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NAALA Legal Networking Reception Recap
On Monday, the National Arab American Lawyers Association of ADC (NAALA) held its Spring Networking Reception. Attorneys, law students, and other legal professionals had the opportunity to join together to further discuss the NAALA initiative while enjoying a wonderful reception hosted and catered by the Law Firm of Arnold & Porter, LLP.
ADC President Warren David gave welcoming remarks and ADC Legal Director Abed Ayoub gave an overview of NAALA and presented the initiative’s objectives. Bassel Korkor then offered remarks on behalf of Arnold & Porter, LLP and introduced the evening’s distinguished keynote speaker, Mr. Ralph Nader.
Mr. Nader spoke, in his usual inspiring fashion, on the growing demand for and lack of supply of justice in the United States. He remarked as to the importance of attorneys and legal professionals taking a larger view of justice and injustices as officers of the court. Focusing on “non-retainer litigation” and the importance of initiatives such as NAALA, Mr. Nader remarked, “It is important to raise the vision of what this initiative is all about. Arab Americans are perfect victims in today’s society as they keep too silent — we now have more cause than ever to unite and raise the banner of resistance.” Encouraging attorneys to support NAALA, he likened the initiative to some of the most prominent organizations in the forefront of American history such as the NAACP and the ACLU, saying that those groups started over 105 years ago with lawyers and non-lawyers gathering in small groups to start a controversial initiative with strong enemies. “They were busy and could’ve made excuses; but, their mission started and changed the country,” remarked Mr. Nader.
He emphasized Arab Americans need to do the same and stated, “This ethnic group (Arab Americans) is at a chosen moment in American history to defend the rights of all Americans. They can produce the cases and generate advances for all Americans.” Mr. Nader spoke about the challenges the Arab American community faces in the United States and the importance of the community uniting to push for freedom to participate in the decisions that affect us all as citizens of this country.
Mr. Nader concluded his speech by making a donation to help the NAALA initiative. In response to his encouragement and generous donation, four other attendees committed to similar donations to support NAALA. Each contributor received a book about the history of “non-retainer” litigation as a gift from Mr. Nader for their contribution.
The evening was very successful and the interest in and great hopes for NAALA were evident. New NAALA members received an autographed copy of Mr. Nader’s book, The Seventeen Traditions, for joining the initiative. This is the first of many successful NAALA events to come; we encourage you to join us at the NAALA meeting during the ADC National Convention this June.
ADC would like to thank Mr. Nader, Arnold & Porter, LLP, and those who generously donated. We also welcome all of the new NAALA members and are looking forward to working with everyone on furthering this exciting and important initiative in the coming months!