On September 30, 2006, we made history. We are the Vietnamese-American attorneys of this country, and we came together to attend the inaugural National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys (NCVAA) held in California at the San Jose City Hall and to create the first National Vietnamese Bar Association. This was a historic and monumental moment for all of us. For the first time in history, Vietnamese-American attorneys from all over the nation convened to work together to establish the first national Vietnamese-American bar association, an association that did not come to mind until now. Our conference attendees met to exchange ideas and information and to discuss matters of interest to the Vietnamese community. The conference was scheduled with distinguished keynote speakers, nationally renowned panelists and presenters, and was organized by an extraordinary team of leaders. For those that attended, you share with me the joy and pride of belonging to a group of extraordinary Vietnamese men and women lawyers.

This vision of a National Vietnamese Bar Association was started by My-Le Jacqueline Duong. Jacqueline spearheaded the event with an organizing team of 20 committee members and countless volunteers.

When asked how did she begin to conceptualize such a remarkable idea, she said, “I saw so many other groups of minority attorneys coming together, forming their own national bar association, most recently, a work colleague was involved in forming the National Hispanic Bar Association, and I thought to myself, we can do this too.”

Then Jacqueline thought out-loud to Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California (VABANC) and Vietnamese American Bar Association of Southern California (VABASC), “An event such as the first National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys is significant because it symbolizes the unity of Vietnamese Americans as we continue to strive for excellence in the legal profession. The first NCVAA’s theme of coming together marks the first occasion Vietnamese American attorneys from all over the nation will come together. We wanted to provide a forum for Vietnamese Americans in the legal profession to network and exchange ideas.”

VABANC and VABASC immediately collaborated to plan for the conference. With approximately 1,000 Vietnamese Americans in the legal profession in the United States, a national bar was long overdue. These 1,000 Vietnamese-American attorneys represent law partners in major law firms, corporate counsels for Fortune 500 companies, professors at top tiered law schools, public attorneys in various governmental and non-governmental agencies, and judges in federal and state courts. To finally come together and be united under a National Vietnamese Bar association, these attorneys have reached another milestone for the Vietnamese American community.

Inaugural NCVAA Conference Draws Honorable Guests
The conference began with VABANC’s Scholarship Award Dinner Friday night and concluded on Saturday evening at the San Jose City Hall. The award dinner is an annual banquet ceremony that recognizes outstanding Vietnamese Bay Area law students that have demonstrated a commitment to community service. This year, three law students were recognized and each was presented with a $1,000 scholarship. The Honorable Nho Trong Nguyen, the first Vietnamese American Superior Court Judge in Orange County, delivered the keynote speech at the Scholarship Dinner.

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