News

APABA-DC warmly congratulates Vijay Shanker on his confirmation to serve as Associate Judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals! APABA-DC endorsed him for this judgeship. He is Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section of the Criminal Division at the United States Department of Justice and is currently serving on detail as Senior Litigation Counsel in the Criminal Division's Fraud Section.

Congratulations to Vijay Shanker on being nominated by President Biden for a judicial vacancy on the D.C. Court of Appeals. Vijay is currently Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. APABA-DC endorsed Vijay for his candidacy in 2020. Please join us in congratulating Vijay!

APABA-DC Congratulates Judge Florence Y. Pan on her nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. If confirmed, Judge Pan would be the first Chinese American to serve on the DC Circuit.

Judge Pan was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in September 2021. She is the first Asian Pacific American woman to serve on that court. She previously served as an Associate Judge of the D.C. Superior Court for approximately twelve years, and as an Assistant United States Attorney for approximately ten years. Judge Pan graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, and with distinction from Stanford Law School.

Judge Pan has demonstrated an impressive longstanding commitment to APABA-DC, the AAPI community, and the larger DC community. The White House announcement can be found here.

APABA-DC offers a hearty congratulations to our Past President, Mark Uyeda, on his nomination for Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mark has dedicated almost two decades of his career to public service working in state and federal government. He served as President of APABA-DC from 2018-2019 and as a Board member for many years. Mark is also part of APABA-DC’s inaugural class of Lifetime Members. Please join us in congratulating Mark Uyeda!

APABA-DC strongly condemns the use of the term "Chinaman" by Georgetown Law Professor Franz Werro in referring to a student in his class whose name he could not recall. (See here.)

The use of racial slurs diminishes the collective efforts of our community to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in our profession. APABA-DC remains committed to promoting diversity and inclusion across the legal profession in the DC area, and stands ready to work with law firms, legal departments, and law schools in achieving this vision.

In this critical moment as the U.S. Senate faces the opportunity to pass landmark civil rights legislation, APABA-DC joined AAPI organizations in sending a clear message to the U.S. Senate that voting rights are fundamental to a healthy democracy and must be protected. The full text of the letter is below.

The U.S. Capitol
The United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator:

We, the undersigned organizations, are calling on you not only to debate but to move to final passage of H.R. 5746, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. This bill will ensure that voters can safely and freely cast their ballots, protect against election sabotage, stop partisan gerrymandering, and make Election Day a holiday so that people do not have to miss work to cast their ballots. This legislation is critical to ensure that the voices Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs), are heard at the ballot box. We protect democracy by ensuring that as many citizens as possible participate in elections. Democracy is diminished when such access is limited. 

The attacks on voter access have only increased; nineteen states enacted 34 new laws that restrict access to the ballot box in 2021 alone and more are under consideration today. We saw from the 2020 presidential election and the regional elections in 2021 that AAPIs went to the polls in record numbers. And we saw how an increasing number of us prefer to vote early and vote by mail. The Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act will address our key concerns around voter protection and ensure the ability for every American to participate in safe, accessible, and transparent elections. 

H.R. 5746 combines the provisions from the Freedom to Vote Act with the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and represents the most comprehensive voting reform in decades. This bill represents fundamentals that AAPI communities have been supporting for decades. During those years, voting rights legislation has always been passed with strong bipartisan support and for those who believe in democracy’s bedrock principle of the right to vote, the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act must be passed now.

Yesterday, the White House announced the nomination of the Honorable Errol Rajesh Arthur to serve as Associate Judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, where he currently serves as Presiding Magistrate Judge and on the Chief Judge's Judicial Leadership team.  Judge Arthur is a longstanding and active supporter of APABA-DC, which endorsed his candidacy. Since 2010, Judge Arthur has been a Magistrate Judge in the Criminal Division, Domestic Violence Division, and Family Court.  Previously, he worked in private practice, representing clients in criminal, family, and civil matters, as a staff attorney at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, and as a clerk for the Honorable Mary A. Gooden Terrell of the D.C. Superior Court.  He received his J.D. from the Howard University School of Law and his B.A. from the University of Maryland.

Judge Arthur's nomination is pending confirmation by the U.S. Senate.  The White House press release can be found here. Please join us in congratulating Judge Arthur! 

Congratulations to Tara K. Ramchandani on being recommended by the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission to the White House for consideration for a judicial vacancy on the D.C. Superior Court created by the anticipated retirement of the Honorable Judith A. Smith.  Tara is a Partner at Relman Colfax, a plaintiffs’ side civil rights law firm based in D.C. APABA-DC is proud to have endorsed Tara in her candidacy.  Please join us in congratulating Tara!

Congratulations to the Honorable Florence Y. Pan, currently an Associate Judge on the D.C. Superior Court, on being confirmed yesterday by the United States Senate to fill a judicial vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia!  APABA-DC is proud to have endorsed Judge Pan’s candidacy for this position.  Judge Pan has demonstrated an impressive longstanding commitment to APABA-DC, the AAPI community, and the larger DC community. 

We are thrilled to see many AAPI candidates nominated for DC and federal judgeships and applaud President Biden for continuing to ensure that our judiciary reflects the diversity of our country. 

Please join us in congratulating all these judicial candidates! 

Congratulations to Loren L. AliKhan, currently the Solicitor General for the District of Columbia since 2018, on her nomination to fill a judicial vacancy on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals!  APABA-DC is proud to have endorsed Ms. AliKhan’s candidacy for this position. The White House announcement can be found here.

APABA-DC also congratulates Judge John H. Chun for his nomination to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, which would make him the first AAPI man to serve as a federal judge in that district; Mr. Dale E. Ho for his nomination for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; and Judge Jinsook Ohta, for her nomination for the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, making her the first AAPI woman to serve as a federal judge in that district.  

We are thrilled to see many AAPI candidates nominated for DC and federal judgeships and applaud President Biden for continuing to ensure that our judiciary reflects the diversity of our country. 

Please join us in congratulating all these judicial candidates!