Ten of the 50 most influential minority lawyers in the country are in California, The National Law Journal reported.
The top 50 minority lawyers were selected by NLJ editors after sifting through readers' nominations of candidates who've had a national
impact in their legal fields in past five years.
Among those selected in Los Angeles:
Morgan Chu
57, Irell & Manella
A leading intellectual property litigator, Chu leads the charge at
national powerhouse Irell with major verdicts, including $74 million
for TiVo Inc. in a 2006 patent infringement case in Texas federal court
and a $500 million jury award in 2002 for City of Hope Hospital against
Genentech Inc., one of the largest intellectual property verdicts
recorded. In 2004 and 2005, Chu led six Irell teams to victory in four
trials, one arbitration and one appeal, including an $82 million jury
verdict for Immersion Corp. against Sony Computer Entertainment. In
January, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed
TiVo's 2006 jury verdict win.
Debra Wong Yang
48, Gibson Dunn
Being pushed out of her job as U.S. attorney for the Central District
of California last year sure hasn't done anything to damage Yang's
professional reputation. To the contrary, allegations that Yang and
several colleagues were victims of a political purge was one of the
factors that cost former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales his
job. Yang, who in 2002 was the first Asian-American woman to be
appointed a U.S. attorney, and who was widely respected in that role,
landed at Gibson. There, she co-chairs the firm's crisis management
practice group alongside senior partners Theodore B. Olson and Randy
Mastro. Yang co-chairs the white-collar defense group as well, and
somehow finds time to parlay her prosecution background to counsel
media and securities litigation clients. In November, Yang was chosen
for the Committee of 100, an international organization that promotes
good relations between the United States and China.
Alejandro Mayorkas
48, O'Melveny & Myers
Mayorkas is a partner in O'Melveny & Myers' white-collar defense
and corporate investigations practice. He was the youngest federal
prosecutor in the nation when appointed U.S. attorney in Los Angeles in
1998. Since joining the firm in 2001, he has represented major
corporations in high-stakes civil actions and federal investigations.
He chairs the American Bar Association's ethics and professionalism
committee and serves on the board of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, which
provides pro bono representation to the indigent. His pro bono docket
at O'Melveny focuses on foster children and disadvantaged youth.
Brian A. Sun
53, Jones Day
Sun specializes in complex business litigation and white-collar
criminal defense. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Los
Angeles in the early 1980s, later moving to the Justice Department in
Washington to lead a multiagency federal task force targeting
sophisticated money laundering operations. Sun later testified before
Congress and helped draft legislation to combat money laundering. In
private practice, he has distinguished himself representing a wide
range of businesses and individuals in court and before administrative
agencies, while his criminal practice encompasses the full panoply of
business crimes. In one notable case, Sun was lead counsel in a civil
action against the federal government brought by former Los Alamos
nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee, alleging unlawful leaks concerning the
government's discredited prosecution of Lee for espionage. Sun won a
$1.645 million judgment against the government and several major media
organizations.
