An Interview With Katie Wong

By Collins Saint

The NCBA YLD Diversity and Inclusion Committee has interviewed several diverse attorneys about their experiences in the law. New attorneys face many challenges, including finding mentors, fitting in, and finding their place—and diverse attorneys are no different.

Here is one diverse attorney’s perspective on how she is overcoming these challenges.

 

Meet Katie Wong

Katie Wong is a Duke University School of Law graduate and litigator at Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard in Raleigh, North Carolina. Her practice is wide-ranging, including commercial litigation, internal and criminal investigations, and media and intellectual property matters.

Why do you consider yourself a diverse attorney?

I consider myself a diverse attorney, particularly in North Carolina and in the Triangle area, because there are very few Asian American litigators practicing here at large law firms. There are certainly more in big cities, but few Asian American women have made it to the partner ranks. Asian Americans certainly have roots in the North Carolina legal community but are still a minority.

Tell me about your path to law.

I never thought I would be an attorney. I went to school committed to becoming a high school English teacher and then spent 4 years teaching in New York City and Charlottesville, VA. I was an English and public policy double major at Duke, and I took one public policy class during the last semester of my senior year that was more law-centered than public policy centered, but I didn’t realize it. I loved the discussions in those classes, not realizing that they were very similar to law school discussions. As a teacher, I facilitated similar conversations with my students, so that we could explore issues of law and justice. My students always impressed me with their insight and compassion—and they were so much wiser than I had been as a high school student. Part of me felt the desire to engage in such conversations in a setting with adults. It wasn’t until a law school professor started teaching a class at my church in Charlottesville that I realized that I was interested in the study of law. I enjoyed those classes in the same way I enjoyed that public policy class, and all of a sudden, it just clicked for me that I was genuinely interested in pursuing the law.

What do you look for in a mentor?

I look for people who are willing to spend time teaching and answering questions. I look for people who are willing to give me substantive opportunities to learn. I look for people who care about who I am as a person and ask about what’s going on in my non-work life. I am lucky to have these people in my life.

What do you think is the future of diversity for the legal profession?

I hope it is a future where we can all be more understanding of each other’s backgrounds, communication styles, work styles, and professional and personal needs. I think important dialogue regarding these issues is taking place, and I have faith that the legal field will continue to embrace new perspectives and accommodate professional and personal needs for diverse people to succeed.

What motivates you to be a diversity advocate / champion in the legal profession?

Asian Americans have an extensive but sometimes unknown history of advocating for justice and civil rights in the United States. Raising visibility of our modern champions and training and developing new champions is important to show young Asian Americans that we have an important place in the American justice system, and we are just as American as anyone else—particularly during a time where hate crimes against Asian Americans are on the rise. Moreover, working as an attorney allows us to connect with so many diverse communities and understand how to collaborate with and appreciate others in a pluralistic society. The legal profession provides so many opportunities for service in partnership with others, and it is important to have partners from many different communities.

What advice would you give to diverse new attorneys or law students?

We inevitably end up being part of many communities where there are not many people who look like us, think like us, or believe what we believe. It’s easy to dismiss our time in these communities simply as stages—places that you will move on from, and that may be true. But we should not detach and live like people with one foot outside the door, unable to connect with the people around us. Treat every community like your home community. Without this practice and without making the effort to know and build relationships with the people around us, we cannot be effective advocates. We cannot think of ourselves as changemakers if we are blind to the people we want to serve and the people who can serve us. We must think of our work as collaborative and these partnerships cannot happen if we do not commit to learning from and embracing the people who have begun the work in these places.