APABA Silicon Valley Thanks Its Newest Lifetime Members, Chester Te and James Yoon!

The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley wishes to express its profound appreciation for Chester Te of SVB Financial Group and James Yoon of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., the newest Lifetime Members of APABA Silicon Valley!

Chester Te is the Assistant General Counsel at SVB Financial Group, the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, which provides commercial, international, and private banking services to the software, internet, hardware, life sciences, cleantech, venture capital, and premium wine industries through 34 worldwide locations. At SVB, Chester heads up management of enterprise-wide litigation; legal support for core operations, including Human Resources, Vendor Management, Security and Fraud, amongst others; and all legal matters pertaining to SVB’s valuations subsidiary, SVB Analytics. Prior to joining SVB, Chester worked in financial services at Wells Fargo and Smith Barney, and was a commercial litigator at Carter, Ledyard & Milburn in New York City. Chester graduated from Yale College and the University of Minnesota Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review. Upon graduation from law school, Chester clerked for United States District Court Judge Alvin W. Thompson (D. Conn). Chester also served as the 2012 president of APABA Silicon Valley, as the 2012 president of the Association of Asian American Yale Alumni (Northern California chapter), and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Clara County Bar Association. He currently co-chairs the Diversity Committee of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and continues to serve as a board member of APABA Silicon Valley and the Silicon Valley Campaign for Legal Services, which raises funds for legal services for the needy.

James Yoon is a partner and a practice development leader in the patent trial and litigation practice at Wilson Sonsini. James has 20 years of experience as a trial lawyer, patent and intellectual property litigator, and counselor. He has litigated over 100 patent cases and has tried numerous cases in federal courts, state courts, and the International Trade Commission. James has an active IP counseling practice. He has advised over 40 companies on IP issues in a wide variety of transactions, including patent license agreements, patent purchase agreements, private equity investments, initial public offerings, and corporate mergers. As part of these transactions, James is frequently involved in IP risk assessments and valuations. In 2013 and 2014, James was listed in the International Who's Who of Patent Lawyers. James was selected for inclusion in Northern California Super Lawyers from 2009-2015 in the field of Intellectual Property Litigation. In 2006, Bay Area Lawyer Magazine named James one of the "Top Lawyers in the Bay Area" for Intellectual Property law. James is a member of the board of directors and a co-chair of the Partner Committee of APABA Silicon Valley. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Silicon Valley Charity, a member of the board of directors of the Palo Alto Bar Association, and a member of the High Tech Advisory Board for Santa Clara Law School.

APABA Silicon Valley is proud to have Chester Te and James Yoon as official Lifetime Members.

Thank you, Chester and James!