PRESIDENT

TREASURER

BETTY TRANG DOVINH

Betty Trang Dovinh is the founder and principal attorney of the private law firm Dovinh Law PLLC. She is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees and a first-generation Seattle native. Betty took a non-traditional route to higher education, putting herself through college starting as a high school Running Start program participant from 2001-2002. She attended both North Seattle Community College and the University of Washington evening undergraduate programs. After graduating from UW in 2008 with an interdisciplinary B.A. focused on Society, Ethics and Human Behavior, Betty continued to build her employment and volunteer profile, going on to earn her J.D. from the Seattle University School of Law's part-time program in 2015. Betty simultaneously worked throughout her academic career and has over 20 years of diverse professional experience working with local and national organizations and serving the Greater Seattle community. In 2016, she launched Dovinh Law PLLC, a firm focused on employment/civil rights, family law, immigration/naturalization, civil litigation/personal injury, sports/entertainment law, and infraction/misdemeanor criminal defense. Prior to becoming an attorney, Betty held the position of Strategic Initiatives Officer for the National Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for Children, Director of Development & Community Relations for Millionair Club Charity (now Uplift Northwest), and Executive Secretary for Seattle King County NAACP. She has held leadership, consultation, and/or operational roles for various other Washington businesses. As an attorney, Betty served as a strategic adviser to DNPro Counsel (now An Legal), an international corporate law firm based in Saigon, Vietnam. Betty is committed to bringing community members together to solve economic disparity, social injustice, and civil and political accountability issues. She previously served on former Seattle Mayor Michael McGinn's Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program's Community Advisory Board, the Seattle King County NAACP's Legislative Advocacy Committee, and the Tacoma Pierce County Bar Association Judicial Qualifications Committee. Betty is an avid baseball enthusiast in her personal time. When she is not working on various baseball development projects or rooting for the Seattle Mariners, she paints, cooks, and plays piano, usually accompanied by her dog Peach.

CAMERON CARLSON

Cameron is an attorney for Cairncross & Hempelmann in the Real Estate group where his practice focuses on management arrangements, leasing, acquisition, and financing related to commercial real estate transactions. Cameron received his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law in 2018. At UW Law, he served as the Senior Articles Editor on the Washington International Law Journal, was Co-President of the American Constitution Society, and volunteered at the 2016 Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property (WIPIP) Colloquium. Prior to joining Cairncross & Hempelmann, Cameron served as a Judicial Extern for the Honorable John C. Coughenour in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, Legal Intern for the U.S. Department of Commerce on international trade matters, and worked for Hogan Lovells International LLP in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as part of VABAW’s Hồng Đức Clerkship Program.

secretary

Immediate Past - President

John meyers

John is originally from upstate New York. He is proud of his family’s dairy farm heritage and his humble roots. As a descendant of three generations of farmers, he learned the importance of hard work and diligence. John completed the APR Rule 6 program in 2015. Completion of the program allowed him to sit for the bar exam and obtain his license to practice law in Washington State in 2016. John has substantial experience in negotiating with insurance companies and in handling all aspects of a claim and lawsuit management. Clients appreciate how he explains legal issues in a way that’s simple to understand. He always remembers his roots, as it feeds his passion to help people. John relocated to Seattle when he was 4 years old. He was raised in West Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington.

Joanne Kalas

Joanne is a Corporate Counsel, Environmental Compliance, for Amazon Web Services focusing on global sustainability, circular economy, equipment reuse, and waste issues. Prior to joining AWS, she was a partner at Foster Pepper (now Foster Garvey PC) advising public and private clients on environmental litigation, regulatory compliance, and transactions focusing on contaminated sites and water quality. Joanne has also done extensive pro bono work representing immigrant clients before the Washington State Clemency and Pardons Board who are facing the threat of deportation due to old criminal convictions. Before moving to Seattle, Joanne lived in New York City and practiced as an environmental attorney in New Jersey. During law school, she interned for the Pace Law Environmental Litigation Clinic and the UN Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), and was a delegate for the Republic of the Marshall Islands at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP‑15) for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark. Before starting her legal career, she worked in the field of medical education and managed international conventions for the photography industry. Joanne served as VABAW President from 2021-2023.

David tran

David Tran is an associate attorney in the business and real estate transactions practice groups at Helsell Fetterman, LLP. Prior to joining Helsell Fetterman, David clerked at the Washington Court of Appeals, Division II, for the Honorable Judge Linda Lee. David earned his bachelors degree in architecture from the University of Washington in 2011, and earned his law degree, Magna Cum Laude, from the Seattle University School of Law in 2015. David is committed to giving back to the API community through VABAW, through the Asian Bar Association of Washington as president-elect, and through Seattle Asian Sports Club as a basketball coach.

furhad sultani

Furhad is an attorney at Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore. He litigates cases, including those involving wrongful death and criminal death claims. Furhad graduated from law school at the University of Washington School of Law after obtaining a degree in Economics from Wesleyan University. During law school, Furhad was an extern for the Hon. John R. Ruhl of King County Superior Court as part of VABAW’s Externship Program.

KATHY AU

Kathy Au grew up between Shoreline and Spokane, Washington. As a daughter of a single immigrant mother, Kathy’s personhood centers on equity, resource accessibility, and her community of Northeast Spokane. She is a current law student at Gonzaga University School of Law with an expected graduation date of May 2024. Kathy is a Carl Maxey Scholar. Outside of the classroom, Kathy is a founding member of the Asian Pacific Islander Law Caucus and recipient of the Asian Bar Association of Washington’s 2022 Takuji Yamashita Scholarship. Before attending law school, Kathy served two years as an AmeriCorps member at Spokane Public Schools and Gonzaga University’s Center for Community Engagement in youth programming. In her free time, Kathy is learning to crochet and woodwork.

STEPHANIE NGO

Stephanie Ngo is a law student at the University of Washington with an expected completion of May 2024. She is a Southern California resident who graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Public Health from the University of California, Irvine, and recently transferred from Gonzaga University, where she was a founding member of the Asian Pacific Islander Law Caucus. Prior to attending law school, Stephanie worked in various non-profits and technology companies. Stephanie is active in her local Vietnamese communities, volunteering her time with the Union of Vietnamese Student Associations (UVSA) in California, and with Tet in Seattle (TIS) here in Washington. In her free time, Stephanie likes to bake, hike, and walk around Green Lake!

veronika nguyen

Veronika, who also goes by Ronnie, is a Seattle University law student with an expected completion of May 2025. She is a Washington native who graduated with a Bachelor's in Political Economics at the University of Washington. Prior to law school, Veronika worked at a creditor's rights firm as a legal assistant and is now interested in learning more about various fields of law as a budding legal professional. She is a current member in various organizations at Seattle University, including the Privacy Law Student Association, Real Estate Law Association, Asian Pacific Islander Law Student Association, and will be a staff editor on the Seattle Journal for Technology, Environmental, and Innovation Law beginning in the fall of 2023. She is looking forward to strengthening VABAW's connection to local API law students and being more involved in the Vietnamese legal community. In her free time, Veronika enjoys baking, travel, going to concerts, and finding new shows to watch!