Press Release

The Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund (AALDEF), a 30-year-old New York-based civil rights organization, announced that Steven Choi, a Harvard Law School graduate and 2004-05 Skadden Fellow, has joined the AALDEF staff to launch the Korean Workers Project, designed to meet the critical legal needs of the Korean American community.

Under Choi’s direction, the AALDEF Korean Workers Project will provide direct legal services free of charge to low-wage Korean immigrant workers. In addition to the direct legal services component, the Project will also feature community advocacy and legal rights educational activities in conjunction with YKASEC—Empowering the Korean American Community, a Queens-based community service organization. This Project will expand upon AALDEF’s ongoing collaboration with YKASEC, which has included legal advice and citizenship clinics in Flushing for over a decade.

Choi is one of 28 individuals nationwide to be selected for the prestigious Skadden Fellowship, which allows recent law graduates to work on public interest law projects. He is a graduate of Stanford University and has an M.A. degree in Korean Studies from the University of Hawaii and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. As a law student, Choi co-chaired the 2003 National Asian Pacific American Conference on Law and Public Policy and received the 2002-2003 Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts award for his commitment to the Asian American community. He was previously a staff associate of both YKASEC—Empowering the Korean American Community and the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC).

AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung said, “We are delighted to welcome Steve Choi to the AALDEF staff. His exciting new Project will open up legal avenues for the underserved Korean immigrant community and highlight the importance of workers standing up for their legal rights.”