The 24th Annual NAPABA Convention Day #1

Thursday, November 15, 2012

I arrived today in Washington DC for the 24^th Annual NAPABA Convention.  The theme of the convention this year is “Reaching Monumental Heights” which is set as a tribute to the great monuments as well as the amazing members within the NAPABA community.  This marks one of the largest Conventions to date with its 1450 registrants.

Once I arrived at Reagan Airport, I headed to the Convention Site by taking the Metro train.  The Metro is pretty nice because it transports me directly from the airport to various stops within the D.C. area. 

At the Convention site (i.e. JW Marriott in D.C.), I picked up my registration materials for tomorrow’s CLE sessions.    

There were several social events today.  The NAPABA Welcome Reception tonight was full of high energy and even at one point included NAPABA members dancing to Psy’s Gangnam Style song. 

I attended an event recognizing the 2012 Best Lawyers Under 40 Awards. These awards recognize talented Asian Pacific American attorneys under the age of 40 who have achieved prominence in their respective areas of law while demonstrating an unwavering dedication to the APA community.

One of the Best Under 40 lawyers is from Minnesota!  The 2012 Best Lawyers Under 40 Awards recipients are:

•    Akemi Arakaki, LA County Superior Court, Central Juvenile District

•    Steve Choi, MinKwon Center for Community Action

•    James Derry, Arbitron, Inc.

•    Marita Etcubañez, Asian American Justice Center

•    Rio M. Guerrero, Guerrero Yee LLP

•    Mark Hanasono, LA County Alternate Public Defender

•    Melissa S. Ho, Polsinelli Shughart PC

•    Peggy L. Ho, LPL Financial

•    Laboni Hoq, Asian Pacific American Legal Center

•    Blossom Kan, MetLife, Inc.

•    Naho Kobayashi, McGuireWoods LLP

•    Nicole Kubista, Office of the Public Defender, St. Paul, MN

•    Jason Leung, Ridout & Maybee, LLP

•    Edward Lew, The Walt Disney Company

•    Tirzah Abe Lowe, Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP

•    Samuel S. Park, Winston & Strawn LLP

•    Teena-Ann Sankoorikal, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

•    Jeannie Suk, Harvard Law School

•    Vinoo Varghese, Varghese & Associates P.C.

•    Carla Wong McMillian, State Court of Fayette County, GA

•    Calvin K. Woo, McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP

Many of today’s evening events were geared towards encouraging attendees to mingle and meet the other NABAPA members.  Everyone I’ve met so far has been very engaging and nice.  It’s been a great first day and I look forward to tomorrow.

- Grace J. Kim