By: Jackie Bong-Wright - Asian Fortune

Judge Jacqueline Nguyen at VABA-DC Scholarship Dinner 2010

“Get a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Does this ring true to Judge Jacqueline Nguyen? “Definitely, yes,” she said. “I was sworn in as a federal judge three months ago, and I was thrilled to take over a caseload of 400 civil cases and many other criminal matters. I’ve been working many late nights and weekends, but I wouldn’t trade this job for any other in the world.”

MEDIA ADVISORY: Wednesday, January 20, 2010                                     

CONTACT: John Brown at (202) 857-6359 | Caroline Nguyen at (202) 663-6079

Washington, D.C.—The Vietnamese American Bar Association of the Greater Washington, D.C. Area (“VABA-DC”) today announced that the Hon. Jacqueline Nguyen of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California will be the keynote speaker at VABA-DC’s Second Annual Scholarship Dinner on March 18, 2010.  The theme of this year’s Scholarship Dinner is “Inspiring New Voices of Justice.”

On December 1, 2009, Judge Nguyen became the first Article III judge of Vietnamese descent, after the United States Senate confirmed her by a unanimous vote.  Judge Nguyen is only the third-ever Asian American female Article III judge.

Source: Style Weekly - October 13, 2009

VABA-DC member, Tony Pham, has been selected by Style Weekly to be honored as one of Richmond 's Top 40 Under 40 Leaders for his contributions to the community.

Six days before North Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon on April 24, 1975, Tony H. Pham, then 2 years old, was on the last civilian flight out of South Vietnam. He, his two sisters and their mother embarked on a remarkable journey that would take them to a refugee camp in Arkansas and then to Henrico County, where a church sponsored them. Pham’s father, a South Vietnamese Army officer, joined them later.

Tony Pham, 36 Assistant City Attorney, City of Richmond Photo by Ash Daniel

Source: http://www.bisnow.com/washington_dc_legal_news_story.php?p=2414

Things are booming for the Vietnamese Bar Association, founded by WilmerHale’s Caroline Nguyen. The former bartender at K Street Lounge makes us look smart for picking her as one of our 30 Under 30s: she developed the VBA from a brainstorm to an organization that pulled in 120 for dinner last night, where it granted scholarships to two law students (from GWU and University of Baltimore) who’ve demonstrated commitment to issues affecting the Vietnamese. There’s Caroline with WilmerHale colleagues Kenneth Imo, career development attorney, and dinner co-chair Danny Nguyen.