News

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) Legal Training on Census Issues in Dallas and Houston

APIS is cosponsoring two legal trainings given by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) on census issues. AALDEF is a national organization that protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans. AALDEF"s 2010 Census Project is designed to ensure a complete and accurate count of the nation's Asian American population.

The two trainings will be held in Dallas and Houston as follows:

Thursday, February 4, 2010 12 Noon - 1:30 p.m. Belo Mansion (Rain Room, on the 2nd Floor) 2101 Ross Avenue Dallas, Texas 75201

Monday, February 8, 2010 6:00 to 8:30 PM FosterQuan LLP in Galleria 5177 Richmond Avenue, Suite 800 Houston, Texas 77056 (Free garage parking) (Light refreshments will be provided) *1.0 CLE credits (which includes 0.5 ethics credits) have been approved for the Houston training.

RSVP to apistexas@gmail.com

Federal law states that census information is confidential. At this legal training, AALDEF attorneys will provide:

• a legal analysis about the strength of the confidentiality protections, including a review of compliance efforts, enforcement mechanisms, and results of Freedom of Information Requests to the government
• legal procedures dealing with census employees who violate confidentiality
• an explanation of the confidentiality protections in light of the Illegal Immigration Reform Act of 1996 and USA Patriot Act of 2001
• the rights and responsibilities of community-based organizations in advising their clients to participate in the census
• the individual benefits for undocumented immigrants to participate in the census
• This training is for immigrant service providers, attorneys, and community leaders. CLE credits may be available.

AALDEF is also monitoring census operations. Beginning in late February, individuals will be able to report problems and potential violations of law through a multilingual telephone hotline and online form to an attorney.

North American Network of Indian Professional (NetIP), Dallas Chapter, Third Thursday Event - March 18, 2010 (Dallas)

On March 18, 2010, APIS and the Dallas Asian American Bar Association (DAABA) will be joining the North American Network of Indian Professional (NetIP), Dallas Chapter, at their monthly professional development event. NetIP is an organization of South Asian professionals that promotes business development and networking opportunities for its members.

You will have the opportunity to meet South Asian professionals in the Dallas area, socialize with friends, and just unwind after a long day of work.

Thursday, March 18, 2010
6:30 to 9:30pm
Social House
3699 Mckinney Ave, Dallas, TX, 75204
(214) 521-7500

Free Appetizers from 7:30 to 8:30pm, Extended Happy Hour until 9:30m and Free entrance for APIS Members!

RSVP to apistexas@gmail.com

Visit NetIP's website at http://www.netipdallas.org/ for more information.

Fourteenth Annual APIS Conference and Retreat (Austin)

SAVE THE DATE!

The Fourteenth Annual APIS Conference and Retreat will be held on Friday, April 16, 2010 to Sunday, April 18, 2010. The officers and council members are planning an event you won't want to miss!

Sponsorship: If you or your firm/organization are interested in sponsoring the retreat, please contact clin@curtis.com for sponsorship materials.

Registration: Watch your inbox for registration materials and details.

GOLF: For all the golf players out there, a group will be playing on Sunday, April 18, 2010 at Falconhead Golf Club, a PGA Signature course (falconheadaustin.com). The course is about a 30 minute drive from downtown Austin and Tee Times will probably be between 9am-10am

For more information or RSVPs on playing golf, email Michael Wong at mwong@compassprops.com.

APIS Annual Membership Meeting at the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting (Fort Worth)

On June 10-11, 2010, the State Bar of Texas (SBOT) will be holding its Annual Meeting in Forth Worth at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel. During the Annual Meeting, we will have our Annual Membership Meeting! APIS will also be sponsoring a diversity forum and reception.

Thursday, June 10, 2010
9:00am - 11:15 am Diversity Forum
4:00pm - 4:15pm APIS Council Meeting
4:15pm - 5:00pm APIS Membership Meeting
5:00pm - 7:00 pm Reception with the American Indian Law and Hispanic Issues Section

OMNI FORT WORTH HOTEL
1300 Houston St.
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
Phone: 817-535-6664
Fax: 817-882-8140

For more information about the Annual Meeting, go to The State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting page

TENTATIVE - Leadership Summit (Teleconference)

APIS is planning a leadership summit for officers of Asian bar associations and law student associations to be held in January 2010. If you reside in a city that does not have an Asian bar association or law student association and would like to participate, please email Cindy Lin at clin@curtis.com.

Professional Liability Insurance

"The Supreme Court of Texas has asked the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors to give its recommendation on whether Texas attorneys should or should not be required to disclose to the public whether they have professional liability insurance. If the board recommends such a requirement, the Court would like the board to suggest the method of how attorneys should be required to disclose such information, (i.e. through the bar website, in a client contract, etc.)." www.texasbar.com/plidisclosure

The State Bar Board will be voting on this issue in January 2010. Your opinion is important! Take a moment to give your feedback on this issue. To complete the survey, go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q7WPZNZ

DAABA Award Reception (Dallas)

On October 22, 2009, APIS sponsored the 2009 DAABA Awards Reception at the Old Red Courthouse in which Gary F. Kennedy, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of American Airlines was the keynote speaker. The event was very well attended and complete with a lion dance, drum performance and milk tea! Congratulations to the Dallas Asian American Bar Association for organizing such a great event!

APIS also warmly congratulates all of the DAABA 2009 award winners:

• DAABA Lifetime Community Advocate Award - Phillip Shinoda
• DAABA Community Leadership Award - Linda Kao
• DAABA Outstanding Member Award - Albert Tan
• DAABA Inspirational Leadership Award - Michele Wong Krause
• NAPABA scholarship recipient – Manson Ho
• DAABA student scholarship recipient – Dolly Wu, SMU law school

NAPABA at 21, The Revolution Continues (Boston)

From November 18-22, 2009, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) held its 21st annual convention in Boston, Massachusetts. More than 1,000 attorneys attended the convention from all over the world, including many from Texas! APIS proudly congratulates two of our very own, Warren Huang (Partner at Fulbright & Jaworski and current president of the Asian American Bar Association of Houston) and Toni Nguyen (Assistant General Counsel for Belo Corp. and APIS Council Member) for being honored with the "Best Lawyers Under 40" Award.

APIS also wants to recognize all of the Texas attorneys who were panel speakers at the convention, including Vishal Chander (Managing Attorney at The Chander Law Firm and APIS Advisor), Wilson Chu (Partner at K&L Gates), James C. Ho (Solicitor General of Texas), Ramey Ko (Texas Advocacy Project), Christopher Koa (Counsel at Dell, Inc.), Gordon Quan (Partner at FosterQuan, LLP), and Lawrence P. Tu (Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Dell, Inc.).

In addition, APIS congratulates Emily T. Kuo (Associate General Counsel of M.D. Anderson Services Corporation, and APIS Council Member) for her installation as 2009-2010 VP of Programs & Operations of NAPABA.

If someone has been left out who should be recognized, please email APISTexas@gmail.com. Also, email us pictures from the NAPABA convention to put on the APIS website!