Paul Chan, longtime AJSOCAL supporter, will receive the Advancing Justice Legend Award, presented by Julie Su, former Acting U.S. Labor Secretary and AJSOCAL attorney.

Paul S. Chan is the managing partner of Bird Marella. His practice focuses on the trial and arbitration of complex business disputes, including commercial fraud, class action, securities, and intellectual property litigation.

Paul also represents companies and individuals in regulatory and parallel civil/criminal investigations. A graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College, Paul has particular expertise litigating cases involving the False Claims Act, civil RICO statute, unfair competition and theft of trade secrets. His clients include Fortune 500 corporations, major financial institutions, and emerging technology companies.

Paul has extensive trial experience. In over 25 years of practice, he has successfully tried numerous jury trials, bench trials, and binding arbitrations before both commercial and securities arbitration tribunals. He is ranked by Chambers USA in the Litigation: General Commercial category and has been recognized as the “Trial Lawyer of the Year” by the Century City Bar Association, one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon, the Los Angeles “Lawyer of the Year: Securities” in Los Angeles by “Best Lawyers in America,” a “Southern California Super Lawyer” by Los Angeles Magazine, and (previously) one of the “Best Lawyers Under 40” by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. He is also the former Chair of the Board of Directors of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Southern California; the former President of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association; and has repeatedly been named among the “Most Influential Minority Attorneys” by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

LA Councilmember Ysabel Jurado will receive the 2025 AJSOCAL Trailblazer Award, presented by The LA Blade publisher, Alexander Rodriguez.

Councilmember Ysabel Jurado is a former tenants rights attorney, affordable housing activist, single mom, daughter of undocumented Filipino immigrants. Born and raised in Highland Park, she attended Pasadena City College and put herself through college at UCLA, where she completed her bachelor’s degree. After graduating, she went on to UCLA School of Law, where she graduated with a Juris Doctorate with specializations in Critical Race Studies and the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy.

As a former housing rights attorney, Ysabel fought to stop tenant evictions and stood side by side with community organizations and small businesses that were at risk of losing their leases. Her practice has focused on building pathways to home-ownership for communities of color, the preservation of open space, and reparative justice.

She focuses on expanding affordable housing, ending homelessness, supporting small businesses, tackling the climate crisis, and building a more just economy for all. Jurado has been breaking barriers for AAPIs and redefining leadership at City Hall while creating opportunities where few existed for LGBTQIA+ individuals in Asian American communities.