The Glass Ceiling, the Bamboo Ceiling, the Rice Swamp: If you follow the progression of Asian-American lawyers, you’ve probably heard those terms. They describe a troubling trend: While they are swelling the nation’s top law schools and the junior ranks of Big Law, Asian-Americans are rare birds in the top echelons of the profession.
The recently released report, “A Portrait of Asian Americans in the Law,” by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and Yale Law School confirms this phenomenon. And it names some familiar culprits: lack of mentoring and access to power, plus lingering stereotypes and biases.
