PRESIDENT

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 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.

PRESIDENT-ELECT

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.

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

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.

TREASURER

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.

SECRETARY

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.

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Ruth Kwon is an Associate Attorney at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP where she focuses her practice on representing businesses in various stages of civil litigation in California state and federal courts. Ruth is a member of the firm’s Consumer Class Action Defense Practice Group and focuses on cases asserting statutory damages on a classwide basis. Ruth handles commercial matters, including disputes involving misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair business practice, breach of contract, fraud, false advertising, and employment disputes. Ruth has also worked on wildfire litigation and real estate disputes. Prior to attending law school, Ruth worked as a college educator, teaching Asian American Studies, English, and Humanities. She also owned and operated a retail tile store and worked with contractors, builders, and large institutions such as the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles World Airports.

Jasmine Song is an Associate Attorney at Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP (WR Immigration)
since July 2021. Prior to WR Immigration, she worked at Buda Law Group since December 2014. Jasmine earned her Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern Law School. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis where she was a member of the UCDC program. During her time in the UCDC program, she interned at the Washington DC headquarters for the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA). Having immigrated to America at the age of thirteen, Jasmine experienced first-hand the complexities and challenges of going through the immigration process with her family. This experience inspired her to dedicate her career to assisting individuals striving for a brighter future in the U.S.

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.

Avni P. Mehta is a Senior Managing Associate at Sidley Austin LLP’s office in Century City, where she focuses her practice on global corporate and private equity transaction matters, representing privately held corporate entities and funds in domestic and cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, other business combinations, equity investments, corporate restructurings, and general corporate matters. She earned her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her B.S. in Foreign Service with a focus on International Politics – Security Studies and Asian Studies from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Avni enjoys singing, cooking and traveling in her free time.

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, CFLS, is an associate attorney at Feinberg Mindel Brandt & Klein LLP. He brings nearly a decade of substantial litigation experience to assist clients in their of dissolution of marriage, paternity, child custody and visitation, spousal and child support matters, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and domestic violence restraining orders. The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization named Anthony Lai as a Certified Family Law Specialist, which requires completion of an extensive application, references from colleagues, judges, and opposing counsel, and passing a rigorous written exam administered only every two years. A Certified Specialist must have served as principal counsel in at least ten contested evidentiary hearings or trials. Anthony was selected as a Superlawyers Rising Star from 2021-2023, a distinction given to the top 2.5% of attorneys, as well as one of Pasadena Top Attorneys for 2022-2023 by Pasadena Magazine. Anthony is an active leader in the legal community, and is honored to serve on several bar association. Anthony serves as the secretary of the California Lawyers Association, Board of Representatives, is a Board Member on the Los Angeles County Bar Association Family Law Section Executive Committee. He is a Member of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles Board of Directors and the Loyola Law School Alumni Association – Asian Pacific American Chapter. As a strong advocate for the unique needs and interests of new attorneys across the state of California, Anthony has previously served as Chair of the New Lawyers Section of CLA and is a member of the LACBA Barrister’s Young Lawyers Section Executive Committee. Anthony volunteers at the St. Francis Center to serve breakfast to the homeless and offers legal advice to the immigrant and underserved APA community at the APABA and SCCLA Pro Bono Legal Clinics. In his spare time, Anthony enjoys taking his family to Disneyland, is an avid follower of Tiki culture and is  an unapologetic fan of the Dodgers and the Chargers.

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.

Bonnie Fong is a the Language Access Manager and Staff Attorney for the Labor and Employment Division at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – LA. She provides legal assistance and consultations to individuals regarding labor law disputes and access to justice. Prior to joining the Advancing Justice-LA staff, Bonnie litigated employment law matters in private practice. She graduated with a J.D. from University of West Los Angeles and received her B.A. from California State University - Northridge.

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.

Stacey A. Villagomez is a litigation associate in Allen Matkins' Los Angeles office. She practices in all aspects of general business and real estate litigation in both state and federal courts. Stacey received her bachelor's degree in English, with a minor in Asian American Studies from UCLA. She received her J.D. from USC Gould School of Law where she served as Topic Editor for the Hale Moot Court Honors Program and Secretary for the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association. While in law school, Stacey also obtained a Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution. Prior to entering law school, Stacey worked as a paralegal for five years at an Orange County law firm. She also clerked for boutique litigation and appellate firms in Los Angeles while completing her law degree. Stacey is currently Co-Chair of the General Real Property Subsection of LACBA and is an active member of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.

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.

Vicki Chou is a Partner at Hueston Hennigan LLP where she represents individuals and companies in high stakes business disputes and criminal matters, including complex commercial litigation, intellectual property matters, SEC enforcement actions, and white-collar criminal defense. Prior to joining Hueston Hennigan, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California where she represented the United States in hundreds of criminal cases, including computer and internet fraud, intellectual property, money laundering, bank fraud, tax fraud, immigration fraud, drug trafficking, and racketeering offenses. Many of her matters involved high level, international coordination. As lead counsel, she prevailed at trial in numerous cases. She also argued many appeals before the Ninth Circuit, securing affirmances in every case she argued. During her time at the Office, served as a Deputy Chief in the General Crimes Section, where she supervised and trained the Office’s newest prosecutors. Vicki is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She clerked for the Honorable Robert E. Payne, United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia. She was selected as one of NAPABA's 2020 Best Under 40.

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.

Noelle Frances Natividad is a 2L at LMU Loyola Law School and a student representative for APABA. She also serves on the Executive Board for LLS' APALSA. Previously, Noelle worked as a judicial extern for Administrative Judge Louis Garcia with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Derek Song is a second-year law student at UCLA School of Law and serves as a student representative for APABA. He holds the position of Co-Chair for the Let's Go Liberation! Clinic through UCLA's El Centro Legal and will be the incoming Treasurer for UCLA's APILSA. Additionally, Derek is a Staff Editor for the UCLA Entertainment Law Review. This summer, he will join Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AJSOCAL) as a State Bar Fellow.

Immediate Past 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.  v