Feature Story
VABANC Co-Founder Jacqueline My-Le Duong Is Sworn in to Santa
Clara County Bench
The Honorable Jacqueline My-Le Duong, VABANC's co-founder and first president,
was sworn in on July 23, 2007 as the
newest judge on the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Judge Duong
became the first Vietnamese American woman to be
appointed to the bench in Northern California.
A standing room only crowd braved the summer heat in the historic
Old Courthouse in San Jose (the air conditioning had broken down
earlier that day) to witness the historic moment for the Vietnamese
American community. Hundreds of attendees had to listen from
the hallway as Judge Duong's extensive professional and community
accomplishments were recited. Judge Duong has long been a trailblazer for the Vietnamese
American legal community. In 2006, she
spearheaded the first National Conference of Vietnamese American
Attorneys, which took place in San Jose.
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Judge Duong and Sharon Majors-Lewis:
Two Pioneering Women Attorneys
Judge Duong was appointed to the Superior Court by
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in April 2007. One of the
driving forces behind the appointment was Sharon Majors-Lewis,
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Judicial Appointments Secretary .
Majors-Lewis in turn had been appointed in February 2007 by the
governor, who said, "I look forward to working with her to appoint
qualified and diverse individuals to the bench."
Majors-Lewis has worked for the San Diego County District
Attorney’s Office since 1987, where she currently serves as a chief
deputy district attorney, overseeing the North County Branch in Vista,
the East County Branch in El Cajon and the South Bay Branch in Chula
Vista, as well as the juvenile division and the District Attorney’s
Office travel budget. She began her career with the Department of
Defense, working there from 1968 to 1987. Additionally, she
serves on the Board of Directors for the Young Women’s Christian
Association. |
Among the distinguished jurists and elected officials who
welcomed Judge Duong to the bench were Judge Thang Nguyen Barrett,
the first Vietnamese American Superior Court Judge in
California and the first Vietnamese American Judge to sit on a court
of general jurisdiction in the country, Justice Nathan Mihara of the California Court
of Appeal, and Ann Ravel, Santa Clara County Counsel.
Judge Thang Nguyen Barrett watches as Judge Duong takes the
oath of office.
To recognize Judge Duong's achievement as
well as her immeasurable contribution to VABANC, numerous past and
present VABANC members, officers, and directors, who have long
known her as just Jacqui, attended the swearing-in ceremony, as
shown in the pictures below. |
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Honorable Thang Nguyen Barrett, Honorable Jacqueline Duong, Luan
Le, and Tiep Nguyen.
Judge Duong with Thanh Ngo, president of Asian Pacific Bar
Association of Silicon Valley and former VABANC board member.
The new judge with members of the VABANC board: Cindy
Nguyen, Minh Hoang (president), Judge Duong (co-founder and first
president), Mai Phan (vice president), Nancy Le, and Quyen Ta.
Judge Duong with two other former VABANC presidents, Candice
Nguyen Hamant and Duy Thai
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