I love hunting for diamonds in the rough. They are everywhere. But only if you look, and often, in unlikely places.
"Unlikely" sums up the odds of me becoming a lawyer. Growing up in Korea, one of my earliest childhood memories is that of hunger. My father's life dedicated to serving others in struggling grassroots churches meant scarcity of the most basic provisions. My mother was rarely home, working long hours with my grandmother at a roadside stand most of the week. While my three siblings and I were blessed with love, faith, and a roof over our heads, we were always hungry. Hungry for food. Hungry for school supplies. Hungry for shoes without holes.
"Dream big" was not in my vocabulary In my world of no running water, no indoor plumbing, and no car, there was no room and no time for dreams. Life was rough.
When we came to America, the pathway to security and stability remained murky. Starting seventh grade as a 12-year-old immigrant without speaking a word of English filled me with fear and hopelessness. Deemed "unteachable," I moved through the day in school unseen. I felt ashamed and inadequate. I didn't realize then that I simply lacked verbal fluency, not intellectual capacity.
I could not imagine a path forward or a way out of poverty. Everyone wrote me off. All except one middle school teacher, Mrs. Jean Herbert. She saw me. Then she chose to teach me - and my family - English without a penny in return. She gave us the starting blocks of our American life. With her teaching, mentoring, and encouragement that first summer - and many summers after - I not only survived but thrived academically, graduating at the top of my high school class. Mrs. Herbert's attention and care cut away some of the roughness.
Bridging The Gap
Opportunities and the people who took a chance on me made all the difference. At every critical juncture of my zigzag road, teachers, mentors, and random strangers put me on the path to success. Scholarship nominations by a caring high school counselor; a serendipitous mention of "intellectual property law· by a college professor; an unexpected recommendation by a law school alum for a job interview at Finnegan, Henderson, Fara bow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP; generous introductions to judges by former law clerks for a judicial clerkship ... the list goes on. They believed in me, and they empowered me to dare to dream. Each person helped reveal a new facet of potential.
Today, in my "unlikely" position as a Finnegan partner and the firm's first chief diversity and inclusion officer, I'm privileged to draw on my personal journey to help unlock the potential of a new generation of future IP lawyers and to create opportunities for them to shine.
The practice of law can be exacting, and the system often does not afford the time and space for finding and polishing hidden diamonds. Thus, diversity is woefully lacking in the legal profession. In 2023 Black lawyers constitute nearly 5 percent of the profession, a figure that barely increased by a percentage point in the past 10 years. That drops precipitously to 1.7 percent in intellectual property law practice. These bleak numbers do not reflect an absence of talent but a lack of opportunity.
My lived experiences have informed my thinking and approach to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the law. Whether working with first-generation lawyers at Finnegan or teaching first-generation law students at Howard University School of Law, I understand that they've overcome many barriers to be where they are. I recognize their remarkable courage and strength. I see the inner sparkle.
Growing up poor with a lack of exposure to a world beyond my
limited circumstances, I often felt alone and questioned whether I
belonged.
I was the only Asian student in my middle school, the only woman in
many of my college STEM classes as a double major in computer
science and math, the first lawyer in my family, and the only
female Asian associate when I joined a large D.C. law firm
nearly 30 years ago. I was at odds with a white-collar professional
culture at prestigious law firms. I didn't see many peers, let
alone partners, who looked like me.
Opportunities. often through programs and mentors, proved to be
a game changer. They bridged the gap between my starting point - as
a first-generation immigrant lawyer unaware of the
·unwritten rules· - and where I am now. Challenging
work assignments, a judicial clerkship, and visible leadership
roles helped to polish my legal and leadership skills.
Those influences helped me defy the odds of becoming part of the 3
percent - the percentage of racially diverse women equity partners
at law firms. Without access to opportunities, my career in a
competitive law firm environment would have been left buried deep
beneath the earth.
Seeing Diamonds Everywhere
Recognizing that pipeline programs can help bridge the gap in opportunity, I helped launch Finnegan's IP Summit last summer as a way to expose law students from historically underrepresented groups to IP law and practice.
In August 2023, an inaugural class of 15 students from around the country gathered in Washington, D.C.. for an intentionally curated, multiday immersion program that included hands-on workshops, mentoring opportunities, and visits to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. International Trade Com· mission, and a Fortune 500 company. The result has been astonishing.
Let's be real. Becoming a lawyer, let alone a lawyer with a STEM degree, lies well beyond the reach, if not the imagination, of most from disadvantaged communities. Take, for example, LaQuan Bates, the first male in his family to graduate high school who went on to obtain a degree in information technology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. At the encouragement of his college professor, LaQuan first imagined the possibility of law school. Today, LaQuan is a 2L at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and president of the school's Cy· ber Law & Data Privacy Association.
If life chances are positively correlated with one's socioeconomic status, LaQuan defied the odds. So did the rest of the summit scholars.
Lalla Maiga, an immigrant from Mali, put her law school dream on hold after obtaining a computer science and mathematics degree to support her family. She worked in e-discovery and litigation support for more than a decade while raising two kids, including during her husband's deployment to Iraq. At the insistence of her mentor at a law firm. Lalla finally decided to take the LSAT. Today, Lalla is a fourth-year student at the Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law.
Every one of the 15 summit scholars has a remarkable personal story of determination, resilience, and grit. They are firsts, they are strivers, they are doers. They have overcome formidable challenges and will undoubtedly confront many more. They constantly navigate spaces that lack diversity and shake their sense of belonging.
Through the Finnegan IP Summit, they reclaimed their sense of belonging and realized that they were diamonds. They saw and heard from diverse attorneys and judges who candidly shared their humble beginnings and rocky journeys to success. Everyone spoke with vulnerability and honesty, and the summit scholars felt seen and validated.
"I was grateful and inspired to see so many people that look like me doing incredible work,′ one student noted. Another student observed, "1 entered the summit as a first-generation law student with no network, and I am leaving with a network that spans areas I never thought I could reach ... I will carry [it] with me throughout my future legal career."
At the summit's closing ceremony, the students shared how far they'd come and how the summit had been "life changing" for them. At the end of their testimonials, there was not a dry eye in the room.
Let Them Shine
Looking back at my life with the benefit of hindsight and reflection, I can see how poverty chipped away at my confidence and stole opportunities. Through years of negative reinforcement, I came to conflate current knowledge with future potential and verbal fluency with intellectual capacity.
Not anymore.
Well-designed pipeline programs like the Finnegan IP Summit can unlock the potential of hidden talent. We are already seeing results. The students have secured jobs and externships. They've shared how their first semester in law school was not scary because of the village they found at the summit. The program breathed confidence and hope into every participant.
People like me, LaQuan, and Lalla can attest to the transformative power of opportunity and mentorship. We are lucky to have been seen and touched by pipeline programs and mentors. But there are so many more diamonds in the rough waiting to be found, if only people are willing to look in unlikely places.
With a little care and polishing, the diamonds in the rough can truly shine.
Originally Published by Washington Lawyer
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