Judge Jennifer Lum
First Asian American Woman Judge, U.S. District Court
Judge Jennifer Lum?s path to a legal career was natural because her father was also a pioneering Chinese American attorney in California. ?I was always in that environment, being constantly surrounded by law.?
Judge Lum remembers her father?s stories about growing up in West Memphis, Arkansas, where he witnessed racial discrimination,? which was one of the factors that motivated her to study law. She adds, ?I enjoy working in the legal profession because it has value to society and directly impacts people. It is also very intellectually rewarding.?
Before being appointed a Magistrate Judge in 2001 to the United States District Court, Central District of California, Jennifer Lum served 13 challenging years in the United States Attorney?s Office - Criminal Section. Among other positions, she served as the Chief of the Major Frauds Division, where she was responsible for the investigation and prosecution of white collar crimes, including securities fraud, computer crimes and Internet fraud, intellectual property crimes, bank fraud, bankruptcy fraud, telemarketing fraud and insurance fraud. In that position, she supervised approximately 25 Assistant United States Attorneys and numerous other support staff.
Judge Lum has also worked in private law firms and as a law clerk to District Judge Dickran Tevrizian, also with the United States District Court, Central District of California in Los Angeles. With experience on both sides of the bench Judge Lum offers these thoughts on the differences between being an attorney and a judge: ?As an advocate, the attorney and her client live or die [figuratively] by a legal decision.? Judge Lum then describes her role behind the bench and how she deals with deciding conflicting, paradoxical issues in the following ways: ?The law is not always clear. It can be a difficult and challenging process. A judge has to consider all the facts and decide how the existing law applies to the case. You have to learn to make the difficult decisions based on the information you have and move on to the next case.?
For students who are thinking of majoring in law, Judge Lum offers this: ?An education in law doesn?t just limit you to the legal field. It creates a foundation for critical and analytical thinking that you use to solve difficult problems and issues.?
How does Judge Lum view Chinese Americans in America? ?Even though we are well on our way and have made a lot of progress, we still need to be more vocal and get more involved in government and politics.? (Courtesy of Jason Jem.)