News / Resources

Kuntz Speaks at Induction of U.S. Court of Appeals Judge

New York partner Dr. William Kuntz was invited to provide remarks at the June 16, 2010, induction of Denny Chin as Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Kuntz addressed the assembled judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and over 400 judges and lawyers at the induction.

Prior to his induction, Judge Chin previously served as a United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. He presided over both civil and criminal cases, including cases involving Megan’s Law, the Million Youth March, Al Franken’s use of the phrase “Fair and Balanced” in the title of a book, the Naked Cowboy, the Google Books settlement, and the United Nations Oil for Food Program. He also presided over the trial of an Afghan warlord charged with conspiring to import heroin and the guilty plea and sentencing of financier Bernard L. Madoff.

In his remarks, Kuntz said, “The entire nation has publicly recognized Judge Chin as a true lion of the bench: no nominee receives a 98 to zero vote in the United States Senate without having earned universal respect and admiration. His personal history is the stuff of legend: born in Kowloon, Hong Kong, the son of refugee parents who arrived in New York when he was two years old. His father: a cook in a Chinese restaurant. His mother: an accomplished seamstress. He excelled as a student first at Stuyvesant, then at Princeton, and finally at Fordham Law School, as Managing Editor of the Law Review.”

Kuntz went on to note: “When President William Jefferson Clinton nominated him to the Southern District bench in 1994, he became the first Asian-Pacific-American made a federal judge outside the Ninth Circuit. Of the 175 federal judges actively serving at the circuit level, he is the sole Asian-American. As such, his appointment, while a particular treasure for the Asian-American community, constitutes a special jewel in the crown that adorns the head of the Statue of Liberty.”