Trailblazer Award

AABANY’s Trailblazer Award is named after Norman Lau Kee, who was a revered legal and community pillar of New York City’s Chinatown for decades. The Trailblazer Award honors an accomplished leader in the legal profession who is of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) descent or who has demonstrated dedication to AAPI issues in the community. This award honors an individual who has carved a path for others to follow, served the community as a mentor and role model, and made a lasting impact on the AAPI community through his or her dedication and commitment.

This year's recipient: Hugh H. Mo

Hugh H. Mo has been a leader in the AAPI community and legal profession for nearly five decades. Born in Shanghai, China, Hugh came to the United States when he was nine years old and grew up on the Lower East Side of New York, attending Stuyvesant High School. He went on to attend New York University, University Heights College, where he received a B.A. in History and Political Science in 1973. In 1976, Hugh earned a J.D. from Boston University.

Hugh began his legal career by serving as an Assistant District Attorney for the New York County District Attorney’s Office. He was the first Asian American to do so. During this tenure, he worked alongside and mentored a young Sonia Sotomayor, recalling that it was “an extraordinary time to be a prosecutor … [as] New York City was besieged by … a crime wave.” In 1984, he was appointed Deputy Commissioner in Charge of Trials for the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Again, he was the first Asian American in that role, and, at that time, his position made him the highest ranking Asian American in New York City government. 

Hugh then continued his legal practice as Founder and Partner-In-Charge of the China Practice Group of Whitman & Ransom, representing Chinese government, state-owned entities, and private corporations in banking, corporate, litigation and real estate matters in the U.S. and overseas. In 1994, he established The Law Firm of Hugh H. Mo, P.C., representing individuals and corporations in criminal and civil litigation matters. The firm also serves as U.S. counsel for many foreign entrepreneurs, corporate entities, and Chinese governmental entities. Over the past 30 years leading the firm, Hugh served as outside legal counsel to the Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations, the Chinese Consulate General in New York, and currently for the Xinhua News Agency, NA, and the People’s Daily Overseas Edition. 

Hugh has remained extensively involved in his community and the political scene. For example, in June 2009, he served as an “outside validator,” at the request of The Clinton White House, during the 2009 Senate confirmation hearings for Hon. Sonia Sotomayor to join the United States Supreme Court. He also served on the transition committees of the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, New York City Comptroller John C. Liu, and as both chairman of the Criminal Justice Advisory Council for David N. Dinkins’s Mayoral Campaign and subsequently as a member of Mayor-elect Dinkins’s transition committee.

Over the course of his distinguished career, Hugh has created profound change in the legal community. His accomplishments have deeply supported and benefitted the AAPI community, while also paving the way for lasting change for AAPI attorneys. Hugh’s numerous achievements include:

  • Serving as a Referee for the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, for the past 15 years, in which he presides at investigative and due process hearings involving judicial misconduct.

  • Being the Founder, President Emeritus, and Chair of the NYPD Asian American Police Executives Council (AAPEX), with the mission to inculcate leadership development of Asian police executives in the NYPD.

  • Serving as a board member for a variety of community and social engagement organizations, including Community Board No. 1 in Manhattan, Flushing YMCA, member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, as well as various government policy committees.

  • Co-founding various civic and community organizations, including the Chinatown Health Clinic (predecessor to the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center), NYPD Asian Jade Society, and AABANY.

Hugh is married and has three children, two of whom are also graduates from BU Law and members of the Bar. Hugh is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and frequently travels for business to China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

At the conclusion of the day’s CLE programs, all participants are invited to stay for the Cocktail Reception to connect or reconnect with peers, friends and colleagues from AABANY. At the Cocktail Reception, AABANY will present its Trailblazer Award to a prominent member of the AABANY community who exemplifies the qualities of a role model and trailblazer in the legal profession in New York.

Thank you to our Cocktail Reception sponsor!

Past Recipients

2023 - James S. Lin

Deputy Bureau Chief, Kings County District Attorney’s Office

2022 - Kevin D. Kim

Commissioner, New York City Department of Small Business Services

2021 - Glenn Lau-Kee

Partner, Lau-Kee Law Group

2020 - Hon. Doris Ling-Cohan

Justice, New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department (Ret.)

2019 - Parkin Lee

Chief Legal Officer, Rockefeller Group (Ret.)

2018 - Kin Ng

Chief Legal Officer, Rockefeller Group (Ret.)

2014 - Hon. Marilyn D. Go

United States Magistrate Judge, Eastern District of New York (Ret.)

2017 - Hon. Randall T. Eng

Presiding Justice, New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department (Ret.)

2016 - Sylvia Fung Chin

Partner Of Counsel, White & Case LLP

2015 - Rockwell "Rocky" Chin

Attorney & Community Activist; EEO Investigator, New York State Insurance Fund (Ret.)