Soar Like a Legal Eagle: Unveiling the Legal Profession

Join us for an engaging and insightful discussion featuring distinguished legal professionals from diverse sectors, including private practice, public service, and top law school! Our panelists will share their experiences and insights on the qualifications, career paths, daily life, and community service roles of legal professionals in the United States. This event offers a unique opportunity to explore the intricacies of legal careers, with a special focus on the experiences of Asian Americans in the field. Don't miss this chance to gain valuable knowledge and network with leading figures in the legal community.

The panelists will cover the following topics:

• Getting in and surviving law school – an overview of the law school application process and how much it costs, life in law school, different law school programs, finding internships, campus recruiting while at law school.
• “Standard” career paths after law school – jobs in law firms, corporations, and public sectors (and, how much do they make?)
• Reformed lawyers – How does one’s legal training help (or not help) him/ her while the person is not practicing law?
• Community services – How are attorneys involved in community service and make the community a better place?

The panelists (in alphabetical order):

• Darlene Chiang, Of Counsel at Hanson Bridgett LLP

• Charles Huang, Trial Attorney at Herman Law and former Sant Clara Deputy District Attorney

• Susan Robinson, Associate Dean for Career Services, Stanford Law School

• Kaylee Yang, Partner at Norton Rose Fullbright US LLP

Moderator

• Jing Hua, Owner, Real Estate Brokerage

Speaker Introduction

Darlene Chiang currently serves as the Of Counsel of Hanson Bridgett LLP, focusing on merger and acquisition and transactions related to start-ups of international and tech transactions. Darlene provides domestic and international clients with practical legal solutions to resolve issues from formation, debt and equity financing and entering strategic technology transfer and commercial transactions, to successful exit by merger and acquisitions. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Darlene was an IT professional at a leading software company. In addition to her thriving law practice, Darlene is deeply committed to community service and pro bono legal work. She has served as an executive member of the River of Life Foundation and currently serves on the board of the Lazarex Cancer Foundation. Darlene has provided pro bono legal counsel to Jewish Family and Community Services - East Bay, specializing in asylum matters for Afghani and Ukrainian refugees. Darlene also volunteers as legal counsel with the Justice and Diversity Center at the San Francisco Bar Association, focusing on family law matters for low-income single mothers. Darlene received her BA in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley. Darlene received her J.D. from the University of San Francisco.

Charles Huang currently works as a trial attorney at Herman Law, and he is passionate about helping people. Before joining Herman Law, Charles was Deputy District Attorney of Santa Clara District County where he handled all types of criminal matters ranging from multi-million-dollar fraud claims to murder cases. As a prosecutor, he handled many high-profile media cases and trained other attorneys on trial techniques. As a result of his work, Charles has appeared in numerous television and radio programs to discuss victim advocacy issues. Charles strives to bring a voice to the voiceless, strength to the weak and justice for victims. In September 2022, Assembly Bill 1800 which allows Californians to register for the National Marrow Donor Program through the DMV, referred to as Charlie’s Law in honor of his contribution to the effort, was signed as California state law. Charles is a graduate of the University of California, Davis. He received his BA in History with a double minor in Political Science and Asian American Studies. Charles received his J.D. from the Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Susan Robinson currently works as Associate Dean for Career Services in Stanford Law School. Susan came to Stanford Law School from the private sector, where she worked as an associate in the San Francisco law firms of Farella Braun + Martel LLP and Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe. She joined the Stanford staff in 1997, first as associate director and then as associate dean for career services. In this position, Susan oversees and manages all aspects of the office, including counseling, programming, and recruiting. Prior to beginning her legal career, Susan received her BA from Wellesley College and her JD from Columbia University School of Law.

Kaylee Yang currently works as a corporate and M&A partner at Norton Rose Fullbright US LLP, passionate about bringing capital and technology together. Kaylee Yang represents public and private companies in complex business transactions, including merger and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, investments and joint ventures, as well as operational and corporate governance strategies. She has experience counseling clients in various industries including life science, TMT, clean energy and entertainment. Her practice focuses on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital investments and antitrust matters. Kaylee is active in advocating the civil rights of Asian Americans in the U.S. She made great contributions to Asian Americans in politics through fundraising for Congresswoman Judy Chu, Congressman Ted Lieu, Congressman Ro Khanna, and Congresswoman Grace Meng. She also supported Andrew Yang in both his presidential and mayoral campaigns. Kaylee received her BA from Renmin University in China and her JD from the University of Chicago Law School.

Jing Hua currently owns her own brokerage firm in the Bay Area, focusing on helping clients in their real estate purchase, selling and management. Before starting her own broker business, Jing was an attorney focusing on M&A and real estate transactions in an international law firm. Jing received her BA from Fudan University and her LL.M. degree from Law School of University of California, Berkeley (“Boalt Hall”). Jing is passionate in educating the general public about the law in layman language. Jing has her own blog and some of the popular articles were widely circulated among the Chinese community.

Cohosts: CALOBA and ACSSS

Chinese American Lawyers of the Bay Area (CALOBA)

CALOBA is a professional organization dedicated to attorneys and law students of Chinese heritage in the Bay Area. Our events provide members and guests with valuable opportunities to network, enhance their professional skills, and exchange knowledge on a range of legal topics. These include legal practice in the Bay Area and ways to support the local Asian American community and beyond. For more information, please go to http://www.caloba.org/

About Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Stanford (ACSSS)

ACSSS is a student-run organization found in 1989. Its mission is to broaden the channels of communication between the Stanford mainland Chinese community and various other cultural, academic, and professional communities in the Bay Area. As representatives of the Stanford Chinese community, ACSSS also seeks to foster an unique appreciation of Chinese culture and provide information on the academic and professional opportunities there to all Stanford community members. Finally, ACSSS will do its best to help incoming Chinese students and scholars settle into the Stanford environment by providing practical services. For more information, please go to http://web.stanford.edu/group/acsss/cgi-bin/entry/