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.

Further Reading

• Jacqueline Bell, Law360’s Diversity Snapshot: What You Need to Know, Law360 (July 25, 2022)
• Minority Corp. Couns. Ass’n & Vault, 2020 Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Survey Report 27 tbl.A4 (2020)
• Minority Corp. Couns. Ass’n, Law Firm Diversity Survey 7 (2021)
• Roberta D. Liebenberg & Stephanie A. Scharf, Am. Bar Ass’n, Walking Out The Door: The Facts, Figures, and Future of Experienced Women Lawyers in Private Practice 7-8 (2019)

Contributors

• Ana Karen Rivera
• Angel L. Garrett
• Carolyn M. Corcoran
• Chingwin Pei
• Daniel Wei
• Eden Sung
• Hang (Helena) Zheng
• Irene Yang
• Jason Siu
• Jianbai Jenn Wang, Ph.D.
• John B. Lough, Jr.
• Kate Zheng
• Kelly Matayoshi
• Kimberly K. Liu
• Michelle Park Chiu
• Nayef Andrabi
• Nina Rani Dutta
• Theresa T. Kalathil

Special Thanks

AABA thanks Morgan Lewis and Sidley Austin for their generous support in creating this toolkit.

AABA also thanks Justice Goodwin Liu for his important work to support AABA and AAPI lawyers around the country.