A Toolkit Examining “A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law 2.0”
uploaded April 3, 2023
In 2017, California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu, the American Bar Foundation, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and other key contributors prepared A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law, a novel study and report regarding Asian Americans in the legal profession. In the years since, the Asian American community has experienced a series of major events, including a rise in anti-Asian hate and violence, increased attention to discrimination generally, and a global pandemic. Accordingly, in 2022, the authors released A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law 2.0: Identity and Action in Challenging Times (“Portrait Project 2.0”).
AABA is pleased to present A Toolkit Examining “A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law 2.0,” which digests the major findings in the Portrait Project 2.0 for AAPI attorneys in four major audiences: law students, private practice: law firms, private practice: in-house lawyers, and public service. AABA hopes this toolkit will be a useful guide for AAPI attorneys around the country in their career development, as well as a catalyst for conversations in various organizations to discuss how to best support the career development of AAPI attorneys.
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In-House: Action Items
- Join your local bar association or affinity bar associations (like NAPABA) (https://www.napaba.org/page/Affiliates) with a focus on participation in leadership programs and mentorships.
- Seek to develop affinity networks within companies, if such networks are not already established. Include AAPI attorneys in diversity programs and leadership development programs.
- Create formal and informal mentorships for AAPI attorneys in the same legal department and across companies. Provide more junior in-house attorneys with tools to cultivate their own mentors outside of formal programs.
- Encourage AAPI attorneys to find public speaking opportunities to build their expertise and network outside of the company.
- Seek to develop connections with AAPI students in law schools and AAPI attorneys in law firms and public service to leverage your strength in private companies, build a safety network for yourself, and advocate diversity and inclusion and more opportunities for AAPI attorneys in the entire legal community.
- Sponsor AAPI law students as summer interns so they are exposed to in-house careers early.
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