U.S. Attorney Debra Yang 3/4 | Asian American Personalities | <meta http-equiv="Pragma" Content="no-cache"> <meta http-equiv=expire content=now> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html"> <meta name="description" content="U.S. Attorney Debra Yang 3/4 | Asian American Personalities | GOLDSEA"> <meta name="keywords" content="U.S. Attorney Debra Yang Asian American Personalities | GOLDSEA"> <link rel=stylesheet href=/index.css type=text/css> </head> <body> <link REL="SHORTCUT ICon" HREF="/Graphics/g_28.gif"> <img src=http://goldsea.com/Graphics/people.jpg usemap=#profilesmap alt="Imagemap" width=950 height=50 border=0 vspace=0> <map name=profilesmap> <area shape=rect href=http://goldsea.com/ coords="0, 0, 112, 50"> <area shape=rect href=http://goldsea.com/Features/features.html coords="271,0, 363,22"> <area shape=rect href=http://goldsea.com/Video/ coords="271, 23, 363, 50"> <area shape=rect href=http://goldsea.com/Text/index.php?id=2223 coords="364, 0, 462,22"> <area shape=rect href=http://goldsea.com/Text/index.php?id=79 coords="364, 23, 462, 50"> <area shape=rect href=http://asiams.net/ coords="463, 0, 570, 22"> <area shape=rect href=http://goldsea.com/Banners/ coords="463, 23, 570, 50"> <area shape=rect coords="113, 0, 270, 50" href=http://goldsea.com/Text/index.php?id=2325> </map> <br> <table width=950 border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td width=160 valign=top>  <ins data-revive-zoneid="252" data-revive-id="fe42daf737bb1b0d1aaecba8499318f1"></ins> <script async src="//amgs5.com/AS/www/delivery/asyncjs.php"></script> <p class=dek> </p> <p class=byline> </p> <div id=blue> <p class=navhead> Asian American Profiles </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/Inspiring/inspiring.html> The 130 Most Inspiring Asian Americans of All Time</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/Ox/ox.html> Famous Asian American Oxen</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/Brilliant/brilliant.html> 12 Most Brilliant Asian Americans</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://business.goldsea.com/Corporate/corporate.html> Asian American Corporate Superstars</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/Heroes/heroes.html> Greatest Asian American War Heroes</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Innovators/Digital/digital.html> Asian American Digital Pioneers</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Imagemakers/imagemakers.html> New Asian American Imagemakers</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Innovators/innovators.html> Asian American Innovators</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/Athletes/athletes.html> The 20 Most Inspiring Asian Sports Stars</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/Daring/daring.html> 5 Most Daring Asian Americans</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/Surprising/surprising.html> Surprising Superstars</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://hot.goldsea.com/> 100 Hottest Asian American People, Places & Things</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/TV/tv.html> TV's Hottest Asians</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/Rats/rats.html> Famous Asian American Rats</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/Pigs/pigs.html> Famous Asian American Pigs</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Profiles/100/100.html> 100 Greatest Asian American Entrepreneurs</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/WW/index.html> Asian American Wonder Women</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/RTR/index.html> Greatest Asian American Rags-to-Riches Stories</a> </p> <p class=navitem> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Text/index.php?id=2457> Notable Asian American Professionals</a> </p> </div> </td> <td width=8 valign=top> </td> <td width=1 valign=top bgcolor=#996725> </td> <td width=11 valign=top> </td> <td width=770 valign=top>  <ins data-revive-zoneid="3" data-revive-id="74fc6fd638807399977eb1eeebe89de8"></ins> <script async src="//asianmedia.com/MS3/www/delivery/asyncjs.php"></script> <br> <table width=770 border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td width=404 valign=top> <p align=center> <font size=1 face=arial> <a href=/index.html> GOLDSEA</a> | <a href=https://asiams.net/index.html> ASIAMS.NET</a> | <a href=/Personalities/personalities.html> ASIAN AMERICAN PERSONALITIES</a> </font> </p> <p align=center> <a href=https://goldsea.com/Personalities/Inspiring/inspiring.html> <font size=3 face=Arial color=#996725> THE 130 MOST <font color=#ff0000>INSPIRING</font> ASIAN AMERICANS <br>OF <font color=#ff0000>ALL</font> TIME </font></a> </p> <h1> U.S. Attorney Debra Yang: <span class=red>Legally </span>Renowned </h1> <p class=page> PAGE 3 OF 4 </p> <p> <b>GS:</b> How do you respond to critics who accuse you of not having enough experience to be U.S. Attorney? <br> <b>DY:</b> It's a criticism I've gotten all of my life. One, I look younger than I am. Two, I've been fortunate enough to get positions of responsibility at young ages. I view it as a challenge. It makes me want to do even better. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> Is that another chip on your shoulder? <br> <b>DY:</b> I don't think it's a chip on my shoulder, I think it's a motivational factor. For it to be a chip on my shoulder, it would mean that I inherently believe it. I don't. I feel plenty old. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> Do you feel you've had enough experience as an attorney and a judge to handle your job? <br> <b>DY:</b> Yeah, and I also feel that I brought a certain sensitivity and life experiences wth me that would be beneficial in holding this job. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> What do you see as your biggest strength as U.S. Attorney? <br> <b>DY:</b> My organizational skills, my ability to multitask. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> Do you feel that you have a particular weakness as U.S. Attorney? <br> <b>DY:</b> Let me think for a second... Yeah, I think because I have an interest in so many different subject matters that sometimes I tend to become spread too thin. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> What's the hardest part of your job? <br> <b>DY:</b> Sometimes I have to be the one to make very hard decisions that would leave a sector or a group of attorneys very unhappy. Sometimes it's because there are hard decisions to make. I rely on the attorneys in my office to educate me on all the issues, but ultimately the decision rests solely on me and I'm accountable for that. So there's a tremendous amount of pressure in trying to make the right decision, to make sure I have all the right information before me before I make that decision. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> So mainly you don't like disappointing some parts of your staff? <br> <b>DY:</b> Not even disappointing, but the sense of, Is this the right decision? <br><br> <b>GS:</b> The executive agony? <br> <b>DY:</b> That's exactly right. You're going to devastate somebody's life or livelihood. Is this the right way to do something? <br><br> <b>GS:</b> You mean like in filing a case or serving a subpoena? <br> <b>DY:</b> That's right. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> What's the funnest part of your job? <br> <b>DY:</b> The funnest part of my job is working with a group of people who are brilliant. When you're surrounded by better people it makes you rise to the occasion. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> Were you born in LA Chinatown? <br> <b>DY:</b> Not in, near there. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> You grew up in an immigrnat family? <br> <b>DY:</b> No, my parents were both born here. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> So you're third generation then? <br> <b>DY:</b> Fourth generation. My paternal grandmother was born here. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> There's an account of you walking through Chinatown... <br> <b>DY:</b> I grew up in Chinatown. My maternal grandfather lived in Chinatown and that's where I grew up when I was young. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> Paint us some memories of your childhood. <br> <b>DY:</b> One of my most favorite things to do when I little was playing Chinese jumprope, you know with the rubberband. I loved doing that. When we moved out of the neighborhood, I never got to play that again because we moved into a different kind of community and that just wasn't available. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> What age were you? <br> <b>DY:</b> Probably in my early teens. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> Where did you move? <br> <b>DY:</b> We moved to Eagle Rock. It's not that same kind of neighborhood. It just didn't have that same ethnic quality, or Asian ethnic. When I was younger I actually ran around the streets of Chinatown. When I would come home from school I would go to my grandfather's house, I'd do my homework, and then I'd go play with my friends. Well, my friends' parents worked in Chinese restaurants. You know, we would run over, knock on the back of the restaurants and they'd open the door and see us girls playing and give us all a char siu bao, and we'd have that for our snack. Or we would go play ball in the alley and come back and they'd give us a shu mai. Back then, you could do it -- it was safe. I grew up literally on the streets of Chinatown. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> You really are a hometown girl made good. <br> <b>DY:</b> I am. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> And now you're overlooking Chinatown from your office. <br> <b>DY:</b> I'm looking at it as you and I are speaking. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> What a great American success story! <br> <b>DY:</b> It is, it is! That's why I feel... sometimes I'm tired and sometimes I feel like, Save more time for yourself. I can't do that because I've been given an opportunity to be a voice for that community who's not always out there in the public, whose issues aren't always heard, who aren't necessarily as articulate with the language as I may be. So this is my responsibility, this is what I want to do. I want to advocate on their behalf. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> We can understand that, given your background. <br> <b>DY:</b> I will kill myself. I go out on speaking engagement. I turn them down all the time, but if I get one from an Asian group or a woman's group I will make the very best effort to do it. It's one thing for me to open the door and get through. It doesn't mean anything unless there are people behind me who are going to surpass me one day. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> You want to hold the door open? <br> <b>DY:</b> Right. That's why I was interested in this job over the court position. It's a big deal to.. I wasn't an aggressive young child. I was raised in a typical Asian household. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> What did your parents do? <br> <b>DY:</b> My father was a CPA. He ultimately became a venture capialist. My mother was an educator. She was a principal and she consulted to the board of education, but I was raised not to speak back to my elders, to be respectful. You never confronted people. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> So you were raised in a traditional Asian family? <br> <b>DY:</b> You know, if you reached for the food with your own chopsticks instead of the serving utensils you would get rapped on the back of the hand. When we were little, if one of my siblings got spanked, we all got spanked. We were taught we were all responsible for each other. Very traditional Asian family. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> How many siblings did you have? <br> <b>DY:</b> I have three, two sisters and one brother. I'm the oldest. Never bring shame home, never embarrass your family, all those Chinese things. That was a tremendous amount of baggage for me to have when I became a lawyer because it was very difficult for me to confront people, to challenge their idea, especially if they were a partner in a law firm because I was supposed to be respectful to them, or a professor when I was in law school. I couldn't do that. I actually had to teach myself how to feel comfortable with confrontation. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> Having been raised that way, what made you decide to go to law school in the first place? <br> <b>DY:</b> I actually wasn't going to go to law school to be a lawyer I was going to go to law school and go into business. I just decided to stay with it. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> So you were going to be on the corporate side, the transactional side? <br> <b>DY:</b> When I was younger I was much more quiet. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> How did you like the law school experience being such a quiet child? <br> <b>DY:</b> I liked it. I thought it was interesting. I think I started to find my voice then with programs like mock trial programs. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> Did you start to enjoy the courtroom side of law while still in law school? <br> <b>DY:</b> Yes. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> And after you graduated, you practiced with a firm in Boston? <br> <b>DY:</b> No, a firm in Santa Monica and another firm in Century City. <p align=center> <font size=1 face=arial color=#ff0000> CONTINUED BELOW </font> </p> <hr size=1 color=#aa7530> <table width=auto align=center cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td width=100% align=center>  <ins data-revive-zoneid="250" data-revive-id="fe42daf737bb1b0d1aaecba8499318f1"></ins> <script async src="//amgs5.com/AS/www/delivery/asyncjs.php"></script> </td></tr></table> <hr size=1 color=#aa7530> <p> <br> <b>GS:</b> What kind of law were you doing at those firms? <br> <b>DY:</b> General civil litigation. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> You had decided to go into litigation by the time you got out of law school? <br> <b>DY:</b> Right, I liked the courtroom <br><br> <b>GS:</b> Did you do well in your moot court competitions in law school? <br> <b>DY:</b> I did. <br><br> <b>GS:</b> What did you like particularly about trying cases? <br> <b>DY:</b> I liked the sparring sport of it, that you had to abide by certain arcane rules of evidence. That was the very legal part. Yet at the end of the day you had to distill it down to a simple message in order to persuade a jury. <a href=yangdebra4.html>PAGE 4</a> </p> <p class=page> <a href=yangdebra.html>Page 1</a> | <a href=yangdebra2.html>2</a> | <a href=yangdebra3.html>3</a> | <a href=yangdebra4.html>4</a> </p> <br><br> <center> <font face=arial size=2 color=#aa7530> <a href=/Personalities/Inspiring/inspiring.html> Back To Main Page </a> </font> </center> </td> <td width=8 valign=top> </td> <td width=1 valign=top bgcolor=#996725> </td> <td width=8 valign=top> </td> <td width=345 valign=top> <img src=/Graphics/pixel345.gif width=345 height=1> <table width=320 border=0 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 bgcolor=#ffffee><tr> <td width=160 valign=top>  </td> <td width=160 valign=top>  </td> </tr> <tr> <td width=160 valign=top>  </td> <td width=160 valign=top>  </td></tr> </table> <br> <br>  <table width=306 border=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0><tr> <td valign=top> <img src=debra3.jpg width=300 height=275 align=right alt="Debra Yang"> <p class=caption> <span class=ap> </span> </p> </td></tr></table> <br>  <ins data-revive-zoneid="250" data-revive-id="fe42daf737bb1b0d1aaecba8499318f1"></ins> <script async src="//amgs5.com/AS/www/delivery/asyncjs.php"></script> <br>  <table width=250 bgcolor=#ffffee border=0 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0><tr> <td align=top> <p class=pull> “I liked the sparring sport of it, that you had to abide by certain arcane rules of evidence.” </p> </td></tr></table> <br>  <br> <table width=340 border=0 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 bgcolor=#ffffee><tr> <td width=165 valign=top>  <script type='text/javascript'></script> </td> <td width=10> </td> <td width=165 valign=top>  <script type='text/javascript'></script> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width=165 valign=top>  <script type='text/javascript'></script> </td> <td width=10> </td> <td width=165 valign=top>  <script type='text/javascript'></script> </td> </tr></table> <hr size=1 color=#aa7530> <table width=340 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td colspan=2> <a href=http://goldsea.com/Video/> <p class=feature> Asian American Videos </p> </a> </td></tr> <tr><td width=130 valign=top> <p class=cover> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/2/Music> <img src=http://www.goldsea.com/Video/chimg/2.jpg width=120 height=83 border=0></a> <br> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/2/Music> Music Channel </a> </p> <p class=cover> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/4/Humor> <img src=http://www.goldsea.com/Video/chimg/4.jpg width=120 height=83 border=0></a> <br> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/4/Humor> Humor Channel </a> </p> <p class=cover> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/1/People> <img src=http://www.goldsea.com/Video/chimg/1.jpg width=120 height=83 border=0></a> <br> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/1/People> People Channel </a> </p> </td> <td width=2> </td> <td width=1 bgcolor=#996725> </td> <td width=27> </td> <td width=130 valign=top> <p class=cover> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/5/Sports> <img src=http://www.goldsea.com/Video/chimg/5.jpg width=120 height=83 border=0></a> <br> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/5/Sports> Sports Channel </a> </p> <p class=cover> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/6/Dance--Stage> <img src=http://www.goldsea.com/Video/chimg/6.jpg width=120 height=83 border=0></a> <br> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/6/Dance--Stage> Dance & Stage Channel </a> </p> <p class=cover> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/7/Travel> <img src=http://www.goldsea.com/Video/chimg/7.jpg width=120 height=83 border=0></a> <br> <a href=http://www.goldsea.com/Video//categories/7/Travel> Travel Channel </a> </p> </td></tr></table> <br> <p align=center> <font size=1 face=arial> <span class=slug7> <a href=https://asianmedia.com/contact/> CONTACT US</a> | <a href=https://asianmedia.com> ADVERTISING INFO</a> <br><br> © 1996-2013 Asian Media Group Inc <br>No part of the contents of this site may be reproduced without prior written permission. </span> </font> </p> </td> </tr></table> </td></tr></table> </body> </HTML>