Several prominent attorneys and government officials from the Central Valley spoke at the Fresno State Asian Faculty and Staff Association’s Career in Law and Government panel discussion in the Henry Madden Library on Wednesday.
Co-sponsored by the College of Social Sciences and the Henry Madden Library, the panel featured Anthony W. Ishii, the Chief Judge of the U.S District court for the eastern district of California; Fresno County’s public defender Kenneth K. Taniguchi; President Elect of the Fresno County Bar Association Timothy R. Sullivan and Fresno council member President Blong Xiong.
The panel was organized to encourage students of different majors to consider a career in law and government. Only Sullivan, with a degree in political science, had previous law and government experience before attending law school.
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Ellen Junn, said the panel helped students chart their course if they are considering a career in law and government. “It’s a chance to hear the life stories and the advice from these particular panelists,” Junn said.
Junn also said the event allowed students an opportunity to network and establish important contacts within the field.
The event was critical, Ishii said, to encourage a new crop of lawyers and to provide the fields of law and government with students from diverse backgrounds in their undergraduate education.
“The event is important because a lot of people are like me and had little exposure to the law,” Ishii said. “Everyone one of us comes from a different background and perspective, and students need to know there’s diversity on how people got into law.”
Sullivan asked the political science majors to identify themselves, and only a handful were political science majors. Sullivan said a student’s major doesn’t matter.
“I encourage you to pick what you are interested in,” Sullivan said. “There are a hundred different areas of the law. I know someone that has a master’s [degree] in biology and they work with patents of engineered life forms. It helps them understand what those patents are talking about.”
Taniguchi agreed with Sullivan and reiterated that students of all backgrounds should consider law.
“My major was wildlife and fishery biology and I am a biologist,” Taniguchi said. “I changed directions after not getting a job and students need to be open to such opportunities. Not everyone should be a political science or pre-law major. The law needs diversity.”
Kinesiology major Sheryl Walker said she was at the event because she thought about pursuing law school even though her major has nothing to do with law.
“I’ve always been interested in becoming a lawyer, but I have also been interested in sports, so I majored in kinesiology,” Walker said. “If I do decide to pursue law school, I want to go into an area that deals with sport contract or possibly even become a sports agent.”
Ishii said he hopes the panel helped students in meeting lawyers and in drawing similarities so that they may one day pursue an education in law.
“I hope students gained some valuable advice from here and apply it, whatever area they decide to pursue a career in.”