APABA-SV Congratulates Valerie Alabanza-Cary, Quyen Ta, and Catharina Min for Their Recognition As Three of the Top 50 Women Leaders in Tech Law

The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley (APABA-SV) congratulates Valerie Alabanza-Cary (Director, Juniper Networks), Quyen Ta (Partner, Keker & Van Nest), and Catharina Min (Partner, Reed Smith) for being honored by The Recorder as three of the top 50 Women Leaders in Tech Law.

Longtime leaders and role models in APABA-SV and the APA legal community, Valerie, Quyen, and Catharina have received this recognition for their career accomplishments and leadership in the practice of tech law. APABA-SV proudly celebrates Valerie, Quyen, and Catharina's well-deserved recognition as outstanding leaders in their field.

A link to The Recorder’s article about its Top 50 Women Leaders in Tech Law is available at http://tinyurl.com/o9e4599.

APABA-SV Applauds Nomination Of Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar For Associate Justice Of The California Supreme Court

The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley (“APABA-SV”) applauds Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s nomination of Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar for associate justice of the California Supreme Court.  Cuéllar is slated to fill the vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of the Honorable Marvin R. Baxter on January 4, 2015.  If confirmed, Cuéllar’s name will appear on the November 4 ballot for voter approval of a 12 year term beginning January 2015.  APABA-SV is confident that the California voters will support this amazing appointment.

Cuéllar is a longtime member and supporter of the APABA-SV community, and previously served as keynote speaker for APABA-SV’s 2011 Scholarship And Commitment To Diversity Awards Banquet.  “We are thrilled with Tino Cuéllar’s nomination to the California Supreme Court,” said Brian Wong, President of APABA-SV.  “His presence on the Supreme Court will be of immense benefit to the State of California.  All Californians will benefit from his immense experience and legal scholarship.”

Cuéllar, 41, has been a Stanford Law School professor since 2001 and was appointed Stanley Morrison Professor of Law in 2012.  Cuéllar has been director of Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies since 2013 and Professor of Political Science, by courtesy, at Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences since 2010.  He served as co-director of Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation from 2011 to 2013.

Representative of many Californians, Cuellar’s family emigrated from Mexico to the Imperial Valley of California when Cuellar was 14.  After Graduating from Calexico High School,  Cuéllar went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College, a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in political science from Stanford University.

Cuéllar served as special assistant to the President for Justice and Regulatory Policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council in 2009 and 2010 and was co-chair of the Obama-Biden Transition's Immigration Policy Working Group in 2008 and 2009.  He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Mary M. Schroeder at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2000 to 2001 and as senior advisor to the Under Secretary for Enforcement at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 1997 to 1999.

APABA-SV commends Governor Brown for his nomination of Cuéllar to the California Supreme Court, and looks forward to Cuéllar’s confirmation by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.

APABA-SV Applauds Three Recent U.S. Senate Confirmations

APABA-SV applauds President Obama's ongoing commitment to appointment of well-qualified and diverse candidates to the federal bench.  APABA-SV also applauds the U.S. Senate's recent confirmation of three such distinguished jurists.

On April 30, 2014, U.S. Senate confirmed Manish Suresh Shah to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Before joining the bench, Judge Shah worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois since 2001. There he served as the chief of Criminal Appeals, and more recently as chief of the Criminal Division. Judge Shah attended the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for Judge James B. Zagel of the Northern District of Illinois. He will be the first person of South Asian descent to serve as an Article III judge in the state of Illinois and in the Seventh Circuit.

Theodore Chuang was confirmed to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on May 1, 2014. Before his service on the bench, Judge Chuang served as Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He also previously served as the Chief Investigative Counsel for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Deputy Chief Investigative Counsel for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Prior to that, Chuang served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Massachusetts and as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. With his confirmation, Judge Chuang becomes the first Asian Pacific American judge in the federal judiciary in the state of Maryland and in the Fourth Circuit.

Indira Talwani was confirmed to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on May 8th, 2014. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Talwani was partner at the Massachusetts law firm of Segal Roitman and the San Francisco law firm of Altshuler Berzon LLP.  Judge Talwani previously clerked for the Honorable Stanley A. Weigel on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.  Judge Talwani received her J.D. from the University of California Berkeley School of Law and B.A. from Harvard/Radcliffe College. Judge Talwani will be the first person of Asian descent to serve as a federal judge in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the first person of Asian descent to serve as an Article III judge in the First Circuit, and only the second female Article III judge of South Asian descent nationwide.

APABA-SV Applauds Confirmation of Vince Chhabria to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

The Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Silicon Valley (APABA-SV) applauds the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of San Francisco Deputy City Attorney Vince Chhabria to the United States District Court, Northern District of California on March 5, 2014.

Judge Chhabria is the first person of South Asian descent to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge in California, and will be one of 22 active Asian Pacific American Article III judges in the nation. “We are proud to have supported Judge Chhabria and pleased that his confirmation will bring much-needed diversity to the federal bench,” said Brian Wong, President of APABA-SV.

Judge Chhabria has served as Deputy City Attorney at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office since 2005 and is co-chief of appellate litigation. His distinguished legal career includes clerkships for judges at all three levels of the federal courts, including Judge Charles R. Breyer of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Judge James R. Browning of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Chhabria also spent several years in private practice at the San Francisco firms of Keker & Van Nest and Covington & Burling. He has received honors from the California Daily Journal, International Municipal Lawyers Association, The Recorder, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

A San Francisco native, Judge Chhabria earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, graduating Order of the Coif.

APABA-SV commends President Barack Obama for his nomination of Judge Vince Chhabria, and Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein for their continued support of Judge Chhabria throughout his nomination and confirmation process.