PRESIDENT

Erica Yen is Principal Legal Counsel at KARL STORZ, a global medical device company based in Germany. Previously, Erica was an attorney at Reed Smith LLP where her practice focused on defending life sciences companies and healthcare institutions in litigation. At Reed Smith, she served on the firmwide Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee as Associate Liaison for the Southern California offices, on the Summer Associate Recruiting Committee, and as Pro Bono Coordinator for the summer associate program. She also previously served as pro bono counsel to the Organization for Chinese Americans-Greater Los Angeles, a chapter of a national organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans. She graduated from UC College of the Law, San Francisco where she was an extern for the Honorable Edward M. Chen of the Northern District of California, an Executive Board Member of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and notes editor for the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review. She is a former Co-Chair of the Mass Torts & Class Actions Committee for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and a former concertmaster of the Los Angeles Lawyers Philharmonic. She received her undergraduate degree from Columbia University where she was a John Jay Scholar and worked for the Committee of 100, an organization of Chinese-American leaders.  

PRESIDENT-ELECT

Seaton Tsai is an Attorney IV in the Corporate Legal Department for California's State Compensation Insurance Fund. His practice entails advice and counsel to internal partners and executives, litigating State Fund's complex civil RICO, class action, and insurance bad faith disputes in state and federal court, civil appeals, and administrative writs. Previously, he worked in private practice representing a Fortune 100 insurance carrier in Cumis counsel disputes, Buss and Crawford recovery cases, insurance bad faith, and other additional insured issues. Having represented both institutional and individual clients, he has also extensively litigated consumer-side TCPA/FDCPA, fraud, personal injury, and breach of warranty actions. He co-chairs APABA's Community Service and Outreach Committee. He graduated from University of California, Davis with a dual B.A. in English and Communications, and earned his J.D. at University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, where he graduated as a member of The Order of Barristers. He presently serves on the Board of Directors for CASE - the California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment Union. He is also a professional actor signed with Image Powerhouse for theatrical work and Prestigious Models for commercial projects, and has worked on multiple Amazon and Netflix productions.

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

Jennifer Tsao is an in-house attorney at ByteDance/TikTok. Previously, Jennifer managed the employment law function at Forever 21, and was a senior associate with the employment and labor law firm Littler Mendelson, P.C. Jennifer has been actively involved with APABA since she was a law student at USC Gould School of Law. During law school, Jennifer served as President of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, a legal services intern with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, and as a judicial extern for the Honorable Ronald S. W. Lew, U.S. District Judge. Jennifer received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley.

TREASURER

Travis Kaya is a public law associate in the Los Angeles office of Richards, Watson & Gershon, representing local governments and public agencies in a wide variety of transactional matters. Prior to joining RWG, Travis served as a commercial real estate associate with Venable LLP in Los Angeles where he represented real estate investment funds in purchase and sale transactions across the United States. As a real estate associate with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Travis also represented national banks and institutional lenders in complex affordable housing financing transactions. He received his B.A. in philosophy, politics and economics from Pomona College, Master of International Studies from the University of Sydney, and J.D. from Loyola Law School. During law school, Travis served as president of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, judicial extern to Judge Fernando M. Olguin and Judge Suzanne H. Segal (Ret.), both of the United States District Court, Central District of California, and a Senior Editor for the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review. Travis is a founding member of the Loyola Law School Asian Pacific Alumni Chapter and serves as Fundraising Chair of the Japanese American Bar Association Educational Foundation and Vice President of the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library Board of Trustees.

SECRETARY

Grace Pak is the Policy Associate Counsel for the Democratic Attorneys General Association. Previously, she practiced employment law, focusing on wage and hour class action, PAGA representative suits, and wrongful termination/whistleblower cases. Grace received her J.D. from Southwestern Law School, and her B.A. in English Literature from UCLA. In law school, Grace was a certified law clerk for the Public Defender's Office of Riverside County, and a law clerk for the Honorable Fred J. Fujioka of the Los Angeles Superior Court, Sylmar Juvenile Courthouse and the Honorable Timothy R. Saito of the Los Angeles Superior Court, Edelman Children’s Court. Before commencing law school, Grace worked as an educator.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Amy Chau is currently serving as a judicial law clerk to a federal district judge in the Central District of California. Prior to her clerkship, she was an associate at one of the nation's top law firms, where she represented clients in all aspects of employment law in both single-plaintiff and class action matters, and maintained an active pro bono practice. Amy also serves as Chair of the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association (APAA) Young Alumni Council, a member of the Board of Directors of the USC APAA, and a member of the Board of Governors for the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County (APABA-LA). She is also Co-Chair of APABA-LA's MCLE Committee and a volunteer with the Asian Pacific American Women Lawyers Alliance's Mentorship Committee. She received her J.D., cum laude, in 2020 from Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as Managing Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal, President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and member of the Constitutional Impact Litigation Practicum. As a law student, she also served as a student attorney in the Center for Applied Legal Studies Asylum Clinic and as a judicial extern to the Honorable Gonzalo P. Curiel in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. Amy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a minor in Law and Society, magna cum laude, in 2017 from the University of Southern California.

Toan Chung is Co-Chair of the Business Restructuring & Reorganization group at Roquemore, Pringle & Moore. A certified bankruptcy law specialist by the California State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization, Toan represents Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 trustees, municipalities, creditors’ committees and shareholders in all phases of bankruptcy litigation. He has litigated numerous adversary proceedings, contested matters and appeals in Bankruptcy Courts, District Courts, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The son of Vietnamese war refugees, Toan values giving back to the community and serves as pro bono counsel on bankruptcy matters for Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Neighborhood Legal Services, Public Counsel, ACLU of Southern California and Bet Tzedek.  He is a regular volunteer at APABA’s legal clinic in Monterey Park and at SCCLA’s legal clinic in San Gabriel. Toan is the founder of the Lulu’s Water Buffalo Farm Scholarship Foundation, which provides scholarships to high school seniors.

Emily Duong is a 2L at Loyola Law School and a student representative for APABA. She is also a staff member for the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review. Previously, Emily worked as a judicial extern for the Honorable Martin R. Barash in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. 

Deshani Ellis is an associate in Quinn Emanuel’s Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, including in areas of intellectual property and antitrust matters. Prior to that, Deshani worked at Jones Day, where she represented clients in a range of complex litigation matters, including multidistrict litigation. Deshani worked as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Halil Suleyman Ozerden in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and she served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Mark J. Dinsmore in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Deshani received her J.D. with honors from the University of California, Irvine School of Law. While she was in law school, she served as an editor of the UC Irvine Law Review and served as a legal extern for the Office of Chief Legal Counsel, Internal Revenue Service. While in law school, she also participated in the Community and Economic Development Clinic and the Intellectual Property, Arts, and Technology Clinic. Prior to attending law school, Deshani served as a Teach for America corps member in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Roger Hsieh is an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the Major Frauds Section at the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.  As an AUSA, Roger investigates and prosecutes cases involving white-collar crime such as health care fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and extortion through trial and appeal.  At the United States Attorney’s Office, Roger serves as an Asian Pacific Special Emphasis Project Manager.  Before becoming an AUSA, Roger was an associate at O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles where he represented healthcare, technology, and entertainment clients in litigation and white collar investigations.  At O’Melveny, Roger served as Co-Chair of the Asian American lawyers’ group and also counseled clients on the Affordable Care Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), state privacy laws, anti-kickback laws, corporate practice of medicine laws, and data privacy and security.  Prior to joining O’Melveny, Roger was a judicial law clerk to United States District Court Judge John Z. Lee for the Northern District of Illinois.  Roger obtained his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from UCLA Law School where he served as Co-Chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Law Students’ Association and was a member of the UCLA Law Review and the Asian Pacific American Law Journal.

Stacy Kwon is an associate attorney at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She previously served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Ronald S.W. Lew of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. She obtained her J.D. from UCLA School of Law, where she was a senior editor for the UCLA Law Review, a member of the Moot Court Honors Executive Board, a staff editor for the Entertainment Law Review, and a mentor for the Law Fellows Program. Stacy was also one of ten students selected for membership in The Order of Barristers. During law school, she was a summer associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, a judicial extern to the Honorable Michael W. Fitzgerald of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, a Business & Legal Affairs intern at Marvel Studios, and an APABA law student representative. Prior to law school, Stacy obtained her B.A. in Philosophy and French from UC Berkeley, studied abroad at Sciences Po in Paris, and worked as a practice assistant at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP and as a legal assistant for boutique law firms.

Anthony Lai is an associate attorney at Schweitzer Law Partners, APC, the largest family law firm in the San Gabriel Valley. Anthony has extensive experience in divorce, paternity, child custody and visitation, spousal and child support matters, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and domestic violence restraining orders. He has worked exclusively in the area of family law for over five years, with significant courtroom exposure and has gained tools for efficient and amicable resolution of contentious family law proceedings. He is a recipient of the 2021 Superlawyers Family Law Rising Stars. Anthony is active in his community in providing pro bono legal services for immigrant and low-income communities at Asian Pacific American Bar Association and Southern California Chinese Lawyers' Association Legal Aid Clinics. He also Volunteers at St. Francis Center with the Loyola Law School Board of Governors in feeding homeless in Downtown Los Angeles. A committed supporter of young attorneys, Anthony is the current Chair of the California Young Lawyers Association and Family Law Liaison to the Barrister’s Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association where he works to advance the community of new lawyers.

Tin Le is an Associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He received his B.A. in Economics and Political Science from UC San Diego and his J.D. from Loyola Law School. During law school, Tin served as the President of Loyola's Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, a Production Editor for the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, and a Vice President of the St. Thomas More Law Honor Society. Previously, Tin was a Law Student Representative for APABA from 2020-2021.

Jason Lee is an attorney practicing family law since October 2010 with Salisbury Lee & Tsuda, LLP.  He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley in May 2006 with highest honors in Legal Studies and distinction in general scholarship. He obtained his law degree from the UCLA School of Law in May 2009. After graduating law school, he clerked at a law firm in Shanghai focusing on international business transactions. Jason’s parents emigrated to Southern California from Taiwan in the early 1980s and he was born and spent most of his childhood in the San Gabriel Valley.  He was the 2018 APABA Volunteer of the Year.

I-Hsuan Lin is a Staff Attorney at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – LA's Citizenship Project. She provides legal assistance and consultations to immigrants wishing to undergo the process of naturalization. Prior to joining the Advancing Justice-LA staff, I-Hsuan was a volunteer at Advancing Justice-LA's citizenship clinics and workshops. She has worked as a law clerk in a private law firm and helped the immigration attorney with immigration cases.  I-Hsuan is originally from Taiwan and then immigrated to the U.S. She graduated with LL.M from The George Washington University Law School, Washington D.C. She speaks Taiwanese and Mandarin.

Dinh Luu practices estate planning and elder law at Goldfarb & Luu P.C., where she is a founding partner. She received her J.D. from Southwestern School of Law and her B.A. from Colorado College in History and Political Science. In law school, she clerked at the Children’s Law Center and Hon. Dean D. Pregerson of the United States District Court, Central District. Following law school, she clerked at the Superior Court of New Jersey, Burlington County. After returning to the Los Angeles area, she was an associate at several Los Angeles firms before going on to serve as the Supervising Attorney of the Compton Court Legal Self Help Center.

Alexander Manglinong is an associate at Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP, where his practice focuses on business litigation. He has represented a diverse array of businesses and high net worth individuals in business and real estate disputes in federal and state court. He is the 2022 Secretary of the Philippine American Bar Association. Alexander earned his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and his J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. While attending the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, he served as Senior Copy Editor of the Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal.

Don Nghiem is a Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He previously worked as in-house counsel for JM Eagle, the world’s largest PVC and plastic pipe manufacturer. Don received his J.D. and Certificate of Business Law from the USC Gould School of Law. While attending law school, he was president of the USC Asian Pacific American Law Student Association and an active student volunteer of the various Los Angeles API bar associations. Prior to law school, Don volunteered in the Philippines with the Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment, where he assisted Vietnamese refugees and stateless families resettle to Canada. Don graduated from the University of California, San Diego with dual degrees in Political Science – Public Policy and Management Science.

Na Hyun Seo is an associate attorney at Berman Berman Berman Schneider & Lowary, LLP. Her area of practice includes premises liability, automotive negligence, and personal injury. She obtained her law degree at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where she received the Bernice and Arthur Ullman Endowed Award. During law school, she worked as a clinical student for the Youth Justice Education Clinic and was a research assistant for Professor Karl M. Manheim. She also worked as a summer law clerk at the Law Offices of Robert J. Nachshin, P.C, a family law firm. In law school, Na served as the APABA law student representative from 2018-2019, APALSA board member from 2017-2019, and Treasurer for the International Student Association. Na holds a Bachler of Arts Degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. At UCLA, she received the Chancellor’s Service Award for her services at Project WILD (Working for Immigrant Literacy Development), UCLA Student Legal Services and JusticeCorps. After college, she taught English in Arnedo, Spain, through the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program.

Candice Shikai is an associate attorney at Seki, Nishimura & Watase, LLP, where she focuses her practice on defending public entities, corporations, and businesses in general liability cases, mainly in the areas of premises liability, products liability, and complex general liability.  Candice serves in the position of Treasurer on the Japanese American Bar Association Board of Governors. She also serves on the JABA Educational Foundation Board of Directors and is the JABA Liaison for LACBA’s Litigation Section Executive Committee.  Outside of the legal community, Candice also serves on the Kizuna Board-at-Large and the TAIKOPROJECT Board of Directors. She received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and her B.A. from UCLA.

Alexander Su is an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.  Before becoming a prosecutor, Alex was an associate at LimNexus LLP, where he focused on complex cross-border disputes and government enforcement matters. His transnational practice also required foreign language and cultural proficiencies. Alex's other previous work experiences include clerking with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Major Crimes Division, San Francisco trial firm Minami Tamaki LLP, and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School. Alex is also a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, where he has served as an NGO Observer to the Military Commissions proceedings in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, against the defendants accused of planning the September 11th terrorist attacks.   Alex earned his B.A. in International Relations from Pomona College and J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Prior to law school, Alex served as a Fulbright Fellow to the Republic of Korea.

Katelyn Taira is a 2L at the UCLA School of Law and a student representative for APABA. She also serves as the student representative for JABA's Young Lawyers Group and as a Staff Editor of the UCLA Entertainment Law Review. Previously, Katelyn worked as an intern for the SEC and for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

Nadine Shu Rong Tan is Associate Counsel at Green Dot Public Schools California, a nonprofit organization that operates 18 public charter schools across Los Angeles with the mission to help transform public education. She was an adjunct lecturer at her alma mater, the USC Gould School of Law, where she taught legal ethics in the LLM program. She serves as President-Elect and Membership Chair of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association (SCCLA). She received her J.D. from USC, where she served as APALSA’s Co-Chair of Alumni Relations and a Peer Mentor to incoming law students, and her B.S. from USC, magna cum laude. After law school, she clerked for the Hon. S. James Otero (Ret.) of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and practiced general and employment litigation and counseling at Parker, Milliken, Clark, O’Hara & Samuelian, A.P.C.

Michael J. Tang is an Associate Attorney in the Private Client group at McDermott Will & Emery LLP (“MWE”), where he maintains a broad trusts and estates practice advising ultra-high net worth individuals and families on various aspects of their income, gift and estate tax planning.  In addition, Michael counsels individuals and families on philanthropic matters, helping them to create and administer tax-exempt entities such as private foundations, non-profit corporations and charitable trusts.   As an advocate for community service, Michael serves as a volunteer attorney for Asian Americans Advance Justice—Los Angeles (“AAAJ”) and Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach.  Michael graduated from the University of Southern California (“USC”) with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, where he was also a member of the USC Men’s Tennis team.  He received his J.D. from Chapman University, where he served as a Dean’s Academic Fellow for Corporate Law and Contract Law and was the recipient of the law school’s Professionalism Award.  Michael is also a graduate of New York University, where he received his Tax LL.M.  In 2022, Michael was the APABA Volunteer of the Year and was the recipient of MWE’s Outstanding Firm Citizen Award.

Liana Wong is an associate at Turner Henningsen Wolf & VanDenburg LLP. She graduated from California State University, Los Angeles with a B.S. in Public Health and received her J.D. from Loyola Law School. During her time at Loyola, she served as Vice-President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, and interned as a certified law clerk with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. Liana served as Student Representative to APABA for 2020-2021.

Rong (Summer) Xia is currently a J.D. candidate at the University of Arizona.  Previously, she was an attorney in the Law and Mediation Offices of Elizabeth Yang, where she practices family and immigration law. Prior to joining this firm, she practiced immigration law at the Law Offices of Vivian Szawarc. Summer was born in China, where she earned a Bachelor of Law degree from the Southwest University of Political Sciences and Law and a Master of Law degree from Wuhan University. After that, she worked for more than a decade as a government officer in the Customs agency of China. In 2016 she graduated with a Master of Laws degree from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. During law school, she served as a judicial extern to Judge Mary Thornton House of the Superior Court of Los Angeles, Pasadena Courthouse. Summer has been active with APABA since her law school. She regularly serves as a volunteer attorney at the APABA and SCCLA monthly pro bono legal clinics since her law school. In 2020, Summer was named Volunteer of the Year by APABA. She is also an active volunteer in other non-profit organizations, such as Asian Pacific Advance Justice, the Public Counsel Law Center, and the Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law.

Samuel Sung H. You is a founding partner at Ro & You LLP, a law firm specializing in California Workers' Compensation Defense for employers, insurance companies and third party administrators. Mr. You provides counsel and representation on areas of employer liability, labor practices, risk management and insurance coverage disputes. Prior to this, Mr. You worked at a national law firm in its Labor & Employment practice and also served as the Assistant Attorney General of Missouri. He is a graduate of UC Davis and St. Louis University School of Law. Mr. You is currently the President-Elect of the Korean American Bar Association of Southern California and serves on the Board of Cal-APABA.