 | ▲UCLA Professor Jerry Kang received thew KABA Leadership Award
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The Korean American Bar Association of Southern California (KABA) held its 33rd Anniversary dinner on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. The anniversary dinner consisted of introducing the new president of KABA, Hyongsoon Kim, the presentation of the KABA Leadership Award and KABA Distinguished Service Award to Professor Jerry Kang of UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Law and Dean Erwin Chemerinsky of UCI (University of California, Irvine) respectively, and the recognition of community and student leaders.
KABA is an organization that was initially formed in 1981 by the first generation of Korean-American lawyers as a means to unite the miniscule amount of Korean- American lawyers at the time. Over the next twenty years, thousands of new Korean-American lawyers, attorneys, prosecutors, and defenders have found home at KABA as a center for networking and communication.
As the Korean-American population has been rising, KABA started to become more involved in helping the community as a whole by providing legal services and bridging together the different ethnic communities residing within the greater Los Angeles area. KABA has grown into not only into a successful law organization but also into a voice for advocates of equal rights for all.
Hyongsoon Kim received his B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) magna cum laude from California State University in 1998 and went on to receive his J.D. (Juris Doctor) in 2001 from Columbia Law School. Mr. Kim is not only president of KABA, but also a counsel at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP.
He specializes in business litigation matters such as business disputes, class action matters, and bankruptcy litigation. Mr. Kim is also a member of the board of directors of the Friends of the Los Angeles County Law Library.
The recipient of the KABA Leadership Award was Professor Jerry Kang who is teaching Korean American Studies and Law at UCLA . His research consists of civil procedure, race, and communications. He has been focusing on incorporating “behavioral realism”, the concept where people’s subconscious biases affect their behavior in various situations, into law.
With his knowledge of behavioral realism, he has gone on to write about hate crimes and affirmative action since the root of these actions and policies could very well lie deeply ingrained within the human subconscious. Professor Kang has been a prior recipient of various awards such as former Vice President Al Gore’s “Hammer Award” for Reinventing Government and The University Distinguished Teaching Award in 2010.
The recipient of the KABA Distinguished Service Award was Founding Dean of the University of California, Irvine Law School, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. Dean Chemerinsky is an expert in the field of constitutional law, federal practice, and civil rights and liberties. He is an esteemed author of several books and approximately 200 articles in top law reviews. Dean Chemerinsky received a Bachelor’s Degree from Northwestern University and a law degree from Hawrvard Law School. He taught at the University Of Southern California School Of Law for 21 years before moving on to teach at Duke Law School for four years.
KABA also recognized community and student leaders and presented awards and scholarships to these individuals. The Korean Resource Center (KRC) was the recipient of the KABA Pro Bono Service Award. KRC has been a trailblazer for a number of events for the improved education and equality of the Asian American communities.
In the past year, KRC has directly been involved with KABA in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) campaign. The collaborative efforts of KRC and KABA allowed for DACA application assistance to over 700 applicants within a 5 month period.
Four students were also rewarded scholarships of up to $5,000 based on their beneficial actions towards the development and improvement of rights for Asian/Pacific Islander communities. There are only 3-4 recipients of these scholarships annually.
KABA selected the following 4 students as they have the most potential to be successful in serving the Asian-American communities through their continued dedication and efforts. Christina Chen of UCI School of Law and Christable Lee of Loyola Law School was awarded the Hon Kenneth B. Chang Scholarship for their services. Mai Tram Jocelyne Ly of Loyola Law School was awarded The Lim Ruger Foundation- Sam Oh Memorial Scholarship for her service. Jessica Yun of Loyola Law School was awarded The Past Presidents’ Scholarship for her service.
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