ABOUT US
North American South Asian Bar Association (NASABA)
In late 2001, a handful of local South Asian bar
association leaders from across the country started meeting to discuss
the possibility of a national South Asian bar organization. Despite
never having met each other, they recognized the value of a national
organization and immediately set out to form the National South
Asian Bar Association. A little over a year later, in early 2003,
NASABA was formed.
It didn’t take very long for the news of
NASABA to spread throughout the country. NASABA held its first national
conference on June 18-24, 2004 in Santa Monica, California with
over 350 South Asian lawyers from across the country. The theme
of the conference was simple yet powerful: “Oneness –
Uniting South Asian Lawyers Across America.” By then, NASABA
had already grown from 8 founding chapters to 16 member chapters
across throughout the country. This initial gathering laid the foundation
for building a national organization to unite an ever-increasing
body of South Asian lawyers.
In its short existence, NASABA has achieved much
for South Asian lawyers and the South Asian community. The following
are just a few of NASABA’s achievements over the years:
- NASABA expanded its reach to 25 local chapters including local
South Asian bar chapters in Ottawa, Vancouver and Toronto. As
a result of its expansion outside the country, NASABA became the
North American South Asian Bar Association.
- NASABA formed an Advisory Counsel (NAC), the very first unified
gathering of the senior-most South Asian bar in the United States
and Canada. The NAC is charged with providing guidance and input
on NASABA's long-term goals and other sensitive projects.
- Together with other national South Asian organizations, NASABA
meets regularly with representatives from the Department of Justice,
the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies
to discuss issues affecting the South Asian community, including
domestic surveillance, the Patriot Act, immigrant registration,
hate crimes and racial profiling.
- NASABA helped facilitate the passage in Congress of a private
bill of relief known as the Waqar Hassan Bill (H.R. Con. Res.
867, 108th Cong. (2004)). Mr. Hassan – a Pakistani immigrant
– was a victim of a post-9/11 hate crime murder. As a result
of his murder, his wife and four daughters faced being deported
back to Pakistan. With the help of NASABA and other organizations,
Congress passed a bill giving Mr. Hassan’s family permanent
residency in the United States.
- NASABA has several active committees that serve various interests
of South Asian lawyers and the South Asian community.
The following are just a few of our committees’ recent
achievements:
- A keynote speaker at the 2007 NASABA convention, Honorable Judge Amul Thapar, was appointed as the first South Asian federal judge.
NASABA’s Judicial Evaluation Committee also recently witnessed
three of its South Asian lawyers being appointed as judges: the
Hon. Sabita Singh, the Hon. Neera Lall Walsh, and the Hon. Maria
Kuriakos-Ciesil.
- NASABA’s Criminal Justice Committee developed a Convenience
Store Outreach Program, the first effort of its kind to educate
South Asian convenience store owners and employees on the laws
regulating the sale of precursors to methamphetamines. This program
has been replicated in several cities throughout the country.
The Committee also monitors acts of hate crimes and racial profiling
in local communities and works with its local South Asian bar
associations to outreach to local law enforcement.
- NASABA’s Pro Bono Committee helped prepare various court
motions for defense attorneys representing South Asian convenient
store owners being prosecuted in North Georgia as part of the
Department of Justice’s Operation Meth Merchant.
- NASABA’s Immigration Committee assisted in obtaining Temporary
Protection Status to individuals facing deportation to Sri Lanka
and the Maldives after the tsunami that crippled those countries
in 2005.
- NASABA’s Amicus Committee has maintained a vigilant overview
of any and all appellate matters that are of interest to and affect
the rights of the South Asian community. This committee has taken
an interest in Karen Leclerc v. Daniel Webb, et al., which is
currently up for certiorari before the United States Supreme Court.
The case addresses the rights of non-immigrants to obtain licenses
to practice law. NASABA intends to file an amicus brief if certiorari
is granted.
- The NASABA Foundation has raised over $60,000 for pro bono grants
to those organizations and individuals providing legal aid and
service to the South Asian community.
Since its initial conference, NASABA conducted
three more national conventions, one in Washington, D.C. (2005),
another in Atlanta (2006), and a third in San Francisco (2007), each year with increasing participation
and sponsorship.
To some, it may be hard to believe that so much has happened in five short years of NASABA’s existence. To us, it’s the intended result of achieving “Oneness,” as we set out to do during our first national conference.
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