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Previous APABA-DC Award Recipients

2023 APABA-DC Award Recipients

  • Diversity Champion
    • Vandana Venkatesh, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Verizon
  • Pioneer Award
    • Josh Hsu, Partner, Jenner & Block
  • Community Appreciation Award
    • The Honorable Judge Raymond Chen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
  • Member Appreciation Award
    • Shaila Ohri, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Uplight
  • Rising Star Award
    • Yiyang Wu, Partner, Relman Colfax


APABA-DC Award Recipients [2012-2022]

2022 APABA-DC Award Recipients

  • Pioneer Award Recipient: Peter S. Hyun, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice
  • Community Appreciation Award Recipient: Erika Moritsugu, Deputy Assistant to the President and Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Senior Liaison, White House
  • Member Appreciation Award Recipient: Erica Lai, Senior Litigation Corporate Counsel, Northrop Grumman
  • Rising Star Award Recipient: Rukku Singla, Policy Advisor, U.S. Department of Labor 

2021 APABA-DC Award Recipients
  • Pioneer Award Recipient: Elizabeth Lan Davis, Chair & President of Murphy & McGonigle, P.C.
  • Community Appreciation Award: The Honorable Jeannie Hong, Associate Judge, Baltimore City Circuit Court, 8th Judicial Circuit
  • Member Appreciation Award: Anjum Unwala, Senior Counsel/Manager for Card at Capital One
  • Rising Star Award Recipients:
    • Joanne Chan, Assistant General Counsel and Head of State Legal Affairs at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
    • Rachit Choksi, Director for Oversight in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce


2020 APABA-DC Award Recipients


  • Pioneer Award Recipient: Chris Lu, Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor
  • Community Appreciation Award Recipients:
    • Juvaria Khan, Founder, The Appellate Project
    • Charles Yi, Partner, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP
  • Membership Appreciation Award Recipients:
    • Phil Olaya, Special Counsel, U.S. Election Assistance Commission
    • Shiwali Patel, Director of Justice for Student Survivors & Senior Counsel, National Women's Law Center
  • Rising Star Award Recipients
    • Avi Panth, Deputy Voter Protection Director, Biden Campaign in Virginia
    • Linh Ly, Attorney, Pesner Altmiller Melnick & Demers PLC

2019 APABA-DC Award Recipients

  • Pioneer Award Recipient:  Judge Theodore Chuang, United States District Judge for the District of Maryland
  • Community Appreciation Award Recipient:  Shankar Duraiswamy, Covington & Burling LLP
  • Membership Appreciation Award Recipient:  Marita EtcubaƱez, Asian Americans Advancing Justice
  • Rising Star Award Recipient: Michael L. Huang, Terris, Pravlik & Millian LLP


2018 APABA-DC Award Recipients
  • Pioneer Award Recipient:  John C. Yang, Asian Americans Advancing Justice
  • Community Appreciation Award Recipient:  Sunu P. Chandy, National Women's Law Center
  • Membership Appreciation Award Recipient:  Scott Lee, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
  • Rising Star Award Recipients:

    • Christine Berger, Office of U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono
    • Jayna M. Rust, Thompson Coburn LLP


2017 APABA-DC Award Recipients

  • Pioneer Award Recipient: Esther H. Lim, President-Elect of the District of Columbia Bar and Partner, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP
  • Community Appreciation Award Recipient: Professor Cynthia Lee, Research Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School
  • Membership Appreciation Award Recipient: John C. Truong, Assistant United States Attorney, Civil Section, Washington D.C.
  • Rising Star Award Recipients:

    •  Jeffrey Sun, Assistant General Counsel, Oath Inc.
    • Candice C. Wong, Assistant United States Attorney, Criminal Section, Washington D.C.


2016 APABA-DC Award Recipients

  • Pioneer Award Recipient: Michelle K. Lee, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
  • Community Appreciation Award Recipient: Jose "Joe" Monge Montano, Jr. (Posthumous), former Executive Director, National Federation of Filipino American Associations
  • Membership Appreciation Award Recipient: Sun E. Choi, founding member, DC Metro Law LLC
  • Rising Star Award Recipients:

    • Shuchi Batra, Assistant General Counsel, U.S. General Services Administration
    • Lei Mei, co-founder and managing partner, Mei & Mark LLP

2015 APABA-DC Award Recipients

  • Pioneer Award Recipient: Javade Chaudhri, Partner, Jones Day
  • Community Appreciation Award Recipient: Annamaria Steward, Associate Dean of Students at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law
  • Membership Appreciation Award Recipient: Elina Hum, Partner, Hum Law Firm PLLC
  • Rising Star Award Recipients:

    • Eden Forsythe, Legislative Counsel for Representative Sander Levin
    • Maya Song, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Cybercrime Unit, Eastern District of Virginia

2014 APABA-DC Award Recipients

  • Pioneer Award Recipient: Norman Y. Mineta, Former Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation
  • Community Appreciation Award Recipient: The Honorable Gerald Bruce Lee, United States District Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia
  • Membership Appreciation Award Recipient: Tacie H. Yoon, Associate, Crowell & Moring LLP
  • Rising Star Award Recipients:

    • Helen Y. Lee, Associate, Paul Hastings LLP.
    • Taron K. Murakami, Senior Associate, Seyfarth Shaw LLP

2013 APABA-DC Award Recipients

  • Pioneer Award: The Honorable John Tran, Virginia Circuit Court
  • Community Appreciation Award: The late Laura Rinaldi of the DC Bar Pro Bono Immigration Legal Advice Clinic
  • Member Appreciation Award: The 2012 NAPABA Convention Planning Committee
  • Rising Star Awards: 
    • Elbert Lin, Solicitor General of West Virginia
    • Thomas Lue, former Acting General Counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget

2012 APABA-DC Award Recipients

  • Pioneer Award: Stuart J. Ishimaru, Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
  • Community Appreciation Award: Darrell G. Mottley, Principal shareholder of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd
  • Member Appreciation Award: Tina Matsuoka, Executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)
  • Rising Star Awards: 
    • Christopher D. Kang, Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Counsel to the President, in charge of the selection, vetting, and confirmation of President Obama’s judicial nominees
    • Vasu Muthyala, Counsel at O'Melveny & Myers LLP

APABA-DC is an affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

APABA-DC

P.O. Box 27223

Washington, DC 20038

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