It was an intense weekend for a group of vibrant and energetic professionals, who met in the Entertainment Capital of the World to take part in the Seventh Annual National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys.
In the tastefully decorated meeting rooms bridging the Encore and Wynn hotels, this group of people ― mostly in their early 40s and cheerful mood in stark contrast to their dark business attire ― paid no attention to the upscale bars and bustling casinos around them.
They had come not to gamble but to connect, learn, share and help each other.
The conference, held last weekend, featured a busy panel program that consisted of a lunch meeting, with keynote speaker Joseph Thai, a professor of law at the University of Oklahoma, speaking on the topic: “I’ll be watching you: Digital Surveillance and Democracy.” Breakout sessions addressed topics such as, “The Art of Winning at Trial and on Appeal” with Judge Jacqueline Nguyen and Judge Nathan Mihara as panelists, “The Poker Face: Negotiation and Mediation Strategies,” “Protecting Innovation Beyond our Borders” and “Risks and Rewards: The Nuts and Bolts of Starting and Running a Successful Small Firm.”
During the conference, everyone worked hard with intense concentration. By the end of it, the serious tone switched to one of jubilation, when board members, members of the organizing committee, keynote speakers, session panelists, volunteers and attendees, joined in celebration.
Photo by Hà Giang
And they had at least two reasons to celebrate: Judge Jacqueline (Hong-Ngoc) Nguyen and Judge John Tran.
The Hon. Jacqueline Nguyen became a United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, justice in mid-May of this year. Judge Nguyen serves as the first Asian American ever to serve on the bench of a U.S. appellate court ― just one step below the U.S. Supreme Court. When President Obama announced Nguyen’s nomination last September, he called her a “trailblazer.”
Judge John M. Tran himself is also a trailblazer. He is the first Asian American elected to serve as a judge in Virginia, and he is the first Vietnamese American judge in the greater Washington, D.C., area.
It’s no wonder that the conference’s theme this year was “Breaking Barriers.”
Judge Tran recalled his experience breaking barriers just after receiving the association’s Trailblazer Award. He equated running for a seat on the bench and leaving a high-income position with a firm you love to going home to say to your spouse, “I love you dearly, but I found something better, and would you mind if I pursue it?” He paused and proceeded to share with the audience his mother’s reaction when learning he was running for the judgeship.
“She concluded that private practice must not be doing very well, and therefore, I am forced to return to government practice. And you know, in that typical Vietnamese mom’s … way, she assured me that no matter what happened, she would still love me.”
Waiting for laughter to subside, Judge Tran continued:
“And then a strange thing happened. I got elected, and she heard about my confirmation hearing, and then in her eyes, I went from a failed businessman to the savior of the Vietnamese community.”
Prior to Judge Tran’s witty and humble remarks, the audience listened to Judge Nguyen’s more subdued but equally inspiring speech.
“Before going to law school, I never met a lawyer, much less a judge. I could not have imagined the opportunity that would later come my way, but I have always known at least to follow my passion,” she said.
Talking about following one’s passion, Judge Nguyen talked about the fact that she traded a higher-paying job in private practice to work for the government:
“My husband commented, ‘What’s the matter with you? You are the only one that is taking a pay cut with every promotion.” She stood quietly to overcome a moment of tearful reminiscing before delivering a message to the young members of the audience:
“It’s not important to know all of the answers now. But it’s important to be in the driver’s seat, to take control of the steering wheel, to put yourself in a position to say ‘I am ready’ when that opportunity comes, and it’s equally important to remember to pick up some passengers along the way.”
The association
Every good thing starts with a dream, a vision.
Seven years ago, led by Judge Jacqueline Duong of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County ― the driving force in organizing the first annual conference before she was appointed to the bench ― a small group of Vietnamese American attorneys in Northern California took the courage and devoted the time to contact Vietnamese Americans throughout the country to launch the first meeting of the National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys.
Mai D. Phan, of San Jose, the founding and past president of the organization, recounted:
“At that time, we did not have a list, any list, so we manually combed through the Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s member list and picked out people with last name Nguyen, Pham, Tran, and so on and managed to get more than a hundred people to join the our first conference.”
Tita Nguyen, of Los Angeles, the organization’s outgoing president, recognized that those early “efforts and sheer determination have paid off” but acknowledged work remains. Still, the mood was one of pride in the accomplishments.
“We now have Vietnamese Americans everywhere who have broken barriers to reach the top of our chosen profession in private practice, corporations, on the bench, in academia and in politics,” said Teri Pham, the 2013 conference co-chair.
The future
According to the organization’s website, its mission is to “promote the education and professional development of Vietnamese Americans in the legal community, and to provide a national network for Vietnamese American attorneys to exchange ideas relating to the legal profession,” but it seems Judge Nguyen said it best when she reminded everyone that it’s important to pick up passengers along the way.
And picking up passengers is exactly what many of the members will do with the launch of the newly formed Mentoring Program and Committee, where numerous distinguished and dynamic leaders have agreed to serve as mentors.
Bill Pham of Los Angeles, who serves on the executive committee of the mentor program, spoke excitedly about the mentor-mentee matching process, and envisioned that this program will help the organization emerge as more tightly knit community, where everyone has the opportunity to benefit from and to give back.
“Just imagine that only a generation ago, the idea of the Vietnamese American lawyer was still a relatively new idea in our community, but now we no longer are just trying to make a living,” said Thuy Hang Nguyen, a Texas litigation attorney.
“We can now afford to pursue our chosen profession, a meaningful career. And to think of it, what is a better way to protect our rules of law, to affect changes than to become a lawyer?”
Hà Giang
Nguoi Viet English 2013