Lan Quach is again selected for inclusion in the Southern California Rising Stars list for 2010 and Lan was featured in an article that appeared in the July 2010 issue of Southern California Super Lawyers – Rising Stars Edition, "Rescued by an Ark," written by Suzy Frisch

Lan Quach was again selected for inclusion in the Southern California Rising Stars list for 2010.

This honor is awarded to only 2.5% of lawyers in Southern California who are 40 years old or younger or who have been in practice 10 years or less.

Lan has been selected for inclusion in the Southern California Rising Stars list for six consecutive years.

The 2010 Southern California Rising Stars list was published in the July 2010 issue of Los Angeles magazine and the July 2010 issue of Southern California Super Lawyers – Rising Stars Edition.

Lan was also featured in an article that appeared in the July 2010 issue of Southern California Super Lawyers – Rising Stars Edition. "Rescued by an Ark," written by Suzy Frisch. To click on a copy of that article published on the Superlawyers.com website, click here: http://www.superlawyers.com/california-southern/article/Rescued-by-an-Ark/2c7bdc5d-f059-432a-81fc-fb55853c19f6.html

If the link does not work, the article is also re-printed below with permission from Super Laywers.


Rescued by an Ark
By Suzy Frisch

Lan Quach

Published in Southern California Rising Stars 2010 — July 2010

Life in Vietnam in the early 1970s had gotten so repressive that Lan Quach’s father knew he needed to get his family out. But he didn’t have the resources to buy a boat or pay their way. So he taught himself to build a boat. In secret he constructed a vessel that would be big enough to hold 150 people.

When the time came to escape in September 1981, Quach, her six siblings, parents and 17 others successfully made their way to the boat. The police had been tipped off and they started arresting other relatives and friends. The family, devasted to leave people behind, grasped at its last chance and spent 30 hours at sea before a German freighter rescued them.

After about 10 months in a Philippine refugee camp, their application for an immigrant visa was granted and the Quaches flew to California to meet up with Quach’s grandmother. When 5-year-old Quach and her family arrived, they spoke no English and had few possessions. But her parents instilled in Quach a craving for education and a deep love for America.

“The opportunities presented to us here, you don’t get that anywhere else. I knew that as long as I worked hard, I could do anything I wanted,” she says. “I got to go to college and law school—it’s amazing. I see why my dad risked everything so we could have that opportunity.”

After law school at UCLA, Quach worked in commercial litigation at a large firm. In 2007 she joined with a co-worker to start Proudfoot & Quach as a woman-/minority-owned business. Quach wanted to be her own boss, handle a varied caseload of litigation and appeals, and help others through pro bono work.

“I understand what it’s like to not have money, and in our legal system it’s important to have good representation,” she says. “We want to give back.”

Published in Southern California Rising Stars 2010 — July 2010