Japanese American Bar Association

04/25/2026

[Community] The California Judicial Mentor Program (Appellate) presents: “Leading an Enriching life: Enhancing Your Judicial Application” on May 12, 2026 at 12:15 pm.

Please RSVP via the QR code or the link below:
https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_4T7YqMGCRj2wyjdht6qkmg #/registration

Learn how building a supportive network, engaging in community service, and doing your job with purpose and excellence can help you do much more than respond to questions on your judicial application. It can enrich your life!

03/10/2026

[Co-Sponsor] JABA is a proud community sponsor of this year's annual cherry blossom festival held at the Japanese Friendship Garden & Museum in San Diego's Balboa Park. The event will run from March 12-15 and includes an exciting lineup of special performances, vendors, and acts for over the course of the weekend. Local vendors will be selling a variety of food and drinks as well as various other items. There is also beverages in the popular beer and sake section nestled in the lower garden.

JABA has 5 tickets available for its members available at the express entrance behind the organ pavilion. For those that are interested in going more information on the location as well as the event schedule can be found on the garden's website at: https://www.niwa.org/cbw. If you are interested in going, please RSVP to Bryce Calabria at [email protected]. Tickets will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. No additional payment is needed for getting a ticket beyond being a JABA member.

We hope you will join us for this lovely festival that highlights the transient beauty of the cherry blossoms. It’s the perfect way to celebrate spring!

Celebrate the return of cherry blossoms to San Diego during the month of March at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park!

02/18/2026

[Community] If you grew up Sansei in the 1950's and '60's, you will want to be part of this Book Reading and Tribute to Ben Masaoka and his novel Criminals.

Criminals is about the Sansei experience growing up in Venice/Culver (or any Japanese-American concentrated community). The book explores the influence that the Niseis’ experience had on how they raised their Sansei children and how growing up in an insulated Japanese American (JA) community, while trying to integrate into a larger society, influenced the Sansei. Sadly, Ben passed away a month before the book was published.

The book reading and discussion will be hosted by Academy Award winning filmmaker, Steven Okazaki. Both Ben and Steven grew up in the Venice/Culver area.

Please join us.

Saturday, May 16, 2026, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm

Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple

01/31/2026

[Co-spoonsor] APAWLA, JABA, and WLALA present Speaking with Purpose: Voice, Presence, and Practice.

Join us for a skills and strategies workshop for early-career attorneys (0–5 years) on February 21, 2026.

Registration required.

Across courtrooms, offices, and community spaces, early-career attorneys regularly face moments where one sentence can change a trajectory—but many of us were never taught how to speak with clarity, tone, and purpose under pressure. For attorneys from underrepresented backgrounds, the penalties for silence (and the penalties for miscalibration) can be amplified. This workshop is a practical, practice-based space to build those skills through reps, supportive feedback, and bounded mentorship.

01/23/2026

[Co-Sponsor] NAWL Reception and Installation Ceremony on February 12, 2026, at American Savings Bank in Honolulu, HI.

The National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) is pleased to invite you to the installation ceremony of NAWL's Board of Directors and 99th President and first Asian American President, Sandra Yamate.

Featuring comments from Hon. Susan Oki Mollway, the first Asian American Woman federal judge.

Refreshments will be served. All are welcome!

Please RSVP here: https://nawl.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/nawl/event.jsp?event=288

12/30/2025

JABA cordially invites you to our 49th Annual Installation and Awards Dinner honoring Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court of the United States, with our Lifetime Achievement Award on Monday, February 9, 2026, at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites.

To purchase individual tickets, please register via Greenvelope and pay online via Paypal: https://www.greenvelope.com/event/jaba-49th-annual-installation-and-awards-dinner

12/08/2025

[Scholarship] JABA Educational Foundation Scholarship application is now open!

The NEW deadline is January 18, 2026, which will be right around the corner after the holidays.

The application may be found at
https://www.jabaonline.org/jef OR
bit.ly/jefscholarships.

12/02/2025

[JABA Educational Foundation] is a global day of giving celebrated each year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. This year, falls on DECEMBER 2, 2025.

Thanks to the generous support of the JABA community, the JABA Educational Foundation has been able to award scholarships each year to promising law students. This , JEF asks again for your help in supporting the next generation of lawyers and community leaders with a tax-deductible contribution to our JEF scholarship fund.

To donate, visit bit.ly/jef2025gt or text 'JEF2025GT' to 44-321.

Please be sure to follow us on Instagram () for more information about this campaign, and the wonderful students who've recently received scholarships.

10/30/2025

[Community] A View From the Bench: Identifying and Navigating Gender Bias Against Women in the Courtroom, November 17, 2025, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_81TtdCJCTJaMO3_lQCTVDg #/registration

Remote - No Charge (MCLE credit pending State Bar approval)

Hon. Shama Mesiwala - Associate Justice, 3d District Court of Appeal
Hon. Laura Walton - Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court and Chair, CJA EBI Committee
Hon. Amber Poston - Judge, Orange County Superior Court
Hon. Elizabeth L. Bradley - Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court, Member CJA EBI Com.
Angela Zanin, Esq. and
Cynthia Loo, Former Commissioner - LASC & Kern County, Member CJA EBI Com.

10/29/2025

Congratulations to JABA member Aya Ichida!

Aya was named the 2025 Corporate Counsel of the Year (Large Corporate Company) by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Let us all join in congratulating Aya, who is a Palisades fire survivor, a lecturer at USC Gould School of Law and one of the kindest persons I know

10/22/2025

[Annual Meeting] JABA is hosting its 2025 Annual Meeting of Members on Thursday, November 13, 2025 at Takami Sushi & Robata Restaurant in Downtown LA. We hope to see you there! Please RSVP by Friday, November 7 via Greenvelope: https://www.greenvelope.com/event/2025-jaba-annual-meeting. Dinner will be served.



The meeting agenda will be:

- Call to order
- Brief discussion of JABA business
- Program, including recognition of retired members of the judiciary
- Adjournment


Free for JABA members.

$50 for non-JABA members (payment will be collected at the door).