Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association

With the encouragement and support of NAPABA, the UConn School of Law, and the Connecticut Bar Association (CBA) and other attorneys of color, Amy established a small but dedicated network of attorneys of Asian and Pacific descent who shared the vision of creating a NAPABA affiliate in Connecticut. The CBA lent its assistance by hosting CAPABA®'s website during its early years, and UConn School of Law hosted functions where prospective CAPABA® members could meet to facilitate its foundation.

On May 1, 2000, CAPABA® was incorporated and on May 20, 2000, held its first organizational meeting. CAPABA®'s inaugural officers and directors were Amy Lin Meyerson (President and Director); Mony P.B. Yin (Vice-President and Director); Mary Chang (Secretary and Director); Ivan K. Fong (Director); and James Wu (Director).

CAPABA®'s First Annual Dinner was held on July 31, 2001, at Butterfly Restaurant in West Hartford with approximately thirty attendees. In 2003, only three years after its incorporation, CAPABA® hosted its first NAPABA Northeast Regional Conference, which drew a substantial number of attendees. In 2008, 2011, and again in 2018, CAPABA® hosted the NAPABA Northeast Regional Conferences, drawing hundreds of attendees from multiple states.

Every year since its founding, CAPABA®'s Annual Gala Dinner attracts lawyers, judges, law students, and other legal professionals to gather in a celebration of the year's accomplishments and to look forward to those to come. Our Annual Gala Dinners also provide us an opportunity to recognize those in the legal profession who have provided exemplary service and support to our mission or the APA community.

In 2006, the CAPABA® Educational Foundation was established as a non-profit educational affiliate of CAPABA®. Each year, the Foundation oversees the annual award of the CAPABA® Educational Foundation Scholarship. The Scholarship is intended to be awarded each academic year to an Asian Pacific American law student who demonstrate leadership potential, excellence in academia, and a firm commitment to and involvement with the Asian American community in Connecticut. Scholarships are awarded each year at CAPABA®'s Annual Gala Dinner.

CAPABA® has steadily grown, and today proudly includes attorneys in the private and public sectors, in-house counsel, judges, professors, law students, and others who support CAPABA®'s mission. CAPABA® currently has three regional committees in Fairfield County, Hartford County, and New Haven County to better serve the needs of APA communities throughout Connecticut and to provide more frequent and readily accessible opportunities for CAPABA®'s members to attend and participate in various events and initiates throughout the year and collaborate with each other.