SCCLA celebrates at 49th banquet event

The Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association held its 49th Anniversary Installation & Awards Banquet Thursday at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.

The following individuals were honored with awards during the event: Yvonne Mariajimenez, president and CEO of Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County, received the Delbert E. Wong Service Award; Minh T. Nguyen, trial lawyer at Nguyen Theam Lawyers LLP, received the Trailblazer Award; Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin received the Judicial Service Award; and Ellen Chen, co-founder of Mendocino Farms, received the Impact Award.

SCCLA President-Elect Vicki Chou, who is a partner at Hueston Hennigan LLP, said that the event had been a hit.

"We were really happy with this year's banquet and proud of the honorees that we selected and honored," Chou said.

Chou identified Nguyen's acceptance speech as a highlight of the evening. Nguyen paid tribute to his mother, who was in the audience, and spoke of how his desire to be an advocate for people experiencing discrimination drove him to become an attorney.

"That's the sort of story that should be broadcast to a room of people," Chou said.

Chou said that with SCCLA's 49th awards banquet over, all attention would turn to celebrating the organization's 50th birthday in 2025.

"Next year is our 50th anniversary, which is significant for SCCLA, as it would be for any organization on their 50th birthday, but especially impressive and noteworthy for us because we are the first Asian bar organization in the entire country," she explained. "I think it's a significant benchmark, a milestone for the Asian American legal community in the U.S."