gender. Culturally, my being an Asian woman in litigation is contrary to that perception. It’s important to me that other Asians and women can see me as someone who has done that. In law school we’re bombarded with what litigators look like and [they] never look like me.” Early in her legal career, Reeves
became a board member of Oregon Minority Lawyers Association. “Te Oregon bar isn’t very diverse. When I first got involved with the association, I wasn’t looking to hone my leader- ship or service skills. My goal was to connect with a community of diverse lawyers with whom I could share ideas. And I’ve been able to do that.” Born in Korea, Reeves was four
months old when she was adopted by a white family from Oregon. “In my day, the model around interracial adoption was geared toward assimila- tion. Parents were advised not to cultivate differences, and to simply love their adopted children as their own. Today that model has changed. Parents receive training and coaching that help them to teach racial and cultural identity and that they should cultivate these things in their adopted children.” As an undergrad at Willamette
University in Oregon, Reeves con- nected with an Asian community for the first time. “I went a little over- board, cramming my dorm room with Asian knickknacks whose meanings were lost on me,” she says. “Over time I came to realize that culturally I’m just not Korean, but I’ve created a community that includes many Asian people including interracial adoptees—we share a lot of the same experiences.” At the Willamette University
College of Law, Reeves joined the Multicultural Law Students Association, and she planned a university-wide celebration in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with more than 1,500 attendees. Te university recognized her achievement with an award named for the Rev.
MCCA.COM
King. Reeves received her J.D. degree in 2001. Troughout her career in govern-
ment, says Reeves, she never plotted a specific trajectory. “I’ve always approached my job as an obligation to make whatever institution I work for a better place. I never just did my job description. I look around at what can be improved and where there are gaps and what can I do to fix them. My objective is to do a good job and get things done. Te opportunities follow.” Steven Powers, Gov. Kitzhaber’s
deputy general counsel who attended law school with Reeves, says, “We work hard and juggle an astound- ing number of issues each day, and Liani manages it all with grace and grit.” Powers considers Reeves a true trailblazer: “Trailblazers are not just the first person to hold a position or the only person to hold a posi- tion; rather, trailblazers are those who make a path knowing full well that others will follow and who are willing to help people around them reach their full potential. Liani has consistently helped others around her (me included), and is a great mentor and friend to the next generation of lawyers and staff around her.” Recently Reeves and a group of
peers inaugurated IMAGE (Inspiring
“I want law students to know that whatever they want to do they can, even if that goal doesn’t fit with other people’s idea of what a certain kind of lawyer should look like.”
JULY/AUGUST 2014 DIVERSITY & THE BAR®
Minority Attorneys Toward Growth and Excellence), a program designed to support racial and ethnic minority attorneys in their first three years of practice. “We have a huge problem retaining minority attorneys in Oregon,” says Reeves. “Minorities come to law school here and then feel out of place in the workforce. Te first three years in the profession are tough enough without the added discomfort that can sometimes come with being a minority.” Reeves is unsure where she will
go after tenure as general counsel to the governor closes. Wherever she ends up—returning to the attorney general’s office, running for public office, or working with local or federal government—Reeves is certain to practice law through a public lens: “It’s important to me that the law filters through what’s in the best interest of the public and not exclu- sively a favorable financial or political outcome.” D&B
Patrick Folliard is a Washington, D.C.- based writer. Besides Diversity & the Bar, his work has appeared in New York Magazine, Te Washington Blade, Te Washington Post and many others. Contact Patrick at
epf2810@gmail.com
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