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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

Inclusive Leaders

Inclusive Leaders Showcase 2018

Community Leaders Showcase 2017

FACL Annual Conference and Gala

FACL 10th Annual Conference and Gala

FACL 11th Annual Conference and Gala

FACL 12th Annual Conference and Gala

FACL 13th Annual Conference and Gala

FACL 14th Annual Conference and Gala