ABAS Coordinates Community Events Through Summer and Fall of 2002
by Richard K. Sueyoshi

The summer and fall of 2002 continued to be very busy seasons for ABAS. This update highlights some of the great activities that we have had in just the past several months. In August, ABAS celebrated the official investiture of Superior Court Judge and ABAS past President Russell L. Hom.

With the assistance of Vice President Lara Diaz, ABAS also hosted its summer membership mixer and reception honoring Judge Hom at California Bank & Trust, with the co-sponsorship of the Sacramento Asian/Pacific Chamber of Commerce and Japanese American Citizens League.

September marked the beginning of the new law school year for our APALSA students at McGeorge, U.C. Davis, Lincoln and UNC. Organized by Mike Mireles, Katia Cheung and Danielle Piper, ABAS hosted its annual law student mixer with McGeorge APALSA, Lincoln and UNC, at the Huki Lau in Sacramento.

We also had our annual mixer with U.C. Davis APALSA at Fusions with the help of Mike Mills and Jennifer Yu. These events provided yet another great opportunity to meet our upcoming group of attorneys and future community leaders. September also included the ABAS Law Foundation's voter rights' seminar, which was a great educational event spearheaded by Jeri Paik and Toso Himel. Under the coordination of Julie Weng-Gutierrez, the Asian Bar of California held its annual conference at the Capitol with speakers including Ruthe Ashley, Board of Equalization Chair John Chiang, Judge Russell Hom, Georgette Imura, Daniel Kim, Judicial Appointments Secretary Burt Pines and Appointments Secretary Michael Yamaki from the Office of Governor Gray Davis.

ABAS kicked off the month of October with the annual ABAS Golf Tournament at the Lighthouse, skillfully coordinated by Mike Nakagawa, Clay Tanaka and Bob Tokunaga. The Unity Bar Association's Annual Awards and Scholarship Banquet was held on October 23rd, including ABAS' presentation of the 2002 Unity Award to Donna Tamanaha, ABAS past president. The Unity Diversity Career Forum was held on October 28th at the Discovery Museum in Old Sacramento, providing another invaluable opportunity for students to meet employers here in Sacramento. Finally, ABAS sent another strong contingent to the annual conference for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, November 2002, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Keep a look out for information regarding ABAS' 2003 Installation of Officers and Awards Banquet.