2011 Judge of the Year Award: The Honorable Steven C. Gonzalez

2011 Community Service Award: Washington Asian and Pacific Islander Community Services (WAPI).

2011 ABAW Student Scholarship Foundation Award Winners: The ABAW Student Scholarship Foundation awarded $14,500 in scholarships to five law students: Anthony Thach of University of Washington School of Law; Michelle So of Seattle University School of Law; Reyna Rolloazo of University of Washington School of Law; Cynthia Delostinos of Seattle University School of Law;and Andrea Louie of Seattle University School of Law.

2011 Keynote Speaker: James Sun, CEO of Pirq.

To read about the 2010 Asian Bar Associarion Student Scholarship Foudation awardees, click here.

2010 Judge of the Year Award: The Honorable Linda CJ Lee of Pierce County Superior Court. Judge Lee received her B.A., with distinction, in Psychology, and her law degree from the University of Hawaii. While in law school, Judge Lee clerked with the late Judge Harold M. Fong of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii. After graduating from law school, Judge Lee moved to Tacoma and joined the law firm of Gordon, Thomas, Honeywell, Malanca, Peterson & Daheim, LLP in 1991. Judge Lee became a principal in the firm after just four years of practice, and was elected to the Board of Directors shortly thereafter. In 2004, Governor Gary Locke appointed Judge Lee to the Pierce County Superior Court. She has served on the Court’s Executive Committee and is an officer in the Superior Court Judges’ Association. Judge Lee is also very involved in her community. She has served on the board of the World Trade Center Tacoma, the Corporate Council for the Arts Pierce County Committee, and the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation. In addition, Judge Lee served as President of ABAW in 1999, and served on the ABAW Board in various other capacities throughout her career including a Board term in 1997 and 1998, and coming back to the Board most recently in 2008 and 2009.

2010 Community Service Award: The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience (“The Wing”). Founded in 1966, The Wing is the nation’s only museum telling the stories of the multi-ethnic pan-APA communities, including over 26 ethnicities and 50+ languages. As a legacy of attorney and Seattle’s first City Councilperson of color Wing Luke, The Wing has developed and refined a community-based approach to all of its work and engages the public through its exhibits and public programs, Governor Gary Locke Library & Community Heritage Center, educational resources and youth programs, tours and Chinatown-International District neighborhood revitalization activities. The Wing is the Smithsonian Institution’s first affiliate in the Pacific Northwest.

2010 President’s Award: The Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee ("JAJEC"). JAEC is comprised of representatives from the Asian Bar Association of Washington, Filipino Lawyers of Washington, Korean American Bar Association of Washington, South Asian Bar Alliance of Washington, and Vietnamese American Bar Association of Washington. JAJEC evaluates judicial candidates for elected and appointed positions and provides its ratings to the Governor and the voting public. Since its inception in 2006, JAJEC has rated over 140 judicial candidates. In 2010 alone, JAJEC has rated over 40 judicial candidates. In 2010, JAJEC participated in the judicial evaluation process for the open position in the Federal District Court of the Eastern District of Washington. JAJEC met with the Judicial Selection Committee and created a process whereby JAJEC, along with the other minority bar associations, interviewed and rated final candidates for nomination.

Special Recognition: ABAW will also be honoring and recognizing Asian American pioneers in the practice of law in Washington. Those Asian American attorneys who were practicing before 1980, currently of either active or emeritus status, and continuing to live in Washington State include:

President's Award
Father William, J. Sullivan, S.J.
President Emeritus, Seattle University and Founder, Seattle University Law School

Judge of the Year
Honorable Robert Whaley
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

Community Service Award
Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation

Yamashita Scholarship ($6,000): Priya Aggarwal (Seattle University)

Sharon A. Sakamoto President's Scholarship ($4,000):Raymond Delos Reyes (Seattle University)

ABAW Scholarship ($2,000): Maki Imakura (Seattle University)

ABAW Scholarship ($2,000): Ada Wong (University of Washington)

Northwest Minority Job Fair Scholarship ($500): Helen Ling (Seattle University)