Associate
Boston Office
800-951-4888 x80-4826
minh-chau.le@ropesgray.com
I grew up in Rock Hill, SC because a church there sponsored my family, refugees from Vietnam. Asian-American with a strong southern accent, I found myself an oddity everywhere I went. The upside to being like no one else, though, was that I felt no pressure to conform. Before law school, I worked at an investment bank, got a degree in Forced Migration from Oxford, and worked at refugees camps in Kenya and Tanzania. By the time I got to law school, after four years in Boston for college and three years living overseas, I had lost my southern accent.
Ropes is a place where you're not asked to conform and where your diversity is celebrated. The culture at Ropes is one of genuine openness and investment in who you are as a person. During my summer at Ropes, a leading tax partner read my resume and suggested my name on pro bono assignments working on refugee and asylum issues. My corporate mentor took the time to explain the underlying issues to each assignment he gave me, finding assignments which leveraged my background while also challenging me.
Since I've joined Ropes, partners, associates, and staff have given generously of their time and effort, providing me with an incredible network of support. I've worked on corporate and pro bono issues where my Vietnamese language skills have come into play. Diversity is a strong institutional priority for Ropes, but it's also just the firm's way of life. The people who make up Ropes are not only diverse but promote diversity of every sort. I no longer feel like an oddity - Ropes is full of people of wide-ranging backgrounds, experiences, interests, and passions.