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THE LEGAL LIONS DRAGON BOAT TEAM @ DFW DRAGON BOAT KITE & LANTERN FESTIVAL.
JUDGE SCHOLER INVESTITURE @ THE BELO MANSION. (L-R): SEAN HAMADA, MIKE LEE, ANN CHAO SHEU, THE HONOR- ABLE KAREN GREN SCHOLER, HAO NI, CHRIS KANG, SHRU- TI KRISHNAN, DREW SPANIOL, JANET LANDRY SMITH AND STACEY CHO HERNANDEZ.
friendships they form and the contri- butions they make to the community at large would be invaluable.
AALM: Does the association o er any mentorship opportunities?
Krishnan: DAABA has a mentor- ship program for law students from Southern Methodist University Ded- man School of Law, UNT Dallas Col- lege of Law, and Texas A&M Univer- sity School of Law. Law students are matched with DAABA members who are practicing attorneys and the men- tors and mentees are encouraged to communicate with each other on a
regular basis and are given suggested discussion points. e mentorship program hosts regular happy hours to provide an opportunity for all partici- pants to network with each other and meet other DAABA members.
AALM: Do you partner with any other associations in the local com- munity?
Krishnan: We have relationships with several organizations in the D/ FW area, including the Organiza- tion of Chinese Americans DFW Chapter (OCA-DFW), the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce (GDAACC), the DFW Asian-American Citizens Council (DFW-AACC), and the Marco Polo World Foundation. DAABA sponsors OCA-DFW’s annual Lunar New Year banquet and DFW-AACC’s Annual Banquet, and those organizations are reciprocal sponsors of DAABA’s annual Awards Night. DAABA and GDAACC have jointly held a Sum- mer Roo op Mixer for several years to encourage our members to net- work with and refer business to each other. Finally, DAABA participates every year in the Dragon boat races in the Marco Polo World Foundation’s Annual DFW Dragon Boat, Kite and
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Lantern Festival. DAABA’s team, the Legal Lions, even came in sec- ond place in 2017! In addition to these organizations, DAABA has collaborated with the Dallas Bar Association and the other sister bar organizations for sister bar social events, community service events, and back to school socials for law students.
AALM: If someone wanted to move into a leadership role, what is your rst word of advice?
Krishnan: I would encourage them to become active in the orga- nization if they were not already. We have several di erent committees that members can join, and members are also o ered an opportunity to chair those committees. I’d suggest that in their role on a committee or chair- ing it, members prove themselves and meet or exceed the board’s expecta- tions for that committee. ere is no better way to move into a leadership role and seek sponsors than to prove that you can set a goal and achieve it.
AALM: Are there any changes in the legal community that the associa- tion is involved with?
Krishnan: DAABA would like to see increased numbers of Asian and Paci c Americans in all areas of the law, including at law rms, in-house legal departments, and the judiciary. DAABA is trying to increase the number and advancement of APA at- torneys within in-house legal depart- ments through its In-House Coun- sel/Partners Dinner initiative, and is working toward increased diversity at law rms and more speci cally, an increase in the number of APA part- ners at major law rms through its Prospective Partners Program, as I described previously.
Finally, this year was historic for DAABA as two of our long-standing prominent members were con rmed to the federal bench as Article III judges this year – e Honorable Karen Gren Scholer of the United States District Court for the North- ern District of Texas, and e Honor- able James C. Ho of the Unites States Court of Appeals for the Fi h Circuit. DAABA wrote letters of support for their nominations and subsequently supported them once they were con- rmed. eir signi cant achieve- ments have shined a spotlight on DAABA and put us on the national stage.
THE 2018 DAABA AWARDS NIGHT & 30TH ANNIVERSARY GALA AT THE OMNI DALLAS HOTEL. (L-R): JUSTIN HAN, TONY LI, KEYNOTE SPEAKER LILY YAN HUGHES, JONATHAN KOH AND MIKE LEE.
sentations. A er the pitch session, the prospective partners, in-house coun- sel panelists, and partner mentors are invited to a reception to continue building professional relationships in an informal social setting.
AALM: How would you encourage ayounglawyertobecomeinvolvedin their legal community?
Krishnan: When I graduated from law school, I did not have any connec- tions to the Dallas legal community aside from my classmates. rough joining DAABA I have met so many people, some of whom have become good friends and mentors I can turn to while navigating my career. I would encourage young lawyers to take advantage of the opportunity to become involved in a bar association because it allows them to meet other like-minded individuals and develop instrumental relationships with se- nior members and leaders of the legal community. Not only will they make connections that could help them with their career in the future, but the
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