When Bruce Ishimatsu started practicing law, he was fortunate enough to do so at a firm founded by Japanese American attorneys, where he worked with other Asian American attorneys who served as mentors.

It was an important but rare advantage in the legal world, which is often seen as a tougher-than-average field for minority advancement, and he thinks it should become more commonplace.

“I had the benefit of mentors,” Ishimatsu said. “We need to be mentoring and sharing experiences with younger lawyers.”

Ishimatsu continued to be guided by Asian American lawyers, who helped him up the rungs from associate to partner. Later, a Chinese American lawyer recruited Ishimatsu as partner at the Los Angeles office of Bryan Cave LLP, and Ishimatsu eventually became partner at the Los Angeles office of Loeb & Loeb LLP. It’s an exemplary career trajectory. But he’s a minority within his minority: Many minority associates don’t make it to partner status in the world of corporate law.

Mentorship, and the lack of its availability to minorities, is seen as a key issue.

“Minorities don’t do well in terms of conversion rate to partner because there is a natural affinity of white males to mentor other white males,” said Helen Kim, president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and a partner in the Los Angeles office of Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP.

In a study released by the Washington, D.C.-based National Association for Law Placement, Asian Americans represent 17 percent of associates, but make up only 5 percent of partners in the L.A. region. The rates in Los Angeles are higher than they are nationwide, where Asians represent 9 percent of associates, but only 2 percent of partners.

The low advancement rate to partner among Asian American lawyers prompted Ishimatsu and other members of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association to action.

“Asian Pacific Americans have been the silent model minority,” Ishimatsu said. “I don’t think too many diversity committees have taken a hard look at what is happening to them.”

Last week, the organization, which serves as an umbrella group for 40,000 lawyers, held its first symposium to address the issue.

The conference, which took place at the Los Angeles office of O’Melveny & Myers LLP, featured Asian American lawyers from large law firms and general counsel from local companies discussing barriers to advancement.

Attorneys shared advice for navigating a course to leadership positions.

“You need to understand the firm, the culture and what’s important,” Helen Kim said. “It is important to have someone to guide you, to make sure you get the right kind of assignments, work for the right people and get the proper exposure.”

Engaging attorney

Nabbing an assignment that allows them to demonstrate talent is essential for young lawyers looking to move up the ranks. And legal observers said that if a junior attorney is paired with an important project and partner, then the attorney has been engaged in a way that increases the chances of he or she staying at the firm longer.

There are subtle aspects of a firm’s culture that can influence promotions.

“I think it’s important to look at the institutions and the procedures that seem neutral on their face, but that can have a very disparate outcome,” said Joseph Kim, a partner in the Los Angeles office of O’Melveny & Myers.

Some firms allow partners to select which associates get which assignments, and those choices can affect associates’ careers. Sometimes unconscious bias can impact those decisions.

“The majority who are doling out the work feel a certain affinity to gravitate toward people of certain backgrounds,” Joseph Kim said. “That results in a skewed outcome.”

The result is that women and minorities tend to watch choice assignments go to white males, Joseph Kim said.

Some of those attending the conference said that firms need to be aware of stereotypes associated with Asian Americans.

Peggy Nagae, a diversity consultant based in Montana who helped organize the conference, said that Asians are seen as hard workers, but their leadership skills are often unjustly questioned.

“Can they be assertive as a litigator or big deal maker?” Nagae said. The point being that those questions are racially motivated rather than based on the attorney’s personal characteristics.

“If we are able to recognize that the biases are not conscious, that this categorization is a human dilemma, then we can begin to feel more comfortable talking about the issue,” Nagae said.

Large firms have developed informal affinity groups of minority, women, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender attorneys. The groups are not exclusive to those lawyers, and encourage members to develop a network where they can discuss law firm life.

Nine affinity groups, including one for its Asian American lawyers, have been created at the Los Angeles office of O’Melveny & Myers.

“Affinity groups are helpful,” Joseph Kim said, “because they provide a forum for attorneys with similar backgrounds to share information and experiences and to participate in social events and professional development activities, all in an environment that is supported by the firm.”