VABAW, ABAW, and FLOW are coming together on Saturday, May 16 to walk and raise money for the Asian Counseling and Referral Service’s food bank! Join our Walk for Rice team and help our legal communities meet our fundraising goal of $3500. We will share a meal together afterwards 🍲 Sign up below!

Donate and/or join the team: Check out Joint Asian Bar Associations' team fundraising page for Asian Counseling and Referral Service

RSVP to the potluck: Filipino Lawyers of Washington: 2026 Walk For Rice - FLOW Potluck

VABAW is celebrating Judge Tam Bui as the first Vietnamese American on the Washington State Court of Appeals.

Join the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Washington (VABAW) on Saturday, March 28, from 12:00–2:00 PM at Anchovies & Salt in Renton, Washington, as we celebrate a historic milestone: Judge Tam Bui’s election as the first Vietnamese American to serve on the Washington State Court of Appeals.

This exclusive VABAW member event will feature a fireside chat with Judge Bui, moderated by Ty Ho, attorney and past VABAW President. Together, they will reflect on Judge Bui’s journey, the significance of this moment for the Vietnamese American community, and the broader impact of representation in the judiciary.

Appetizers will be catered by Anchovies & Salt, offering attendees the opportunity to connect with fellow VABAW members while honoring this landmark achievement.

Attendance is limited to VABAW members only.
RSVP is required by March 20.

Not yet a member? Join VABAW today to attend.
Please RSVP through Eventbrite to secure your spot.

Overview

Celebrate the Lunar New Year with VABAW! Enjoy great food, a new headshot, meet attorneys and law students, and learn how to get involved.

VABAW is hosting this FREE event for our members. RSVP by Feb. 4.

Come learn about VABAW’s year ahead and enjoy a chance to connect with our legal community. We’ll also vote on our 2026 Board of Directors.

Each guest will enjoy a delicious Vietnamese lunch and new professional headshots for the new year!

This is a members-only event, so be sure to join VABAW and RSVP today.

Click to Become a VABAW Member for 2026 (required)

RSVP on Eventbrite (required)

We can’t wait to see you there!

🎉 The Vietnamese American Bar Association of Washington (VABAW) is excited to announce that the 20th Annual Banquet will be on Thursday, October 9, 2025, at The Triple Door in Seattle, WA, and catered by Wild Ginger.

🌊 Please join us as we celebrate the resilience of the Vietnamese diaspora, marking 50 years since the Fall of Saigon in 1975.

🎤 We are honored to have immigration judge Christopher Phan as our keynote speaker this year — an inspiring figure in the Vietnamese community who exemplifies this year's theme: "From Exodus to Emergence."

🎶 In addition, Seattle-based storyteller and filmmaker DJ Âm Thanh will be spinning records from her pre-1975 Vietnamese music collection, carrying the soul and spirit of a homeland once lost but never forgotten.

🎁 We’ll also be raffling off carefully curated gift baskets featuring Vietnamese small businesses and creators.

🎟️ Make sure to buy your ticket soon for this unforgettable celebration! Register: VABAW's Annual Banquet Tickets, Thu, Oct 9, 2025 at 5:30 PM | Eventbrite

What: A one-hour training for pro bono attorneys, legal professionals, and community advocates to learn how to support clemency cases for Southeast Asian immigrants with removal orders. Seattle Clemency Project will conduct the training, and CLE credit will be provided (WA state only).

Speakers: Jennie Pasquarella, Legal Director, Seattle Clemency Project; Melanie Nguyen, Partner, Stritmatter; and Joanne Kalas, Corporate Counsel, Amazon

 When/Where: Tuesday, June 3 from 4-5pm PT. Both virtually and in-person at Stritmatter Law (3600 15th Ave W #300, Seattle, WA 98119).

Register here: https://stritmatter.zoom.us/webinar/register/4817477656621/WN_0D5e1c2PRYetY636K1q6vg

 Why This Matters:
This CLE provides training for attorneys and advocates interested in preparing clemency petitions for individuals—many longtime residents primarily of SE Asian decent—facing deportation due to decades-old criminal convictions. These community members often pled without understanding the full consequences, and today they face life-altering consequences. Clemency is one of the few tools available to stop unjust removals. This training walks through how volunteers can help, in partnership with the Seattle Clemency Project, to bring these cases before the clemency board and restore stability to families and communities.

SPONSORED BY RYAN, SWANSON & CLEVELAND, PLLC.

Join VABAW for our annual spring mixer! Open to all law students and legal professionals.

Sign up here!

Arrive at around 5:30pm to Ryan Swanson's new downtown office space. Food and drinks will be provided by our gracious hosts. We will pair off with mentors and mentees during the event at around 6:00pm. Feel free to bring business cards to exchange.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the 19th Annual Banquet. We hope to see you next year!

Monday, November 7, 2022
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
The Triple Door
216 Union Street (Downtown Seattle)

Afghan Humanitarian Crisis - Immigration Pro Bono Attorney Training & CLE

February 1, 2022 @ 12 PM – 1PM

Want to help in the Afghan Crisis with your legal skills? Join this free webinar for lawyers to be trained on providing immigration legal assistance to Afghans while earning CLE credit.

Pro bono attorney volunteers like you are greatly needed to help and no immigration law experience is required. Learn from expert immigration attorneys Tahmina Watson and Brianna Auffray on how to prepare applications, and how this work is helping thousands of Afghans in crisis around the world. Also hear from local Afghan-American community leader Aneelah Afzali about how this work supports local Afghan families, and learn how the Vietnamese community in Washington and nationally are rallying and providing support to the Afghan community in crisis from Joanne Kalas of VABAW and Dede Tran of Viets4Afghans.Attorney volunteers are greatly needed immediately and you can help!

Please contact info@widenlaw.org or VABAWPresident@gmail.com for more information.

Please register at:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdNkKtB08YvkAIZZZfK-aqQE2gr18Lbn0N2WCQ6WLFmM4a9fg/viewform

You are invited to VABAW’s 17th Annual Banquet (via Zoom) on Thursday, October 14th from 5:30pm - 7:00pm.

WE HAVE A SPECTACULAR LINE-UP OF GUESTS INCLUDING

KEYNOTE, SPEAKER PHUC TRAN AND

MUSICAL GUEST, PAPER NOVA.

JOIN US VIA ZOOM FROM 5:30PM- 7:00PM.

A SPECIAL VIETNAMESE BANQUET MEAL IS AVAILABLE TO ADD TO YOUR TICKET THIS YEAR. MORE DETAILS ON TICKET AND FOOD OPTIONS CAN BE FOUND AT THE LINK VIA THE BUTTON BELOW. DELIVERY RESTRICTIONS MAY APPLY.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO CELEBRATING AND ENJOYING A DELICIOUS FEAST WITH THE VABAW COMMUNITY! LET’S ROCK THE BOAT!

Tickets can be purchased HERE

Friday, June 11, 2021 
12:00 - 1:00 PM Pacific
Zoom Webinar 

In collaboration with the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Washington and the Asian Bar Association of Washington, you are invited to join the employees of Ryan Swanson on June 11, 2021 for Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian/American and Xenophobic Harassment training. Presented by Asian Americans Advancing Justice and Hollaback!, this complimentary, interactive training will teach you Hollaback!’s 5Ds of bystander intervention methodology.

From the course description: We’ll start by talking about the types of disrespect that Asians and Asian Americans are facing right now — from microaggressions to violence — using a tool we call the “spectrum of disrespect.” You’ll learn what to look for and the positive impact that bystander intervention has on individuals and communities. We’ll talk through five strategies for intervention: distract, delegate, document, delay, and direct; and how to prioritize your own safety while intervening. We’ll have time at the end for practice, and you’ll leave feeling more confident intervening the next time you see Anti-Asian/American harassment online or in person.

Register HERE

Mock Interview and Resume Review Event hosted by the Vietnamese-American Bar Association of Washington (VABAW) in partnership with Ryan, Swanson, and Cleveland, PLLC. The event will take place on Thursday, April 22, 2021 from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

RSVP - Here

For questions, email vabawpresident@gmail.com.

On March 22, 2021, VABAW released the following statement.

The Vietnamese-American Bar Association of Washington (VABAW) condemns the distressing increase over the past year in hate-based attacks against Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI). Violence toward our communities is nothing new. In April 2020, VABAW denounced the use of racial language to describe the Coronavirus and racist attacks on Asian Americans. Today, we are renewing our condemnation of the attacks against the AAPI community.

Hate crimes have been perpetuated against AAPI for decades. The COVID-19 pandemic has exponentially increased these crimes, the most recent being cowardly attacks against the elderly across the nation and the brutal murder of six Asian-American women in Atlanta. We are horrified and devastated. We grieve with the families of the victims.

VABAW is committed to our work to increase racial equity within the WSBA and combating systemic racism in the criminal justice system. Systemic racism, decades of harmful, racist depictions of Asian Americans in the media, and unwarranted blaming of Asian Americans for the COVID-19 pandemic by past leaders have led to the dehumanization of AAPI and the increase in violence against our community. If you or someone you know have been a victim of a hate crime, we strongly encourage you to report the crime to your local law enforcement agency and prosecutor’s office.

Resources:

• The Stop AAPI Hate reporting center tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Make a report here: https://stopaapihate.org/

• Hollaback! hosts free online trainings related to bystander intervention and how to respond to Anti-Asian harassment when it happens to you. Sign up at: https://www.ihollaback.org/harassmenttraining/

• The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) has developed a hate crimes task force and offers pro bono legal resources to ensure that local communities have legal resources to address the most egregious hate-fueled attacks against our community. More information can be found here: https://www.napaba.org/page/HateCrimeResources

• The Asian Mental Health Collective is dedicated to making mental health services more accessible for the community, and has created the Asian, Pacific Islander, and South Asian American (APISAA) Therapist Directory: https://www.asianmhc.org/apisaa

/s/ Amy Phan Taylor /s/ Maria Williams
2021 VABAW Presidents
vabawpresident@gmail.com

The Vietnamese-American Bar Association of Washington (VABAW) stands in solidarity with our Black brothers and sisters.

VABAW feels deep sadness and anger over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others in the Black community. As painful as this moment may be for all of us, we must address the inequities this incident and the COVID-19 pandemic have laid bare and the ugliness they have revealed. For some, the simple act of walking down the street, jogging, or birdwatching can be dangerous or even deadly.

VABAW denounces the systemic racial and legal injustices that have led to the reality of police brutality against the Black community. We are committed as allies in addressing racism against the Black community and to have open and honest conversations with our coworkers, friends, families, and community, no matter how uncomfortable. These conversations are long overdue, and must continue for as long as needed to achieve meaningful action. VABAW will not remain silent on these issues; to remain silent is to reject the dignity of those who have died and will continue to die at the hands of racism and injustice. VABAW commits to advocate for legal reform in memory of those who can no longer speak. May we never forget and be inspired into action to effect change.

In Support and Solidarity,

The Vietnamese-American Bar Association of Washington

Next shadowing event with experienced volunteer attorneys date is TBD.

*One shadowing attendance required of all NEW volunteers.

VABAW volunteers once a quarter on Wednesday nights (5:45pm-7:45pm) at ACRS in Seattle.

We work in collaboration with the King County Bar Association. The legal clinic administrators are professionals and students who assist with the client intake interviews and administer the schedule for the evening. It is a rewarding experience and an opportunity for you to use your skills to make a difference! To volunteer, please complete the form below. All volunteers must complete several video trainings (at home) and attend at least one clinic shadow session with an experienced volunteer.

The next shadow session will be scheduled depending on COVID-19 stay-at-home guidelines and other existing restrictions. Please stay tuned for more details on our Volunteer page. All new volunteers must complete the application with King County Bar Association and ACRS as well as complete all video trainings (3 videos) prior to attending the shadow session.

VABAW is once again sponsoring the Lunar New Year Celebration at the Wing Luke Museum! Please find the schedule here: http://www.wingluke.org/single-exhibit/?mep_event=674