Finding innovative ways to promote equity for Asian Canadian Lawyers

Fiona Wong always knew she wanted to practice law. So much so that in her final year of high school, she took the Grade 12 law class twice.

A first-generation Canadian, university graduate, and lawyer, today she’s an associate at Overholt Law LLP in Vancouver, where her passion for labour, employment, and human rights law shines.

However, it’s in her role as the president of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (British Columbia) Society (FACL BC) where her affinity for innovative advocacy is undeniable.

FACL BC is a coalition of Asian Canadian lawyers, judges, and law students founded in 2011 to promote equity and increase opportunities for Asian Canadian legal professionals. It is also this year’s recipient of the Canadian Bar Association’s Touchstone Award of Excellence.

Asked how the Federation became BC’s largest equity-seeking bar association, Wong points to its nimbleness and ability to change.

Wong’s term has seen record-setting growth in everything from member engagement to scholarship funding and professional development events. Unlike organizations that found 2020 to be a spoke in their wheels when it came to hosting events and engaging members again, most of FACL BC’s growth came post-pandemic.

In 2019, the organization had 250 members. Today, it’s grown to more than 700.

“Out of our 21 board members, most of us are not past a five-year call,” says Wong, a 2021 call. “That’s what sets us apart from other legal organizations.”

To her, the fresh thinking among the Federation’s volunteer leaders is the leg up that allowed them to add initiatives such as the award-winning documentary, But I Look Like a Lawyer, to their list of accolades in such a short amount of time.

The 33-minute film shares personal stories of the stereotyping that Pan-Asian legal professionals have experienced and has become a tool for intercultural awareness across the country.

Inspired by the documentary, But I Was Wearing a Suit, produced by leaders of Indigenous legal communities, FACL BC’s film is now mandatory viewing at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law and a reading at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law. It even screened at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival in 2022.

“Until this documentary came out, there really wasn’t a space or an opportunity for Asian Canadian legal professionals to come together and say, ‘Oh yeah, that happened to me too. That was subtle racism,’” Wong says.

“We never were able to really put a finger on it or openly label it.”

This work in helping younger generations overcome barriers is what encouraged Gurminder Sandhu, a member of FACL BC and a frequent speaker at their events, to nominate the Federation for the Touchstone Award. In Wong, he sees a conscience leader who is making a difference.

“She epitomizes the (equity, diversity and inclusion) mentality,” says Sandhu, a bencher with the Law Society of BC.

“She is a very inclusive leader, and her approach is very much in the form of consensus-building.”

When Wong began her term in 2023, she set three goals: increase advocacy efforts, enhance accessibility and create greater alliances.

By the time her term wraps up in July, the Federation will have hosted 62 events –- more than one a week. Its latest gala sold out with 767 attendees, up from 450 the year prior. It was the second-largest legal event in the province that year, second only to Chief Justice Robert J. Bauman’s retirement dinner.

Wong and her team’s drive to take action has elevated the Federation’s ability to promote justice and equity by welcoming new ideas and tailoring them to the needs of Asian Canadians. Wong says she is particularly proud of the partner’s reception they hosted, which brought together more than 80 Asian partners for the first time in the province, acknowledging the importance of Asian Canadians in leadership roles.

Sessions for internationally trained lawyers, a tour of major Vancouver law firms for articling students and the largest member retreat to date — where Sandhu will discuss affinity bias and other novel ideas — are just a few events the Federation has planned to unite Pan-Asian legal communities in unique ways.

As she approaches the end of her term, Wong hopes members will push the organization even further in its mission and strive to intervene in relevant litigation to make an even greater impact for future professionals.