The History of the Austin Asian American Bar Association

Diane Brown and Albert Li Planted the Seeds, Giving Austin’s Asian American Lawyers a Voice

This is the first in a series of articles sponsored by the Austin Bar Association’s History and Traditions Committee.

The year was 1990. Diane Brown, a prosecutor in the Austin Municipal Court, was chatting with Jim Coronado, who at the time was a criminal court magistrate. Jim, who was active with a group of Mexican American attorneys that later became the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin, suggested to Diane that there should be a bar association for Asian American attorneys in Austin. The idea stuck in Diane’s head, and she eventually shared it with a few other Asian American lawyers she knew: Karen Lee, who worked with her at the Comptroller’s Office; Sheela Rai, who was working at the Attorney

General’s Office; and Cicy Wong, who was General Counsel for Ames Industries. The other lawyers liked the idea of giving Austin’s Asian American lawyers a voice and a presence. The group met six times in 1992 and 1993, inviting a number of other Asian American lawyers to join them to discuss the details. In October 1993, the fruits of their efforts were realized, and the Asian American Bar Association of Austin was formally incorporated.

The organization was very small at first. During the planning stages, the group requested a printout from the State Bar of the lawyers who had self-identified as Asian American, and the dot matrix printout they were given listed only 15 lawyers. Nevertheless, the energetic group met monthly, organized social gatherings and CLEs, and circulated a monthly, multi-page newsletter. Despite all efforts, however, by 1995 their membership roster only contained 20 lawyers. As anyone who has run a bar association knows, 100% participation is never possible. When there are so few people doing all the heavy lifting, it can be difficult to keep up the pace. Sometime in the late 1990s, the organization lost momentum, and it was formally dissolved in 1999.

Fast forward a little more than half a decade, and attorney Albert Li decided Austin again needed to have its own Asian American bar association. By then, Austin had over 120 lawyers who identified as AAPI, almost a tenfold increase over the original list the founders had received in 1992. In 2006, Li organized a series of meetings at

The University of Texas School of Law for anyone interested in assisting with the re-incorporation of an Austin Asian American bar association. From these meetings emerged a council of 17 lawyers who agreed to launch the new organization, renamed the Austin Asian American Bar Association (AAABA). AAABA was formally incorporated in July 2006 and soon thereafter became the third Texas-based affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

AAABA continues to operate as a thriving organization, now boasting about 80 members. Of those, about 50 have invested in lifetime memberships. AAABA supports its members by offering social and networking events, CLE, community service and pro bono opportunities, professional development and mentoring, and other opportunities to benefit its members.

Austin’s Asian American legal community has come a long way since Diane Brown's initial organizing efforts in 1990. Given the rapid growth of our city’s Asian American legal community in the ensuing 31 years, AAABA is likely here to stay. AL