Sun E. Choi  

 Candidate for Vice-President for  Communications

  Endorse Candidate

Personal Statement

It is with passion and honor that I apply to serve as Vice President for Communications for NAPABA for 2017-18. Since 2015, I have served as VP for Communications, and had the pleasure of working with NAPABA’s incredible staff and its Board of Governors. I fell in love with NAPABA in 2009, when I attended my very first Convention. Since then, it has been a joy to be a part of the NAPABA family. As VP for Communications, I will focus on members, especially women. Women should feel truly connected, and take advantage of the benefits that NAPABA provides, such as business development, career advancement, mentor/mentee connections, and advocacy.

I have served NAPABA, its members, and the APA community in the following ways:

• NAPABA Website Refresh Team;
• Editor, Monthly Update Newsletter;
• Editor, NAPABA Sidebar;
• NAPABA Mobile App Design Team;
• attended every annual Convention since 2009;
• attended Regional Conferences, and will attend the upcoming Regional Conferences;
• fellow of the inaugural CBLA class;
• Co-Chaired the Solo Small Firm Network 2014-16;
• contributed to NAPABA as a direct member and to the Solo Small Firm Network’s Sponsorship, which became the first Silver-level committee sponsor;
• shared over 90 legal referrals annually to SSF members, while serving as SSF Co-Chair;
• Board liaison to the Government Enforcement and Compliance Committee;
• Task Force Chair, API Mental Health Initiative Webinar Series;
• Overhaul Task Force Member, NAPABA Connects (formerly NAPABA Pitch Sessions);
• NAPABA Pro Bono Network volunteer;
• mentor applicant, Women’s Leadership Network;
• promoted and provided tutorials on the use of NAPABA’s interactive website to manage profiles, create CVs, post blogs, post photos, join groups and networks of areas of interest, send messages, and use the platform to develop business, and stay connected;
• KABA-DC president and DC Convention Affiliate Planning Committee representative, where I am actively involved in the sponsorship drive and recruiting in-house counsel to participate in NAPABA Connects;
• 2017 Convention: I will moderate a CLE Panel, Advising Entrepreneurs & Growing Companies, will help lead early morning runs, secured a yoga & wellness class instructor, am actively recruiting sponsors for the SSF Dinner, and lead the SSF Sponsorship ad design team.

I am very proud of NAPABA’s policy resolutions that advocate for important human and civil rights, including supporting international adoptees without U.S. citizenship, sanctuary communities, LGBTQ equality, and equal pay. I stand with NAPABA’s opposition to racial profiling, targeting individuals based on religion, race, ethnicity, or national origin, and hate- and bias-motivated acts, future cuts in the legal services corporation budget, and voter suppression efforts.I will continue to focus on advancing women. The majority of my mentors have been exceptionally gifted women, including my workaholic mother, and a few men who strongly support women’s rights. Collectively, we need to encourage women to develop their own business by creating a demand for their services, introduce younger practitioners to senior attorneys who are leaders in the same areas of practice, support women’s initiatives and encourage them to advocate for their rights in the workplace, encourage women to apply for the various awards and recognition that NAPABA offers, encourage women to join committees and take leadership positions, encourage women to become minority and/or women certified business owners to take advantage of the resources that SBA provides, identify future leaders to help the pipeline of strong women leaders for NAPABA’s future, encourage women to become panelists at the affiliate, regional, and national level conferences, encourage them to blog and publish to become noticed and to showcase what they know. I will also strive to encourage women and men to amplify each other, work collaboratively and support each other as fellow board members at the local affiliate and national levels.

As a trial attorney, a mother of two young daughters, and someone dedicated to a healthy lifestyle as a marathon pace coach, I focus my time on what I love doing. I would be honored to have your support

Candidate Bio

Sun E. Choi is a trial attorney, litigator, and a certified mediator, licensed in MD and DC with 20 years of experience. Ms. Choi practices criminal defense and complex family law, where she is the founding member and managing partner of DC Metro Law, LLC. After obtaining her B.S. in Commerce from the University of Virginia and her J.D. from American University, Ms. Choi served as a law clerk to the Honorable Chief Judge Eugene N. Hamilton of D.C. Superior Court, and served as a prosecutor in Frederick, Maryland. In March 2016, she was appointed as an Expert Attorney Advisor by the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family, Republic of Korea to help improve Korea's newly established child support system. In November 2010, she became the first female fellow invited by the Ministry of Justice for the Republic of Korea to provide research and to lecture on the U.S. criminal jury system to assist Korea’s own newly established jury system. Ms. Choi’s service to the APA community includes serving as NAPABA Vice President for Communications (2015-present), KABA-DC President (2014-16), KABA-DC Vice President (2014-16), NAPABA Solo & Small Firm Network Co-Chair (2013-15), APABA-DC Board Member and Small Firm Forum Chair (2012-16), and APABA-MD President (2009-2010). In September 2016, Ms. Choi received the Membership Appreciation Award from APABA-DC. She is a mother of two young daughters, and during her free time is fully dedicated to and supportive of an active and healthy lifestyle as a marathon pace coach.

Endorsements

*All work or organizational affiliations disclosed are for identification and disclosures purposes only, and do not constitute endorsements by those institutions.