis has worked as a partner at Outten and Golden LLP—one of the City’s premier plaintiff side law firms—and its co-chair of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Workplace Rights Practice Group and the Family Responsibilities and Disability Discrimination Practice Group. In these roles, Malalis has been tasked with a large litigation and negotiation docket, including class actions and individual client cases, and she advises clients on a broad array of employment-related matters. Malalis’s work also includes several advocacy and pro bono projects in collaboration with grassroots organizations and legal services providers advocating on behalf of low-wage and immigrant workers; LGBT employees; and women in the workplace. Prior to Outten and Golden LLP, Malalis worked as a litigation associate at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, and she has served as a judicial law clerk for the U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis.

Malalis, whose parents come from the Philippines, co-chairs the Diversity in the Legal Profession Committee of the American Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section. She is also a member of the New York City Bar Association’s Executive Committee. Malalis has previously served as an advisory committee member of the LGBT Rights Project at the Human Rights Watch, chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on LGBT Rights, and board member of Queers for Economic Justice.

Malalis earned her J.D. from the Northeastern University School of Law and received a B.A. in women’s studies from Yale University. She and her spouse live in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with their two children.