Rahul Agarwal Receives NYCLA Hong Yen Chang Award

Friedman Kaplan partner Rahul Agarwal was honored at the New York County Lawyers Association Asian Practice Committee’s 6^th Annual Hong Yen Chang awards program and reception on October 23. The organization honored Rahul’s outstanding contribution to Columbia University, the legal profession, and the Asian American community. Hong Yen Chang, who the award is named after, graduated from Columbia Law School in 1886, and became the first Chinese-American lawyer admitted to practice law in New York in 1888. After moving to California, however, Chang was rejected in his effort to gain admission to the California Bar, due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. More than a century later, in 2015, the California Supreme Court admitted Chang to the California Bar. Chang was a trailblazer in the legal profession, and the Hong Yen Chang award is presented to a Columbia alumnus who embodies Chang’s pioneering spirit and who serves as a role model and leader in their workplace and community.