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As we approach the end of summer, the Korean American Bar of Southern California is in a position to reflect upon a year of great examples of community service and leadership. The organization has developed into one of the strongest anchor resources in the community, having built a healthy monthly legal service clinic in partnership with sister organizations such as the Korean Youth and Community Center, the Korean Immigrant Workers Alliance, and National Korean American Service and Education Consortium. In collaboration with community-based organizations that understand how to focus on critical issues facing limited and non-English speaking members of our community, KABA has been able to make an important contribution as mostly second-generation, well-trained, and high integrity professionals who understand the nuances of litigation and negotiation in the U.S. legal system.

In an effort to promote understanding among small business owners, parents, and new citizens, KABA has held various specialty clinics to meet the needs of those who might otherwise be left out of the important public education campaigns being organized by local, state and national government. For example, with the impact of the housing foreclosure crisis, KABA helped to spearhead a community education and outreach clinic for those in need of counsel. Another example is the small claims program organized by KABA in March 2009, providing a chance for community members to understand how such courts can assist in resolving conflicts that are too small for formal litigation strategies.

On an entirely different level, KABA is helping to bring the Korean American community to the forefront of mainstream attention by promoting the opportunities to participate in serving the public generally by advocating for the appointment of judges to our courts. The latest example in Los Angeles was the appointment of Judge Howard Halm to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Currently, there are appointments being considered for the federal bench as well and KABA is making sure that the nominees are well prepared and supported in the pursuit of dreams to serve in that capacity. In addition, in the legal profession's mainstream associations, individuals such as former KABA President Ann I. Park of Pond North, LLP has served with distinction as a Trustee of the LA County Bar Association and as a member of the State Bar Judicial Nominees Evaluation Committee. And within the professional associations that serve the Asian American lawyers, KABA has the distinction of having another of its past presidents, Ekwan Rhow of Bird Marella Boxer Wolpert et al, spear-heading the organizing of the 2010 National Asian Pacific American Bar convention in Los Angeles. He currently serves as the Western Regional Director of NAPABA, the largest specialty bar organization in the country, with over 40,000 members and 60 chapter organizations throughout the nation. The NAPABA Convention has grown into a major convening drawing more than 1500 lawyers, judges and professors to its annual gatherings.

KABA has come a long way since its founding 1981. Prior to that year, there were a handful of Korean Americans trained in the law and actively practicing in the field. Today, the estimate is 1,300 lawyers of Korean ancestry who are part of the legal profession in southern California. Our road has not been so long. There have been moments of quiet reflection about where Korean American lawyers fit, before the 1981 founding of our association. And there have been moments of intense testing of KABA members' mettle during a crisis moment in history when the 1992 implosion of Los Angeles hit Korean immigrants hard. Today, there is maturity and clear growth, development and consciousness. Wisdom is on its way.

For more information about events and organization contacts, go to www.kabasocal.org.