The Law according to Sam Law
By Douglas Wu

Sam S. Law’s office may not have all the amenities of Columbus’s largest law firms since he is on his own but he is still able to offer a personalized service for his clients compared to the largest firms in Columbus.

Law said he knows of people who mention to him they have big-name lawyers handling their cases but in reality the big-name lawyers are having assistants handling their cases.

Law offers his clients his time and effort to resolve their legal problems. “We’re taking more responsibility to see that the clients get the service,” he said. Law practices commercial law cases, immigration law cases, family divorce law cases, domestic violence cases, and estate planning cases working out of an office on East Livingston Avenue in German Village. Law shares the office space with a number of lawyers with diverse legal practice areas. The other lawyers in the office provide Law with expert legal assistance and may serve as co-counsel on occasion.

The kind of cases Law handles during the year varies on the time of the year and the clients’ life situations. He said sometimes it feels like he gets one divorce law case and then another one follows and then another after that or he gets an immigration law case and then he has several more waiting for his attention.

Law started practicing law in 1999 after attending night classes offered by Capital University’s law school. It took him four years to obtain the degree. Prior to that Law was an engineer and had obtained a MBA from Capital University by attending night school, also.

Law said at the time he was attending law school, the family situation was such that he could take the time to attend law school at night. He said if he had waited to attend law school, he would not have had the time. He and his wife were also managing their Asian food business, 4 Seas Emporium, and helping to raise their three sons and two daughters. Today his wife manages the 4 Seas Emporium and he provides her legal advice. Law decided to attend law school because he saw a need in the Asian community for an Asian trained as a lawyer. “I can help some of them, anyway,” he said. “I’m not the only Asian lawyer in town but I’m the only one with an office to help the community.” He said he knows of Asian lawyers in Columbus but they work for either large law firms, big companies or the government.

Law had wanted to practice intellectual property law after graduating from law school due to his background in engineering but he did not want to leave the Columbus area. Instead, he found office space after passing the bar exam and he told his friends he was ready to accept clients. Surprisingly, Law started his practice by helping people he did not know. “I got clients coming in shortly after I opened,” he said. Law’s practice evolved in the areas of commercial law cases, domestic and family law cases and divorce cases because those were the kinds of cases his clients were bringing him.

Law’s experience in business helps him assist clients with the law related to business issues. “I have a better understanding of business,” Law said. He said he is able to help restaurant owners with liquor license acquisitions and transfers and restaurant food licensing matters since his is familiar with the local liquor laws and food service laws and food service rules and regulations. Law also helps clients with real estate contracts, leasing contracts, business contracts and all aspects of establishing businesses and selling or closing businesses.

Law is able to bring a different perspective of the law compared to the younger law school graduates who attended college and then go directly into law school because of his prior live experiences. “You don’t learn a whole lot of reality out of law school, actually,” he said. He said he finds that many of the lawyers of today come from a long line of lawyers in the family. The lawyers have family relatives who either had practiced law or are currently practicing law. Not too many minority lawyers have that advantage. Two of his children are college graduates and his third child is studying to become a chef. His said he hopes his two youngest children, still in primary school, may study law later.

Law said in his night law school class of 100 students there were less than 10 minorities and he was the only Asian. Having more Asian lawyers who can speak the Asian languages would be an asset to the community he said. “If you’re not native born, there’s always a language and cultural difference,” Law said. However, there are more immigration lawyers today able to help Asians who would like to come to this country. “It’s more competitive now,” Law said.

He said it is harder to get into this country now. Law said the 1996 law on immigration is not immigration friendly. He said lawmakers in Washington D.C. were going to change part of the law to help immigrants but then 9/11 happened. Law said there always has been an immigration restriction movement in the country throughout its history. “Actually, the United States is a nation of immigrants and we depend on immigrants to grow but a lot of people don’t see that,” Law said. “A lot of our famous scientists are immigrants.”

Law spends about a third of the time in courts dealing with his fellow lawyers, juries and judges. The judges presiding over the cases vary from one to another in how they interpret the law but Law does not see that as a problem. Law said going to trial is best avoided for his clients because the chance of winning or losing cases is about 50/50. “If you can avoid the whole trial, you’d be better off,” Law said. “In trials you never know what‘s going to happen.” Law sometimes has to convince his clients to accept his legal advice. “We try to steer them to the right advice,” he said. He said in domestic cases and in divorce cases clients sometimes do not all ways think rationally. “A lot of time it’s very emotional,” Law said. “I always try to resolve it peacefully.” Law is always trying to educate the community to seek his legal advice before doing something that could cost time and money in court down the road. He said Asians seem to be under the impression that they can hire lawyers to fix their legal difficulties after the fact. “Lawyers can’t do magic,” he said. “Lawyers can only try to minimize or contain the damages.” Law said for example the buying and selling of properties involves contracts and often people think there is not a need for them to hire lawyers to examine the contracts.

“A lot of the time people don’t have lawyers looking over the contract. The legal fee is only going to cost a small amount compared to the cost of the property involved,” Law said. “Most real estate companies have a disclaimer that informs the Buyer or Seller to consult their own lawyers. Professional real estate agents normally advice their clients to seek their own lawyers since real estate agents cannot give legal advice. Otherwise, not only do they violate their own professional codes but they are also practicing law without a license. If you have a lawyer to look over the contract, at least you’re adding another layer of protection for your valuable assets.” Others do not always see a need for lawyers when it is appropriate for their situations, he said, and some people think if they can read English, they can understand everything including the law. “It could be a misconception,” Law said.

He said at times people need lawyers to do certain things because they act as an impartial party. “When two people are fighting there’s no rationale to anything,” Law said.

Law takes on pro bono cases from time to time. He said some times the local social service organizations serving the Asian community refers clients to him who can afford very little. Law spends about 60 hours a week practicing law and when he leaves the office he does not mention his work to anyone, not even his wife. “When I leave my office, I don’t talk about it.” Law said in his free time he likes to relax with his friends and spend time with his family.