Vietnamese American law students have founded an organization to encourage each other and promote service to their community. As they seek new members, they are . . .

For Andy Hoang, the path was always clear.

If he was smart and worked hard, he would go to medical school and become a doctor. If that didn’t work out, he could always become a lawyer.

Lisa Trinh’s parents envisioned a similar future for their daughter.

“The legal profession is not in high regard in Vietnam as it is here,” Hoang said. “In Vietnam, if you were an intellect, you’d go into medicine. Law was seen as an easier avenue.”

Trinh, 22, and Hoang, 27, are freshmen at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa and have joined forces to found the Vietnamese American Student Bar Assn., the latest in a long line of student legal organizations that seek to serve a particular ethnic community, interest or gender.

The association has signed up 60 members at Whittier, Western State and Chapman law schools in Orange County. Organizers hope to expand nationwide, recruiting at schools as far off as Texas and Michigan, states where there has been a similar influx of Vietnamese emigres.

“The most difficult part was getting students to recognize that it’s a professional organization,” said Hoang, of Santa Ana, who fled Vietnam in 1980 as a youngster with his parents and two siblings. “Students thought it was a gathering for fun.”

Hoang’s challenge is to convince other Vietnamese law students that they need to come together, not only for reassurance that they are pursuing a lofty profession, but to help their community.

In the beginning, Trinh and Hoang sought advice from Orange County Superior Court Judge Nho Trong Nguyen, the county’s first Vietnamese American judge.

Nguyen spoke at the group’s first general meeting recently at Whittier Law School, attended by more than 125 law students, judges, dignitaries and educators.

“If you fail to think of your community, if you fail to do community service, then you fail to become a good lawyer,” Nguyen said to loud applause. “We need to serve. We need to progress. We need to be humble.”

And they are doing just that.

Legal Aid to

the Elderly Planned

On Fridays, the group plans to provide legal aid and services to the elderly and newcomers at the Vietnamese Community of Orange County Inc., a nonprofit social services agency in Santa Ana.

“A lot of people don’t understand the system. We can take what we learn and help the community,” said Trinh, whose family left Vietnam in 1975. “It’s good training for us because it exposes issues.”

She said she is hoping to iron out simple misunderstandings that result from cultural differences. For example, out of respect some people in the Vietnamese tradition would not look at the judge during court proceedings. That could be seen as impolite in America.

“We want to bridge the Western philosophy of law and the Eastern philosophy of law,” Hoang said. “There was no paramount legal structure in Vietnam. People have a fear of authority, and we want to soothe out those wrinkles and let them know that we’re here to protect them and punish those who commit crimes.”

Marjan Rabbi, president of the Middle Eastern Student Law Assn., said having an organized group provides support to students who face similar problems and issues.

“It’s great to have a program where students can identify with their group,” said Rabbi, a second-year student at Whittier Law School. “People would understand my pains and problems more than anyone else.”

The special interest groups also provide education about their members’ culture.

School officials said the Middle Eastern group has become more vocal in explaining members’ heritage since the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Right now, we’re being looked at as evil because of the situation,” Rabbi said. Her group has participated in memorial services for victims of terrorism and sold American flags to show solidarity.

“They’ve made their presence, and they’ve been very educational,” said Susan McGuigan, associate dean of student services at Whittier Law School. “The importance of student organizations is that it helps to empower them on an individual basis. Law school can be very stressful, and if they have a support group, they provide support for each other and another outlet to public service to the community.

“It makes them a better law student and a better lawyer.”

Time Constraints on

Students a Problem

Starting a legal organization is not an easy task. Students don’t have time to raise money or to recruit enough members, said Brian Comstock, president of the Student Bar Assn. at Western State. Chapters at most schools must have at least 20 members to qualify for funding through student bar associations, which collect money from student tuition.

At Western State, several student organizations have seen their membership dwindle or have shut down. The National Lawyers Guild chapter now has fewer than 20 members, disqualifying it from funding, Comstock said. At the other end of the political spectrum, the school’s Republican Student Law Assn. slowly faded until it disbanded, Comstock said.

The Vietnamese group still needs to complete paperwork to be recognized as a chapter at Western State, Comstock said.

McGuigan said success for an organization is measured by the number of members it draws, how involved they are in activities, how vocal they are when issues are raised and whether they make their opinions known.

In the long run, the Vietnamese American association’s organizers hope to position members for successful careers in law.

The recent passage of a bilateral agreement between the United States and Vietnam is expected to result in the need for more lawyers who can serve as liaisons based on their experience in both cultures and legal systems.

Under the trade deal, which takes effect next month, Vietnamese goods and services will gain access to the world’s largest market with the same low tariffs enjoyed by most nations. In return, Vietnam must open its state-controlled markets to foreign competition and international standards.

“We’re bicultural and bilingual,” Hoang said. “It segues nicely into the trade agreement. If you send a Westerner to Vietnam, they may not be as successful as someone with both cultures and languages.”