Immediate Past President: Ethel Hong Badawi is Co-Founder & Principal of Pollack Badawi Group, LLC a legal recruiting firm based in DC.  Ethel has dedicated her professional life to helping individuals find careers that inspire joy and growth. She works with attorneys in strategic decision making to advance their professional careers and find their professional home at law firms, businesses, and the government. In addition to her involvement with APABA-DC, she has served as a Co-Chair of the Membership Committee, Diversity Committee, and Career Development Committee of the Women’s Bar Association in DC. She is a faculty member at the College of Professional Studies at The George Washington University and is a frequent presenter on career and professional development for legal professionals. She has held leadership roles at the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), the Washington Area Legal Recruitment Administrators Association (WALRAA), and the American Association for Paralegal Educators (AAfPE). Ethel has a B.A. in Spanish and Economics from Wellesley College and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.

Secretary: Sophia Chen is a real estate attorney in Holland & Knight's Washington, D.C., office for the firm's Mid-Atlantic Transactions group. Sophia assists local and national clients with a broad range of real estate transactions. Her transactional experience includes real estate financing involving multistate transactions, subscription lines and other commercial finance matters, office and retail leasing in commercial and mixed-use properties, acquisitions and sales of commercial and mixed-use properties, commercial project development, and hotel operational matters. Sophia has a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Wellesley College and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.

Treasurer: Arjun Amernath is an Associate General Counsel at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield where he supports the government affairs, corporate governance, audit and compliance teams on a variety of regulatory and compliance matters. Prior to joining CareFirst, Arjun worked at a law firm handling matters related to healthcare reimbursement. He has been involved with APABA-DC in various capacities. Arjun has a B.A. in Government from Georgetown University and a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.

Vice President for Communications: Jiazhen (Ivon) Guo is an associate at Morgan Lewis in its Telecommunication, Media and Technology group. Ivon frequently advises US and international technology companies  on a broad array of products encompassing diverse technologies, including computer software, electronics, integrated circuit, telecommunications, wireless communications, and semiconductor manufacturing. with regulatory matters before the Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Department of Commerce, state public utility commissions, among many other government agencies.  Additionally, Ivon has experience in all phases of patent litigation. Ivon has a M.S. in Computer Science from the George Washington University and a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.

Vice President for Community Affairs: Clinton Yu is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP. His practice focuses on international trade matters, including customs and import regulations, export controls (ITAR/EAR) and economic sanctions (OFAC), national security (CFIUS), and trade remedies. Clinton earned his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Vice President for Education: James Billings-Kang is a partner at Cozen O'Connor. He handles all stages of complex civil litigation at both the state and federal levels throughout the country. His trial and appellate experience has spanned a broad spectrum of legal issues: health care, products liability, real estate, contract disputes, franchise, trade secrets and noncompete, securities, consumer finance, statutory rights, torts, and digital ledger technology. James takes great pride in his pro bono practice assisting immigrants and additionally serves the community by mentoring youth. He earned his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, in Classics and Greek from Hampden-Sydney College and then his law degree from the University of Virginia, where he served on the editorial boards of the Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law and the Virginia Sports & Entertainment Law Journal. At UVA, James was also a member of UVA Law’s Center for the Study of Race and Law.

Vice President for Membership: Andrew Paik is an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Latham & Watkins LLP, where he serves on the Associates Committee. He was previously a member of the firm’s Recruiting Committee and a local leader of the Asian and Middle Eastern Lawyers Group. Mr. Paik’s practice focuses on antitrust review of mergers and acquisitions, antitrust investigations and enforcement matters, and antitrust litigation. Mr. Paik earned his JD at Harvard Law School, where he served as an Economics Teaching Fellow and was a student attorney in the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute.

Vice President for Programs: Matthew Mai is a capital markets associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Matthew enjoys visiting new restaurants in the DMV area and loves photographing food in his spare time (@dumplingadventuress). Matthew earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his B.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Assistant Vice President for Communications: Elizabeth Guo is an Associate Chief Counsel at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  She counsels the agency on matters involving FDA-regulated products, particularly drugs, and advises the agency on regulations, guidance documents, responses to citizen petitions, and draft legislation, among other matters.  Prior to government service, she was an associate in the Food, Drug, and Device group at Covington & Burling.  She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a B.A. from Harvard College.

Assistant Vice President for Community Affairs: Alicia Loh is an associate at Steptoe & Johnson LLP in the Internet, Telecom & Media group. She advises telecommunications providers, satellite operators, leading internet providers, and media companies on a variety of regulatory, policy, transactional, and litigation matters. She also aids presidential appointees through the vetting process. Alicia earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. in Sociology and B.S. in Information Systems from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Assistant Vice President for Education: Daeun Julie Lee is a litigation associate at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Julie focuses her practice on complex business litigation and represents clients in the financial, technology, and manufacturing sectors. Prior to joining Orrick, Julie was a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Dana M. Sabraw of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Julie graduated from UC Berkeley Law School, where she served as an Executive Editor of the California Law Review.

Assistant Vice President for Programs: Yifan Wang is a trial attorney at the Department of Justice, Civil Fraud Section. Before that, she was an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP, where she litigated a variety of commercial and government matters. Yifan graduated from Cornell Law School and Duke University. She served on the Board of Directors of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund (AEF) from 2018 to 2020.

Assistant Vice President for Membership: Huy Le is a trial attorney at the Department of Justice, Civil Division. Huy also serves in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG Corps. Huy graduated from Northeastern University School of Law and Suffolk University. He served on the Board of Directors of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund (AEF) from 2019 to 2021. Huy is serving in his personal capacity.

Awards Committee Co-Chair: Wenxi Li is a health care regulatory associate at DLA Piper’s Washington DC office where her practice focuses on HIPAA, digital health, and telemedicine regulatory and transactional matters, and serves as Vice Chair of DLA’s Asian American Pacific Islander REsource Group. Wenxi holds a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and a B.A. from Hamilton College. She has been involved with APABA-DC in various capacities and served on the Board of Directors of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund (AEF) from 2016-2018.

Awards Committee Co-Chair: Benjamin Cheng is a professor at Georgetown Law, teaching US law in the LL.M. program. Outside of Georgetown, Ben is a co-founder of Perez & Cheng LLC, a diversity & inclusion consultancy, and runs DiversityHive, the legal industry’s only diversity & inclusion newsletter and home of the Big Law Racial Injustice Response Tracker. Ben holds a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an A.B. from Harvard University.

Government Attorneys Forum Co-Chair: Jay Prabhu has been a federal prosecutor for more than 20 years. He currently is a Senior Trial Counsel in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, Virginia. He also served for more than a decade as the Chief of EDVA’s Cybercrime Unit. He received DOJ’s highest award for lawyers, the John Marshall Award, in 2018. Prior to government service, he was an associate in the D.C. office of Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. Mr. Prabhu has been admitted to the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia bars. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a B.A. from Boston College. Mr. Prabhu was named a Trailblazer in 2021 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Government Attorneys Forum Co-Chair: Abi Vijayan

In-House Committee Co-Chair: Mary Kim is an Assistant General Counsel and Director at General Dynamics Corporation, a Fortune 100 company with operations in technologies, marine and combat systems, and aerospace and aviation. Prior to joining General Dynamics, Mary worked as an associate and then counsel at two large law firms in Washington, D.C.  She received her BA from Yale University and her JD from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was the Notes Editor for the Georgetown Law Journal.

In-House Committee Co-Chair: Shaila Lakhani Ohri is an Assistant General Counsel at Exelon Corporation (a Fortune 200 energy company) in the Washington, DC office. Ms. Ohri is responsible for innovation, commercial and corporate transactions and her practice consists of negotiating agreements and handling complex transactions for Exelon and its business, particularly in the areas of technology and innovation, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, financing and restructuring, and other corporate work. Ms. Ohri’s experience also includes work in the Office of Corporate Secretary of Pepco Holdings, a utility subsidiary acquired by Exelon, in corporate governance and securities, and in the General Law group in procurement, electronic discovery / litigation and antitrust, and software and IP licensing. Prior to joining Exelon, she worked in-house at CapitalSource Finance, as an associate at a firm Dyer, Ellis & Joseph (combined with Blank Rome), and as a clerk to the Honorable Herbert B. Dixon at the D.C. Superior Court. She received her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and her B.A. from the American University. Ms. Ohri is focused on diversity in the law and was a 2018 LCLD Fellow, serves as Chair of the Exelon legal department’s D&I Steering Committee, is involved in a number of affinity bar associations including as Board Member and Co-Chair of the In-House Counsel Committee of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the District of Columbia and a co-chair of the Women’s Leadership Network for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. She is also an active volunteer in her community.

Nominations Co-Chair: Jennifer Ngai Lavallee is an Assistant Director at Georgetown University Law Center's Office of Public Interest and Community Service, where she provides public interest career counseling, planning, and support to law students. She is also a facilitator for Georgetown Law's "Lawyers in Balance" Mindfulness and the Law program. Prior to joining Georgetown, Jen was a Supervising Attorney of the Consumer Law Unit at the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, where she provided direct representation and engaged in systemic advocacy on behalf of clients in foreclosure prevention and debt collection defense matters for more than twelve years. She was named Consumer Advocate of the Year by the National Association of Consumer Advocates in 2022. Jen worked as an associate at the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren LLP before joining Legal Aid. She graduated from Penn State's Schreyer Honors College and the George Washington University Law School.

Nominations Co-Chair: Yaya Wu

Partners & Senior Counsel Committee Co-Chair: Tony Chan is a partner in the M&A group at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP where he advises clients in the life science, healthcare, investment management and technology sectors on public and private company mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity, growth equity and complex international and cross-border transactions, as well as on corporate governance and corporate finance. Tony serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School where he has taught Takeovers, Mergers and Acquisitions since 2015. He is also involved in the community, serving on the board of the Arlington Arts Center and as vice-president of the Harvard Law School Association of DC. Tony earned his JD from Harvard Law School and his BA in English from Tulane University.

Partners & Senior Counsel Committee Co-Chair: Lloyd Liu is a partner with Bennett LoCicero & Liu LLP, a litigation boutique in DC. His practice focuses on white collar criminal defense, government investigations, and complex civil litigation. Lloyd received his J.D. from Georgetown Law and his B.A. from Boston College. Aside from serving on the Education Committee, he also has served on APABA-DC’s Community Affairs Committee. In addition to APABA-DC, Lloyd serves on the Board of the William B. Bryant Inn of Court.  He is also an adjunct professor at George Mason’s Antonin Scalia School of Law where he teaches white collar crime.

Practicing Attorneys Resource Committee Co-Chair: Lauren Azebu is a partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP in the tax group. Lauren focuses her practice on U.S. federal income taxation issues for domestic and international clients, including high-net worth individuals. She counsels clients on the U.S. tax consequences of cross-border investments and advises clients on planning and structuring corporate transactions, including tax-free spinoffs. In addition to advising clients on tax planning issues, Lauren counsels clients on competent authority issues and represents clients in IRS examinations. Before joining Steptoe, Lauren worked as a tax accountant at one of the Big Four accounting firms. She earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.S. in Accounting and B.A. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Practicing Attorneys Resource Committee Co-Chair: Rocky Li is an associate at MoloLamken LLP. Before joining the firm, he clerked for the Honorable Timothy B. Dyk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In his career before law school, Rocky worked as a software engineer developing business analytics software at Applied Predictive Technologies, now a Mastercard company. Rocky received his JD from Harvard Law School and his undergraduate degree in computer science from Cornell University.

Women's Forum Co-Chair: Purnima Boominathan is General Counsel of The Kit Company, Inc. and Workpath, LLC. Prior to her role as General Counsel, she served in senior legal leadership positions at SWORD Health, Castlight Health and Doctor On Demand, and at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Purnima earned her B.A. from University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Women's Forum Co-Chair: Angeline Chen has over thirty years of legal and business experience, including as a General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Corporate Secretary. Her operational perspective and experience informs her practice focus and expertise in corporate governance, compliance, cyber, emergent technology risk management, national security, and regulatory affairs. She is currently Of Counsel with DLA Piper (where she chairs the AAPI Resource Group) and Founder/ Principal of Cynefin LLC (a consulting firm focused on studying the impact of humanics and AI on organizational behavior). Previously, she served as the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Siemens Government Technologies and at Fincantieri Marine Group. Angeline has held senior leadership/management roles with Lockheed Martin, International Launch Services, the National Security Agency, and INTELSAT, after starting her legal career practicing complex litigation in private practice. In several of these roles, she held responsibility for IT, Quality, Business Optimization, Corporate Communications, and Enterprise Risk Management. Additionally, Angeline has served as a Director on several boards, an adjunct at GMU Law School, and as Executive-in-Residence and a professor for the UMGC’s M.B.A. program. She holds a B.A. and J.D. from Villanova University, an LL.M (International and Comparative Law) from Georgetown University, and an M.B.A. from the University of Maryland. She is currently pursuing an M.Sc. in Cybersecurity from Brown University.

Working Parents Forum Co-Chair: Mark Villapando is a government contracts associate at King & Spalding’s Special Matters and Government Investigations group.  He represents a broad range of government contractors particularly those in the defense, consulting, and information technology space.  Mark counsels contractors on a broad range of investigations and supports transactional matters, such as mergers and acquisitions involving government contractors.  Prior to his current role, Mark was a government contracts attorney in the Office of General Counsel at the Department of Veterans Affairs where he counseled contracting officers with solicitation and pre-award reviews as well as assisted with bid protests before the Government Accountability Office and defended claims before the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals.  Mark earned his J.D. from William & Mary School of Law.  He received his B.A. with a double major in Biology and Economics from University of Virginia. 

Working Parents Forum Co-Chair: Jessica Lee Young is an Assistant General Counsel at Capgemini, a global leading partner in business transformation and technology. Jessica advises on immigration and compliance for Capgemini in the U.S. and Canada, including government audits, mergers & acquisitions, corporate compliance programs and immigration benefits policies. She has been a speaker for the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the Association of Corporate Counsel at the national and local levels. Jessica currently chairs AILA’s In-House Counsel group and is Co-Lead of the Association of Corporate Counsel National Capital Region's Diversity Equity & Inclusion Advocates & Allies Subcommitee.

Social Media Chair: Smriti Krishnan serves as Manager of Government Relations & Advocacy, at a nonpartisan nonprofit. Prior to this position, she worked as a staffer on both the Senate and House sides. She obtained her J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law, Order of Samaritan, and her B.A. in Spanish from Birmingham-Southern College, Phi Beta Kappa.