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  "description": "\"Looking back, APALIE began with a simple idea and a group of individuals willing to act on it. Today, it stands as a reflection of what can be built through intention, collaboration, and community.\"",
  "path": "/asian-pacific-american-bar-association-revived/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-10T14:03:01.000Z",
  "site": "https://ielaw.news",
  "tags": [
    "President Ellen Peng of Varner & Brandt",
    "Dina Amani",
    "Kevin Lee"
  ],
  "textContent": "Asian Pacific American Lawyers of the Inland Empire is back. The bar association was started in 2012 by attorney Eugene Kim of Stream Kim Hicks Wrage & Alfaro. It went through a relapse during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was kept alive through the work of past-president Alejandro \"Alex\" Barraza of Arsany and Barraza LLP.\n\nTheir May 7 installation dinner, its most-attended event in its 14 years, showed that its hibernation is over. Barraza handed over leadership to President Ellen Peng of Varner & Brandt and a new board.\n\n\"Alex has been asking multiple people to please bring APALIE back, and we finally did it. We got a board that is so passionate,\" said Peng.\n\nAPALIE President Ellen Peng.\n\nBoard members include prosecutor Allison Fujng as president-elect, Justine Jung of her own Victorville firm as treasurer, and Deputy County Counsel Alexandra Fong as secretary. Other members of the board are Mariane Gantino, Samuel Lui, Tiffany Price and James Wong. Riverside Superior Judge Sophia Choi and San Bernardino Superior Judge Cecilia Joo are judicial liaisons.\n\nManuel Ramirez, presiding justice of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Two, delivered opening remarks. San Bernardino Superior Judge R. Glenn Yabuno provided the keynote speech.\n\nThe 14 Asian and Pacific Islander judges recently sworn into Inland Empire's courts.\n\nThe event honored the 14 Asian and Pacific Islander judges sworn in since 2020: Corey Lee, Mark Singerton, Kawika Smith, Stephanie Tanada, Jerry Yang, Geraldine Wong-Williams, Sophia Choi, Albert Hsueh, Michelle Lauron, James Taylor, Dina Amani, Cecilia Joo, Kevin Lee and Thanh Ngo.\n\nFor each judge, a family member or loved one introduced them in a prerecorded message.\n\nPeng, the president, threw the event at the California State Citrus Park in Arlington with sponsorship from Varner & Brandt, San Bernardino District Attorney Jason Anderson, Stream Kim Hicks Wrage & Alfaro, JAMS, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney's Association, Arsany Barraza LLP, Sweet Dragon Realty and the San Bernardino County Public Attorneys Association, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, and Law Offices of London & Le. Suzie Suh of CBSLA served as master of ceremonies.\n\nThe event had a silent auction. Big-ticket items included dinner with District Attorney Jason Anderson, two tickets to a Benson Boone concert, four seats to a USC v. Fresno State football game and two tickets to the 2028 Olympic Women's Soccer semi-finals.\n\n## Yabuno's keynote speech\n\nSan Bernardino Superior Judge R. Glenn Yabuno delivering the keynote speech.\n\nGood evening, everyone.\n\nThank everyone for attending. Thanks to APALIE and especially Ellen for bringing everyone back together again. Thanks to Justice Rameriz for his opening remarks and Suzy Suh for MCing. Also welcome all the judges appointed since 2020.\n\nI would like to take a moment to reflect on how APALIE began, and the meaningful presence it continues to hold within our legal community today.\n\nThere was a time—not very long ago—when Asian Pacific American attorneys in the Inland Empire did not have a local organization to connect through. While other parts of Southern California had established affinity bar groups, Riverside and San Bernardino counties did not yet have a space that reflected the diversity, the needs, and the character of the Asian Pacific American legal community here in the Inland Empire.\n\nThat changed in 2012, and it began with something as simple as a single email.\n\nEugene Kim reached out to a small group of attorneys across the region—individuals working in different practice areas, different offices, and different corners of the legal field. Despite those differences, they shared a common intention: to build an organization that would support, connect, and elevate Asian Pacific American lawyers in this region.\n\nWithin a few weeks, that idea turned into a meeting.\n\nIn December of 2012, that group came together to discuss what this organization could become. They talked about mission, purpose, and how to build something meaningful and sustainable. From that conversation, APALIE was formed.\n\nThe first group to assist in its formation included Sylvia Choi, Sophia Choi, Jerry Yang, Lloyd Castalles, Ricky Shah, and Justin Kim. Soon after, others joined in—Jack Lucky, Mike Fermin, and Eric Nakata—each bringing their own energy and commitment to the effort.\n\nSophia Choi became APALIE’s first president, followed by Eugene Kim as the second. And from the very beginning, APALIE was active. Early events were held at places like the Redlands Country Club and the Victoria Country Club. Judge Lance Ito was among the early guests. Congressman Mark Takano has been a consistent supporter throughout the years. And APALIE made it a priority to recognize newly appointed bench officers, including Judges Lily Sinfield and Sunshine Sykes—who now serves as a United States District Court Judge.\n\nI would be remiss if I didn’t also honor and recognize the trailblazers who paved the way long before the organization existed. Justice Steven Tamura was a true pioneer—the first Japanese American and the first Asian American to sit on the California Court of Appeal in 1966. He was also the first Japanese American attorney to practice in Orange County and the first Asian American appointed to the Orange County Superior Court in 1961.\n\nIn the Inland Empire, Judge Ben Kayashima became the first Asian American appointed to the San Bernardino Superior Court in 1980, followed by Judge Eric Nakata in 1998. On the Riverside bench, Judge Jack Lucky became the first Asian American judge in 2008.\n\nThese milestones remind us that representation in the judiciary did not happen by accident. It happened because people showed up, supported one another, and built community.\n\nAnd that is exactly why organizations like APALIE continue to matter.\n\nAPALIE creates space for connection that is intentional and grounded. Through involvement, members build relationships with peers, mentors, judges, and community leaders. Those relationships grow over time and often lead to meaningful opportunities—guidance, collaboration, and professional development that can shape a career.\n\nFor many attorneys, especially those early in their journey, mentorship is transformative. Being able to learn from someone who shares similar experiences or understands similar challenges can build confidence and direction in lasting ways.\n\nThere is also a strong leadership component. Participation in committees, events, and organizational efforts helps members strengthen skills in communication, collaboration, and decision-making—skills that carry into everyday practice and long-term professional growth.\n\nAffinity bar associations also contribute to broader conversations within the legal field. They create opportunities for advocacy, for supporting access to justice, and for engaging in initiatives that impact both the profession and the communities we serve.\n\nAnd equally important are the moments of connection that happen along the way—the conversations, the shared experiences, the sense of belonging that develops when people show up consistently and invest in one another. Those relationships often become the foundation for long-term support and collaboration.\n\nThe impact of APALIE continues to grow through the people who choose to be involved. Engagement brings the organization to life—through participation, contribution, and a shared commitment to its mission.\n\nLooking back, APALIE began with a simple idea and a group of individuals willing to act on it. Today, it stands as a reflection of what can be built through intention, collaboration, and community.\n\nThank you.\n\n## Ramirez's remarks\n\n\"It's not a duty: it's an obligation to remember our history and our past,\" said Presiding Justice Manuel Ramirez. The justice wasn't claiming credit for the quote, which he credited to former United States Supreme Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, but he set it to explain the life of the late Appellate Justice Steven Kosaku Tamura.\n\nTamura graduated from the Huntington Beach High School in 1928, and joined the bar in 1937. Despite his standing as a lawyer with his own practice, the government relocated him and his wife to the east coast as part of its internment of Japanese-Americans. He enrolled at Harvard University while both of his parents were interned at the Poston Arizona Relocation Center.\n\nIn 1945, he enlisted in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the all-Japanese-American unit that became the most decorated unit in United States military history. He was wounded in Italy, and made captain. For the rest of his life, he preferred \"Cap\" as his nickname, Ramirez said.\n\nHe was appointed to Orange County Superior Court by Gov. Pat Brown in 1961, then again to the California Court of Appeal in 1966. He was the first Asian-American judge in the state.\n\n\"I share this story with you because in this room tonight, we have a number of highly successful, as a result of hard work, Asian American lawyers and judges. I am so very proud to know you, and be associated with each and every one of you. It is important to know your history, and the background of your history, and the background of Justice Tamara,\" Ramirez said.\n\n\"It's not a duty. It is an obligation to remember your history. You have as a group, as APALIE, a very proud, a very rich, historical perspective and history of a man, who if he were seated in the audience now, would be beaming with pride, and happiness and joy, seeing each and every one of you sitting in this room, enjoying this evening, and enjoying the lives of all these judges,\" Ramirez said.",
  "title": "Asian Pacific American bar association revived",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-11T04:20:11.541Z"
}