by Monica Chamness
Staff Writer
Circumventing the barriers, real or imagined, to minorities gaining a strong presence in the legal community is just one of the missions of the newly-formed Jacksonville Asian-American Bar Association.
An affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the JAABA formed last month in response to the needs of local attorneys with diverse heritages.
“We wanted a unified organization representing the Asian-American attorneys in the Jacksonville community,” said Maria Aguila, judicial staff attorney and president of JAABA. “Since there was no existing organization, we wanted to form one. But it’s open to all, to anyone who shares our common interests.”
The JAABA plans to recruit attorneys and law students from Northeast Florida.
The idea was born when Aguila and colleague Mark Miller of Ford, Miller & Wainer were batting around ideas one day. Aguila then called several other attorneys to gauge the interest level. After getting positive feedback, she moved forward with the association.
To date, 10 attorneys have joined the association, including Aguila, Vice President William Li of Pappas, Metcalf, Jenks & Miller and Secretary/Treasurer Thuy-Anh Nguyen of Datz, Jacobson, Lembcke & Wright. Other members are Miller, Darlene De Guzman from St. Augustine, Hae Kyung “Ellah” Lim from Bray & Singletary, Marjorie Makar of the Mayo Clinic, Public Defender Owen Schmidt, Frank Yong of Cone & Yong and Larry Wang of McConnaughay, Duffy, Coonrod, Pope & Weaver.
Nguyen and Aguila met in law school at the University of Richmond in Virginia.
“We’re small now but we hope to grow,” said Aguila. “Right now we’re in the infant stages. We have a lot of ideas on the direction to take the organization.”
“We’re starting from scratch and learning as we go along,” added Li.
Developing close relationships with The Perkins Bar, the Jacksonville Bar Association, The Florida Bar and the American Bar Association is part of the strategy for making the new association successful.
“We would like to see representation, not only in the Jacksonville community, but in The Florida Bar as a whole — also the judiciary, the legislature,” said Aguila. “We hope to help others who may feel intimidated by the justice system or feel that people of our profession are unapproachable. We want to encourage professional growth for our members and foster ideas among our members and the community as a whole. And also to raise cultural awareness.”
Aguila believes that few Asian-Americans seek employment in the legal field because of cultural biases. The legal profession simply isn’t something associated with Asian-Americans and Aguila is hoping her organization can help dispel Asian-American stereotypes.
“Filipinos tend to push towards a medical degree,” said Aguila. “I would like to get rid of that stigma. I hope other nationalities would think of doing the same thing.”
“My theory is coming from another country, your [English] language won’t be that strong,” said Nguyen. “Science and numbers are more transferable. Liberal arts fields are slower to catch on. There’s no precedent for it [a legal career]. In other ethnicities, the path may already have been trodden.”
“In my experience, there isn’t a big presence of Asians in the legal field yet so you don’t have that role model to direct you,” said Li. “One of the things we’re trying to accomplish is to let people know that this is a career choice anyone can make and there are Asians out there practicing law.”
Following the lead of its national chapter, the JAABA aspires to address political issues such as hate crime bills, preserving civil rights and immigration law. Aguila is hoping local lobbying efforts will address these directives. Another goal includes educating the public on different cultures.
Agenda items for the club tentatively include luncheons with speakers, workshops and participation in the World of Nations event. The group’s next meeting is scheduled for Friday at 5:30 p.m. at River City Brewing Company.