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THE NATIONAL ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION (NAPABA) CELEBRATED ITS 25TH ANNUAL CONVENTION IN KANSAS CITY, MO., LAST NOVEMBER. THE FOUR-DAY CONVENTION WAS THEMED MOMENTUM TO CELEBRATE THE CONTINUING GROWTH AND PROGRESS IN THE ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN (APA) LEGAL COMMUNITY, AND BROUGHT MORE THAN 1,200 ATTENDEES TO THE SHOW-ME STATE. AMONG AWARDS GIVEN OUT AT THE ANNUAL CONVENTION IS THE HIGHLY COVETED NAPABA BEST LAWYERS UNDER 40 (BU40) AWARD.
NAPABA IS THE ONLY national associa- tion of APA attorneys, judges, law professors, and law students. It represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and 66 state and local APA bar associations. In 2000, NAPABA established the BU40 Award to recognize young APA lawyers who are emerging leaders in their practices and communities at relatively early stages in their careers. Te BU40 Award was also created as a way to leverage talented APA attorneys in a field where they are still an anomaly in higher management and executive roles, given the relatively large number of APA associates and those in junior management roles. Tis year, NAPABA honored 20 young
lawyers with the BU40 Award. Tese honorees went through a rigorous selection process, which includes nominations, evalu- ations, and interviews by the NAPABA BU40 selection committee. And unlike other awards similar to the BU40, there is no set number of honorees each year—each
BU40 class is determined based on the pool of qualified candidates in a given year. As a group, the 2013 BU40 class was
comprised of diverse legal practices and accomplishments that are significant in their own ways. In addition, this class manages to balance a deep sense of community with a demanding legal career, and has done so nearly flawlessly. To give you a taste of what it takes to be part of the BU40 class, we highlighted four of the 2013 honor- ees: Christopher Kang, Asim Rehman, Christopher Javillonar, and Betty Song.
TOP OF THE CLASS Serving as President Barack Obama’s special assistant and senior counsel, Christopher Kang is currently the highest ranking APA in the White House. Kang was also a recipi- ent of the 2012 NAPABA President’s Award for his work on judicial nominations and is the only person in NAPABA history to be honored with the BU40 and President’s
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014 DIVERSITY & THE BAR®
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