Press Release
AALDEF and Rutgers Law School to Host Nation’s First Anti-Asian Violence Continuing Legal Education Program (CLE) on April 21 and 22, 2022
Hate crimes and incidents against members of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community raise a host of legal, ethical, linguistic, and cultural issues for lawyers deciding whether, how, and to what extent to get involved. Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) Co-President Phil Tajitsu Nash and Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor of Rutgers Law School will be convening two sessions of the nation’s first Continuing Legal Education (CLE) program for lawyers. The program brings together experts in AAPI history, legal history, criminal law, advocacy for AAPI communities, and cultural competence. It will satisfy two “Diversity, Equity and Elimination of Bias” ethics CLE credits for New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania lawyers.
“Rutgers Law School has a proud tradition of being in the forefront of promoting civil rights for all people,” said Dean Cuison-Villazor. “So we are pleased to be working with our alumnus Phil Tajitsu Nash and AALDEF to create a program that will help the AAPI community, both here in New Jersey and in all 50 states.” Cuison-Villazor is Rutgers Law School Interim Dean, Professor of Law, Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar, and Director of the Rutgers Center for Immigration, Law, Policy and Justice.
“This program is part of AALDEF’s work to stop anti-Asian hate,” said AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung. “And we are fortunate to have Dean Cuison-Villazor and Rutgers Law School supporting this effort. In coming months, we hope to roll out similar programs in all 50 states. AALDEF was part of a coalition of public interest law organizations that helped to defend the law school’s Minority Student Program forty years ago, and Rutgers AAPI law graduates have worked at AALDEF as interns, staff, and volunteers over the years."
The program will be in person both April 21 and 22 from 2:00 to 3:40pm Eastern Time at the Rutgers Law School in Newark, NJ. The April 22 session will also be streamed via zoom. Registration (rutgerscle.com) is free if no CLE credit is needed and $40 for lawyers seeking CLE credit – NJ: 2.0 (diversity), NY: 2.0 (diversity) or PA: 1.5 (ethics)
The program each day features the following speakers:
- Phil Tajitsu Nash, Co-President of the Board of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) and Lecturer at the Asian American Studies Program, University of Maryland
- Rose Cuison-Villazor, Interim Dean, Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar. Director, Rutgers Center for Immigration, Law, Policy and Justice
- Jack Tchen, Chair of Public History & Humanities, Director, Clement A. Price Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, Rutgers University–Newark
- Vera Bergelson, Distinguished Professor of Law and Robert E. Knowlton Scholar, Rutgers Law School
- Erik Daab, Chief Prosecutor, Specialized Crimes Bureau, New Jersey Office of the Attorney General
- R. Joseph Gribko, Senior Civil Rights Counsel, Office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey, Rutgers Law ‘94
- Elizabeth Kari, Founder AAP(I belong)
To register, please go to www.rutgerscle.com
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For additional information, contact:
Stuart Sia | 212-966-5932 x203 | ssia@aaldef.org
Dean Robert Steinbaum | 973-223-5629 | rsteinbaum@rutgers.edu