GAPABA - About

HISTORY

The Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association (GAPABA), formerly known as the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Georgia Chapter (NAPABA-GA), was founded in 1993 by Prof. Natsu Saito (Georgia State Univ. College of Law) and Judge Alvin T. Wong (State Court of DeKalb County). Both strove to establish a Georgia support network for Asian Pacific American attorneys and those interested in Asian American legal issues. Combing for Asian sounding names in the Georgia Bar Directory, the chapter was born with 13 original Charter Members. As the Association has grown, so has our mission and purpose.

GAPABA conducts activities that:

Represent and advocate the interests of Asian Pacific American lawyers and the legal profession;
Encourage and promote the professional growth of Asian Pacific American lawyers and other members of the legal profession;
Broaden professional opportunities for Asian Pacific American lawyers, other members of the legal profession, and law students;
Support the entrance and advancement of Asian Pacific Americans within the legal profession;
Provide an opportunity for fellowship among legal professionals;
Coordinate legal services to Asian Pacific American communities in the state of Georgia;
Provide a vehicle and forum for the unified expression of opinions and positions by legal professionals upon matters or events of concern to the legal community.

Our original Charter Members were recognized at GAPABA's 1st Annual Gala on May 15, 2014. From L-R: Hon. Chung H. Lee, Yongman Zhang, Hon. Alvin T. Wong,Christina Pak, Socheat Chea, Martin Chen, Renee Hom Neary

GAPABA joined KABA-GA and SABA-GA members for the 1st Annual AAPI Lawyers Lobby Day:

Feb. 20, 2014. From L-R: Cherish Dela Cruz, Jun Ha, Steve Kwon, Ritu Verma, Jae Kim, GA Gov. Nathan Deal, Minjae Song, Shama Barday, David Kahng, Shalamar Parham, and Lilia Kim

FOUNDING DOCUMENTS

GAPABA was chartered as an official chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association on June 11, 1993. Our founding President was Professor Natsu Saito, currently a law professor at Georgia State University. The original 13 charter members included:

Although GAPABA was chartered in 1993, our bar association was officially incorporated on Aug. 13, 1999. Paul Huang, now Vice President and Associate General Counsel of InterContinental Hotels Group, served as incorporator.

Through the past two decades, GAPABA has grown exponentially. From its original 13 members, we have now reached 500+ paid members in 2017, with numerous corporate and law firm sponsors. We count among our members judges, elected officials, managing partners of major law firms, government and non-profit attorneys, and a burgeoning number of solo/small firm practitioners.

Original Atlanta Journal Constitution article published on Aug. 7, 1993, chronicling GAPABA's founding.