Awards & Past Recipients
The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers is proud to recognize lawyers of East Asian, South Asian and Southeast Asian descent who have made significant contributions to their communities and the broader legal community with the FACL Awards.
FACL Lifetime Achievement Award
Recognizes an Asian-Canadian legal professional, who has practised law for a minimum of 25 years, and has made significant and longstanding contributions to the legal community and for positive contributions made to social justice and/or the Asian community.
FACL Lawyer of Distinction Award
Recognizes an Asian-Canadian legal professional, who has practised law for a minimum of 10 years, for significant accomplishments in the law and for service to the legal profession, areas of social justice and/or the Asian community.
FACL Young Lawyer of the Year Award
Recognizes an Asian-Canadian legal professional, who has practised law for no more than 10 years, for achievements which are beyond what is expected of him or her based on his or her experience.
FACL Social Justice Award
Recognizes a person, organization or company which has demonstrated achievements in at least one of the following areas: diversity, innovation, leadership, public service, professional development, philanthropy, volunteerism and furthering the goals of FACL.
FACL Corporate Diversity and Leadership Award
Recognizes an individual or organization in the corporate sector who has demonstrated exceptional leadership towards achieving greater diversity and inclusion among the bar.
FACL Public Sector Lawyer Award
The Public Sector Lawyer Award is offered to a lawyer whose career demonstrates a commitment to the legal profession, community service and social justice.
Omatsu FACL Scholarship
The Omatsu FACL Scholarship was established to honour Justice Maryka Omatsu, Canada’s first East Asian woman judge. Commencing in 2013, one scholarship in the amount of $1,000 was awarded to a law student. In recent years, with support from the legal community, FACL has been able to increase the size of each scholarship to $2,000, and has given multiple awards annually.
FACL Ontario LaForme Scholarship
The Honourable Harry S. LaForme is Anishinabe of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. He was born and raised on the reserve where some of his family still reside. Justice LaForme graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School and articled with Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt. He was called to the bar in 1979, and in private practice litigated matters involving the Constitution and Charter across Canada and represented Canadian Aboriginal interests internationally. In 1994 he was appointed to the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario and was – at that time – one of only 3 indigenous judges ever appointed to this level of trial court in Canada. In 2004, he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal and is the first indigenous person to be appointed to any appellate court in the history of Canada – he retired from the judiciary in 2018. Justice LaForme has been honoured with numerous awards including the gift of Eagle Feathers symbolizing the virtues of honesty, integrity, and respect. He has published numerous articles on issues related to indigenous law and justice, and frequently speaks on these topics as well as criminal, civil and human rights law. He is currently Senior Counsel at OKT LLP.
The FACL Ontario LaForme Scholarship was established to honour Justice Harry S. LaForme.
The Scholarship is awarded based on law student vision, academics, financial need, and a personal statement.
2023 Award Winners
Lifetime Achievement
- May Cheng
Lawyer of Distinction
- Parna Sabet-Stephenson
Young Lawyer of the Year
- Rosel Kim
Social Justice
- Philip Cho
Public Sector
- N/A
Corporate Diversity and Leadership
- Canadian Association of LGBTQ2S+ Lawyers
LaForme Scholarship
- Helen Wu
Omatsu Scholarships
- Yinzi Gao
- Annie Hu
- Deborah Lim
- Filbert Yung
2022 Award Winners
Lifetime Achievement
- Gary Chi Chui Yee
Lawyer of Distinction
- Sandev Purewal
Young Lawyer of the Year
- Geetha Philipupillai
Social Justice
- Korean Legal Aid Clinic
Public Sector
- Me-Hae Hur
Corporate Diversity and Leadership:
- Not Awarded (No Applications)
LaForme Scholarship
- Abby Leung
Omatsu Scholarships:
- Tiffany Dang
- Jasmine Law
- Elena Kusaka
- Daniel Yoon Sik Choi
2021 Award Winners
FACL Lifetime Achievement Award
- Sandy Tse
FACL Lawyer of Distinction Award
- Tony Wong
FACL Young Lawyer of the Year Award
- Megan Mah
Omatsu FACL Scholarship
- Annecy Pang
- Calvin To
- Matthew Tran
- Flora Yu
- Jerry Zhu
FACL Ontario LaForme Scholarship
- Mithea Murugesu
2020 Award Winners
FACL Lifetime Achievement Award
- Justice Shaun Nakatsuru
FACL Lawyer of Distinction Award
- Lai-King Hum
FACL Young Lawyer of the Year Award
- Devin Persaud
FACL Social Justice Award
- Jayashree Goswami
FACL Corporate Diversity and Leadership Award
- Roslyn Tsao
FACL Public Sector Lawyer Award
- Frank Man-Kong Au
Omatsu FACL Scholarship
- Ryan Wai On Chan
- Nusra Khan
- Nicky (Yujeong) Kim
- Yi Di (Jessica) Zhang
2019 Award Winners
FACL Lifetime Achievement Award
- Julia Shin Doi
FACL Lawyer of Distinction Award
- Andy Chan
FACL Young Lawyer of the Year Award
- Megan Lee (posthumous)
FACL Social Justice Award
- Paul Saguil
FACL Corporate Diversity and Leadership Award
- Fasken
FACL Public Sector Lawyer Award
- Mabel Lai
Omatsu FACL Scholarship
- Saad Gaya
- Alice Pan
- Yadesha Satheaswaran
2017 Award Winners
FACL Lifetime Achievement Award
- Raj Anand
FACL Young Lawyer of the Year Award
- Kendall Yamagishi
FACL Social Justice Award
- Maytree
Omatsu FACL Scholarship
- Jiaqing He
2015 Award Winners
FACL Lawyer of Distinction Award
- Malliha Wilson
FACL Young Lawyer of the Year Award
Clara Pham
FACL Public Sector Lawyer Award
- Clara Ho (posthumous)
Omatsu FACL Scholarship
- Kate Shao
Reema Mahbubani
2014 Award Winners
FACL Lifetime Achievement Award
Edward Hung (posthumous)
FACL Lawyer of Distinction Award
- Constance L. Sugiyama
FACL Young Lawyer of the Year Award
- Kenneth Jim
FACL Social Justice Award
- Jason Tam
FACL Corporate Diversity and Leadership Award
- Ernest Tucket
FACL Public Sector Lawyer Award
- Gary Yee
Omatsu FACL Scholarship
Vivian Li
2013 Award Winners
FACL Lifetime Achievement Award
- Jeffrey Lem
FACL Lawyer of Distinction Award
- Daniel Mark
FACL Young Lawyer of the Year Award
- Chris Hope
Omatsu FACL Scholarship
- Wendy Sun
2012 Award Winners
FACL Lifetime Achievement Award
- Lilian Ma
FACL Lawyer of Distinction Award
- Avvy Go
FACL Young Lawyer of the Year Award
- Joseph Cheng
FACL Social Justice Award
- Caregivers' Action Centre, accepted on behalf of CAC by Jean Marie Vecina
2010 Award Winners
FACL Lifetime Achievement Award
- Maryka Omatsu
2009 Award Winners
FACL Lifetime Achievement Award
- Rafael Fabregas