About Us

President - Basil Kim President-elect Basil Kim is the omnipresent ruler of all things APALSA. He may be in his twilight years, but he rules with wrath and an iron fist so do not anger him with jokes like, "is your brother's name Oregano? Parsely?," or, "my pasta is kind of bland, can you do me a favor and jump in it?" (or at least think of more original ones because he gets those a lot). He was born in Seoul, South Korea, and has lived in Richmond, Cleveland, Boston, Los Angeles, graduated from Dartmouth College and now resides in Brooklyn, where he is pursuing his desire to drive change through law in health policy and social justice. He is also pursuing his passion to maintain and better APALSA, an organization where he hopes minority law students can connect, both with each other and with the broader New York City community. He hopes APALSA will be a place where students can forge friendships, support one another, and enjoy their time at Brooklyn Law School while facing the trials and tribulations of studying law in New York. Another interesting fact: He is exactly 6 months younger than recently retired game show host, Bob Barker. Authors: Andy Chan.	Vice President - Minnie Yuen Minnie represents nearly every aspect of Asian: she's Chinese by heritage and is frequently mistaken for a Korean, but when you cut her, she bleeds adobo. Minnie hails from the Midwest empire-city of Chicago, home of the White Sox and birthplace of deep-dish pizza. In the summer, Minnie's complexion turns a creamy shade of mocha, because check it: she's Pinay. Don't let her double major in Political Science and Asian American Studies from Wellesley throw you - she is by far the most ghetto-fab alum that any of the Seven Sisters would dare produce. This past summer, Minnie was a New York City Bar Fellow and worked for Met-Life, where she honed her skills pushing paper from left to right, and when things got real crazy, from right to left. Minnie aspires to be a breakdancer, drummer, skateboarder and Jamaican dancehall queen. While she is a force to be reckoned with in any legal forum, she prefers to settle disputes with an old-fashioned dance-off: you will get served. Author: Liz Saura.
Secretary - Shao-Fei Moy The first rule of fight club is, you don't talk about fight club. The first rule of Shao-Fei Moy is, you don't put down the New York Yankees. He will destroy you. When he's not breathing fire on Non-Yankee fans, he's usually drinking coffee (the man can put away 5 cups of espresso in a day), or dusting his shrine to Phil Mickelson, or doing the crossword puzzle in the Times to keep his brain from going soft. Shao hates people who are rude, so make sure to bump into him and not say "excuse me" the next time you see him. Author: Haeya Yim.	Treasurer - Liz Saura SoCal by birth, NorCal by heart, this rockstar is the embodiment of California sunshine, although you'll want to stay out of her way in the winter. (See "Seasonal Affective Disorder"). Otherwise, her laughter has the force of a thousand bullhorns and can be heard blocks away. Liz is the Pinay that brings power to the P in APALSA. A biology major from UC Berkeley, Liz has worked as an athletic trainer, a research assistant and a corporate paralegal. This past summer, Liz interned in San Francisco for a 9th Circuit judge and witnessed attorneys sweat it out, moot-court style, in front of the Court of Appeals sitting en banc (a.k.a. thugs in the house). You'll likely find Liz on the tennis courts, or planning a no-pool pool party, or scoping the city's best steakhouses. Liz will say she aspires to be a pro tennis player and/or housewife of a rock legend, but most of the time her dream job is general counsel for the WTA. She attributes her good fortune to her Golden Pig, Hao Pang. And, oh yeah, she's got grills. Author: Minnie Yuen.
Alumni Chair - Kiran Gore As an equal opportunity New Yorker, Kiran has lived in all 5 boroughs of NYC. She and her Alumni co-chair (and everyone in their right mind) share the same love for Nutella. Once a fashion designer, Kiran now dresses her friends and reads trashy magazines. When she's not busy finishing up a law review assignment or preparing for class, Kiran can be found on the ground contorting her body into yoga positions. As a natural risk taker, Kiran once jumped on Eminem's back at the tender age of 14 ask her; for details if you pass her in the hall. Kiran's claim to fame: she's the whitest Asian you may ever meet. Go Yankees!!! Author: Thomas Kung.	Alumni Chair - Thomas Kung For those of you who are lucky, you've caught Tom on Netflix during class (breaks only, of course). For the rest of you who haven't had the pleasure of being in a classroom with him: Tom is a thoroughly rounded individual: He loves Nutella, can make a mean scrambled egg, and is an Xbox man (BioShock these days). All this is part of his master plan and life goal of becoming a film studio executive (clearly). And if you were ever in Taiwan and saw a Tom look-alike, don't worry you weren't seeing things, Tom lived there until he was fourteen. Author: Kiran Gore.
Academic Chair - Jennifer Kim Jen is a Jersey girl who graduated from UPenn with a degree in history and Spanish. She worked at the NY District Attorney's office for a year and a half before starting law school and worked for a district judge this past summer. If Jen is not at school or working, she's probably traveling somewhere around the world. In the past two years she's traveled to places like Buenos Aires, Santiago, Montevideo, London, Rome and San Juan. I encourage everyone to get to know Jen because she's a good listener and you can talk to her about anything. Author: Grace Jang.	Academic Chair - Grace Jang Grace is a native New Yorker who grew up in Staten Island and attended Columbia. After graduating, she used her Industrial Engineering major to use working for Avon Products. Grace also worked at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn this past summer. Grace cannot go through a day with some coffee and in her spare time, you can always catch her watching something on the Food Network. Author: Jennifer Kim
Social Chair - Evan Chung "By the second verse, dear friends, my head will burst and my life will end, So, I'd like to start this one off by saying "live and love." …John Allyn Smith Sails. Evan was born and raised on the mean streets of Austin, TX (just outside the bright lights of PFLugerville). He was an insolent child…who only knew how to say 3 words until he was 5 years old: Represent!!, Eastside!!, and cornhole. But he grew up! And so did his vocabulary… By the time his family moved to metropolitan New Jersey, he could recognize all the letters of the alphabet, and could utter subject-verb agreeing phrases like "I represent the Eastside, you cornhole!". Miraculously, Evan managed to attend the University of Michigan. He enjoyed his time there picking up scraps of Midwest culture like euchre, frolf, and vernor's ginger ale. But, by the time he graduated, Evan was ready to go and explore. After he left, He lived and worked in D.C. for 3 years. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember too much of that because of the PTSD. Now, residing in the hardened bare-knuckle brawling capital that is Brooklyn Heights, he assures people, he's finally found peace. Evan centers himself by picking on smaller people, yelling at dogs that wear sweaters, and pushing random children around in strollers. Author: Evan Chung.	Social Chair - Tina Ma Like most of the e-board I hail from Jersey (fist-pump to a Bon Jovi song here). I graduated from Smith College in 2004 and spent a year abroad studying at University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Although I'm Chinese and speak fluent Mandarin I've occassionally been called an "adopted Korean". If you see me around Feil or BLS feel free to stop and say "hi" but be forewarned: I think I look grumpy at school, but I swear it's just because I'm so tired and is no reflection of you. Author: Tina Ma.
Political Chair - Haeya Yim Haeya comes to us by way of Wesleyan and is a Sparer Fellow-ing public interest machine! She spent the summer of '07 at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, defending and educating Asian Americans, as you can probably imagine. Haeya hates animals and thus consumes them - hold the vegetables please! Her only known source of fiber comes from eating pages upon pages of corporations text. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis? Haeya will tell you 45 letters, INSTANTLY. If you're not loving life, I suggest you try cutting Haeya on the cafeteria line - she'll flash you her "Yim look of death", and you will no longer be. Finally, if you're in the mood for Disney music, tune in to Haeya-oke late at night. She's been known to belt out a few tunes from Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid when her eyelids grow heavy. Author: Shao-Fei Moy.	Webmaster/Historian - Andrew Chan Andy, a Jersey boy with a Boston College pedigree, plays the integral, mysterious, and revered role of webmaster/historian. We knew he was well-qualified for the job because he lives by three rules: efficiency, sushi, and nudity. He uses Pert Plus in order to save time not conditioning his hair separately, he believes life would lose its meaning without tasty morsels of raw fish, and he once pursued a career in child acting culminating in a starring role in a Hong Kong film where he had a nude scene. You'll have to ask him personally about that (preferably over some Japanese food). Don't let his stunning good looks, chiseled features, or his Facebook® profile pictures intimidate you. This guy has a laid-back personality and loves to dance, often being compared to Elaine from Seinfeld. Oh, and one of his favorite movies is "The Notebook." Does anyone have any tissues? Some quotes about Andy: "Andrew, you belong in day care, not law school," and "Andy, stop complimenting yourself. All it does is expose your insecurities." How can you not love this guy? Author: Basil Kim.
1L Rep – Kalenna Lee Pretty and cute, this 1L rep will embrace you with her sweet and endearing smile and make you comfortable in any setting. Before gracing us with her presence at BLS, she studied sociology and journalism at NYU and worked in the magazine industry before switching to the legal field as a paralegal. Although she may seem quite elusive and hard to track down, you may be assured that the reason you might not see her around campus as much is not because she’s unfriendly, but quite the opposite and very approachable. Luckily for us, being that she is a New Yorker for life, you’ll be able to catch her around during breaks from school. If you’re really lucky, maybe she will even sing a song for you at noreabang! Author: Tracy Feng.	1L Rep – Warren Huang Don’t let Warren’s easy-going, always-ready-for-a-party demeanor fool you. A native New Yorker educated in Maryland, he has both an undergraduate degree in political science and a masters degree in political communication from Johns Hopkins. As much as he likes to deny it, we all know he’s a closet academic. If you see him in the library, don’t forget to stop by and say hi. He’s more than willing to commiserate with you about the rigors of law school. When he's not completely enthralled by his casebooks, you can find Warren grabbing his gear to go snowboarding, playing video games, sleeping, and enjoying long walks on the beach. Author: Kalenna Lee.
1L Rep – Tracy Feng One of the hardest working 1L’s in Brooklyn Law’s history, known as much for her amazing ball-handling skills on the b-ball court (her cross-over is just filthy nasty) as her intense study habits (her evil death stare… equally nasty). Tracy graduated from NYU Stern Undergraduate where she received her Bachelor’s in kicking butt, and received her masters from the school of hard knocks in urban vernacular (she can break down any rap song for you… really… just ask her). She will give anyone a run for her money in karaoke and holds the dubious distinction of being able to sing in both Mandarin and Chinese. On top of all this, she has connections all over NYC’s hottest nightspots, so if you need any kind of help from studying to party planning, Tracy is definitely the person to talk to. Author: Warren Huang.