MINNEAPOLIS — Haller Kwan LLP Managing Partner and founder Ben Kwan took the helm of the Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association today, the start of the affinity bar's calendar year. As President of the association, Kwan leads a community of more than 200 Asian Pacific American lawyers, judges, and law students in the state of Minnesota.
Kwan leads MNAPABA's Executive Board of eight other board members in advocacy work and programming through September of 2017.
Speaking at MNAPABA's annual gala in September, Kwan committed his presidency to encouraging service among MNAPABA's members—service to one another, the legal profession, and most importantly, to the community, especially those in need.
At the gala, MNAPABA honored the association's founding members and noted that the group had come a long way since its early meetings at Chinese restaurants like the old Village Wok in Dinkytown.
Kwan explained that, but for the service and mentorship of many in the room packed full of 300 attendees, the son of a cook at the Village Wok (Kwan's dad cooked at the Village Wok in the 1970s) could not be standing up at the podium about to assume the presidency of the state's Asian American bar association.
Before this year, Kwan served on the MNAPABA board as Secretary, Vice President of Communications, and most recently, President-Elect.
Ben Kwan is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Haller Kwan LLP. He advocates on behalf of employees and those thrust into a whistleblower role. He believes in the role of lawyer as counselor and remains steadfast in improving the lives of his clients. Ben writes and speaks on employment law issues as well as issues critical to the practice of law like diversity and inclusion.