Quyen L. Ta

Ta is a partner in the trial and global disputes practice group at King & Spalding LLP. Along with a full docket of litigation matters, she is a co-founder of the Berkeley Law First Generation Professionals Institute—a result of her status as the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants who, as a 2-year-old in 1979, arrived with her parents in the U.S.

Her clients today include the City of Santa Ana; Molina Healthcare of Illinois Inc.; Rakuten Rewards’ subsidiary ShopStyle Inc.; Sutter Health; and several whose identities remain confidential.

Ta joined King & Spalding last year after working as lead administrative partner at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP’s San Francisco office. Earlier she was a partner at Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP. After law school, she clerked for the late U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of Sacramento.

On Santa Ana’s behalf, Ta and colleagues have sued Orange County over the social crisis related to homelessness during the pandemic. Her complaint alleges that Covid-19 has worsened systemic disparities in the county’s treatment of its homeless population, breaching an earlier settlement agreement. City of Santa Ana v. County of Orange, 8:20-cv-00069 (C.D. Cal., filed Jan. 13, 2020).

“Santa Ana supports its vulnerable population,” Ta said. “The city is well-intentioned, and we believe the county is trying.” The county has moved to dismiss the case, but a hearing on the issue may be put off while settlement talks continue. “These are important issues that have been long in the making,” she said.

She’s acutely aware of the challenges facing immigrants who become professionals, though there can be advantages too: when a Vietnam-based e-commerce company was sued in a copyright infringement case, Ta was an ideal choice to lead the defense.

“There’s very few Vietnamese speaking lawyers that can litigate cases in federal court,” she said in a 2020 interview. “Retaining the language that I grew up with is now a business asset.”

Still, any ambitious immigrant who attains professional standing often finds it hard going at first, she said. “Those early days were certainly very difficult for me. The feelings of imposter syndrome can occupy your mind. When we did a First Generation Professionals panel I recall questions about really simple things, like how to hold your fork at a fancy restaurant. After 20 years in the legal profession, this has become very personal to me, how to make things better for those like me whose parents never worked in a professional setting.”

Ta has now co-founded a First Generation Professionals Organization at King & Spalding. “We sent out one email and now we have 80 people in the group,” she said. “I like the FGP name. I’m glad there’s a term for what used to be called, ‘I grew up very poor.’”

— John Roemer