FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Dennis Wu
March 3, 2014	E-MAIL: denniswu@maddenjones.com

Los Angeles, CA, March 3, 2014 - On February 28, 2014, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County ("APABA") celebrated its sixteenth anniversary installation dinner before a sold-out crowd at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Hosted by Emmy-winning sports anchor, James Koh, approximately 365 attorneys, judicial officers, law students, legal professionals, and community leaders were in attendance as APABA honored retired Justice Kathryn Doi Todd, California Court of Appeal, and Commissioner Cynthia Loo, Mariposa County Superior Court, two pioneers in the Asian Pacific American legal community, with its Public Service Award. Judge Halim Dhanidina, Los Angeles County Superior Court, installed the 2013-2014 officers and board of governors of APABA at the event. APABA Public Interest Fellow, Mike Hyun Lee, also shared how APABA's 2013 Public Interest Fellowship supported his work at the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education.

"The gala was a great success, sponsored by over thirty local law firms, bar associations, community groups, and local businesses," said Dennis Wu, APABA's President. "APABA is thrilled by this outpouring of support, and we look forward to giving back to our members and our local communities for the new year and beyond."

Congresswoman Judy Chu introduced the evening's keynote speaker, Frank Wu, Chancellor and Dean of the University of California, Hastings College of Law, whose speech on his experience with racial inequality as a youth in Detroit and the tragedy of Vincent Chin resonated with many of those in the audience. "All of us are different. There are many Asian American experiences, not a single one. Yet we also are bound together by a set of common themes," Chancellor Wu observed. "To claim our own identities, to write the scripts of our lives, not bound by stereotypes, is to realize the best of this diverse democracy. It makes good on the ideals of freedom and liberty that brought our parents and grandparents, 'strangers from a different shore,' to this new world."


APABA's events and activities include legal clinics, continuing legal education seminars, community forums, networking receptions, and various programs for law students, including a public interest fellowship award. APABA works closely with APAWLA, JABA, KABA, PABA, SABA, SCCLA, TABA, and other minority bar associations to promote diversity on the bench and in the legal profession and to speak out on issues of importance to minority communities. To join or learn more about APABA, please visit www.apaba.org.

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