Board Officers
Sang Yup Lee President | Sang Yup Lee is the Director of Development for The Chicago Bar Foundation. In this role, Sang leads the CBF’s fundraising efforts and oversees all aspects of the CBF’s individual and corporate giving programs. Prior to joining the CBF, Sang was the Development Manager at the Public Interest Law Initiative. Prior to his career in development, Sang was an attorney for the Progressive Law Group LLC, where he worked on class action litigation and consumer rights cases. Besides his community work through AABA, Sang serves on the Board of Directors of the National Conference of Bar Foundations and on the Development Committee of the Management Information Exchange for Legal Aid. He earned both his undergraduate degree and J.D. from the University of Notre Dame. |
Huy Nguyen First Vice President |
Huy Nguyen is a senior associate at Factor where he advises on corporate and commercial matters for clients in the life sciences, banking, and renewable energy industries, including mergers and acquisitions, project finance, technology transactions, and data protection. He was previously an associate at a consumer bankruptcy law firm providing financial guidance to debtors to navigate their Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings. Huy is also an advisory board member of the Chinese American Bar Association of Greater Chicago, and regularly volunteers with the Chinatown Pro Bono Legal Clinic, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, Erie Neighborhood House, and Celebrate Argyle. He received his BBAs in Marketing and International Business from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and his JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
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Stephen Lee Second Vice President | Stephen Lee was a federal prosecutor in Chicago for 11 years, senior counsel for the Chicago US Attorney Office's health care fraud unit, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, and a partner at a mid-sized firm. He is now a solo practitioner focusing on health care fraud defense and data analytics in complex litigation. He is a graduate of Yale College and Columbia Law School. He has researched and written about cases involving Asian American legal history, created the website "Our APA Heritage," which provides resources for Asian Americans to interview their parents and relatives, and was featured on This American Life talking about a "coindence bombshell" involving his family. |
Belle Katubig Secretary | Belle Katubig is a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney where she focuses on defending physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals employed by John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital and its affilated institutions and clinics. Prior to joining the State's Attorney's Office, she was a trial attorney and partner at a mid-sized law firm speciailzing in complex civil litigation. Throughout her career, Belle has mentored associate attorneys and recently, law students involved with the Diversity Scholarship Foundation. She also volunteers and supports local schools and community organizations that promote the health and safety of the underserved population. She is an active member of the Filipino American Lawyer's Association, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Women's Bar Association of Illinois, North Suburban Bar Association, and Chicago Bar Association. Belle received her law degree from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law and her undergraduate degree from University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. |
Debjani Desai Treasurer | Hon. Debjani D. Desai was appointed as a judge for the Circuit Court of Cook County by the Illinois Supreme Court on June 2, 2023. She currently presides in the Traffic Division. Previously, she served as the General Counsel for the Illinois Office of Comptroller, where she led a team of lawyers in Chicago and Springfield to provide legal counsel on state comptroller mandates. In prior roles, she served as an Administrative Law Judge, presiding over Medicaid and child support appeals. She also managed state and federal litigation for the state Medicaid agency, serving elderly, disabled, and indigent populations. In addition, she formerly advocated for victims as a prosecutor of financial crimes and public corruption, juvenile justice, and civil actions. She also served as a Special Prosecutor in child protection cases in juvenile court. Judge Desai sits in leadership positions for various bar associations and community organizations that promote diversity, inclusion, and equity. She is Financial Secretary for the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, a Board Member of the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago’s (SABA) Foundation, and a SABA Chicago Advisory Council member. She is also a junior board member of the Chicago Lighthouse. Judge Desai is an adjunct professor teaching Counseling and Negotiations at UIC Law, and she frequently assists as a grade school tutor and mock trial coach for high schools and colleges. |
Jean Liu Immediate Past President |
Jean Liu is the Senior Vice President, General Counsel of CompTIA, Inc., where she leads the legal and compliance functions of CompTIA and its affiliates globally. Prior to CompTIA, she worked as an attorney for a national law firm representing domestic and London-based insurance carriers with respect to sophisticated insurance coverage matters. She also has extensive litigation experience with a wide range of matters including those arising from commercial disputes, medical and legal malpractice, other professional liability, employment law, and privacy law. Jean attended the University of California, Irvine, where she received degrees in cognitive science and anthropology, and Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, where she received her law degree and served on the executive boards of the Annals of Health Law, Loyola Consumer Law Review, and APALSA. Jean is a past president of the Chinese American Bar Association of Greater Chicago.
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Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago 321 S Plymouth Court |
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