Public Interest Work and Community Service

REPRESENTATIVE  PUBLIC INTEREST WORK

AND COMMUNITY SERVICE OF
 WENDY NICOLE NN DUONG

●    Assisted in the training of Vietnamese law students for international moot court competition.
●  Brought national experts and senior corporate law specialists to University of Denver (DU) campus for speeches (Wal-Mart General Counsel, Corporate Division; Associate General Counsel of the SEC; U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon, Southern District of Texas who presided over Enron civil litigation); Associate General Counsel of Qwest Services Corporation); also occasionally brought securities and corporate lawyers to the classroom for guest lectures.

●   Initiated efforts to form Asia-Pacific alumni association via literary readings and diversity concerts at the Newman Performing Arts Center; spearheading the establishment of a Southeast Asian Law Center – and an interdisciplinary e-magazine on the Pacific Rim – Asian-American Law, Literature, and Society (AALLS) (projects in abeyance).

●    Participated in DU Task Force on anti-human trafficking in conjunction with the DU Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS); spearheading the DU anti-human trafficking research and advisory project: the Southeast Asian story (a one-woman project) (research published by Seattle University).

●    Mentoring minority and foreign students; career counseling and job placement for minority students as needed; faculty advisor to Amnesty International and the Asian Pacific Law Student Association.

●  Served on Academic Standards Committee, Globalization Committee, and Sturm Chair  Search Committee for the appointment of permanent and visiting international law endowed chair ($20 million).  Chaired the Public Interest Law Committee and served on the International Legal Studies Committee (Professor Ved Nanda) and the Office Support Committee (College of Law).

●     At the request of the Graduate School of International Studies, developed foreign language testing and language proficiency certification (Vietnamese) for graduate students of international relations, in consultation with professionals of the Orange and Los Angeles Counties. 

●   Sat on “Women in Leadership” Panel Discussion with CNN Anchor Betty Nguyen, CEO Judy Brown, and Project Runway award-winning Designer Chloe Dao during 2006 National Gala for Vietnamese Americans (San Francisco, California).

●   Keynote Speaker for the Vietnamese American Bar Association, Seattle, Washington (2006 & 2012).

●   Panelist, Socio-Economic Section, Association of American Law Schools (New York City, 2008).

HIGHLIGHTS OF PRO BONO ACTIVITIES

●    Represented battered women in ex parte TRO proceedings (Washington D.C.) (1986-88).

●    Represented aliens in deportation proceedings (Washington D.C.) (1987).

● Part of team representing Department of Justice employees in injunctive action challenging mandatory drug testing (Washington D.C.) (1988).

●   Represented and counseled the Washington, D.C.-based Indochina Resource for the settlement of Southeast Asian refugees; advocated for the rights/concerns of Southeast Asian refugees being repatriated from Hong Kong camps (1986-88).

●    Represented and advised grocery and convenient store owners in low-income neighborhoods; served as ad hoc community liaison on issues such as hate crimes and Asian gangs (Houston) (1991-93).

●    Part of industry group that assisted Southeast Asian governments in the drafting of foreign investment regulations, petroleum regulations and infrastructure project financing (BOT) regulations (1994).

●    Served on Board of Directors for YMCA International (Houston) and other Houston- and Denver-based social service agencies (1998).