Press Release

March 26, 2021 (San Francisco, CA) – The recent hate crimes and incidents of violence against members of the Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community are appalling and abhorrent, including most tragically the Asian women murdered in the Atlanta spa shootings: Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Xiaojie Tan, and Daoyou Feng. We cannot, however, say that this violence is unprecedented or new—anti-AAPI racism has existed for hundreds of years, including in the Bay Area and in California, at large. In the year since President Trump first referred to COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus," there have been more than 4,000 documented hate crimes against members of the AAPI community, including most recently on March 17, 2021, an Asian woman was attacked on Market St. in San Francisco—the same street where one of our offices is located. As a California firm, with a long-standing legacy in the communities in which we live and work, we consider it vital to be a voice standing in solidarity with our AAPI employees and on behalf of the AAPI community.

In response to the attacks in Atlanta, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms stated that "a crime against any community is a crime against us all." Our firm agrees—but also believes that there must be a collective response to specifically address this anti-Asian racism and violence. Joining the chorus of voices condemning these hate crimes is a necessary, but not sufficient action alone. In line with our pledge in June 2020 to take real action for equality, Hanson Bridgett will be taking the following additional steps. First, we are expanding our firm's racial justice and equity charitable giving matching program to specifically include local AAPI organizations engaged in the work to stop anti-Asian hate, including the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Asian Health Services, Southeast Asian Community Center, My Sister's House, and the Asian Americans Advancing Justice—Asian Law Caucus.

Second, we will be sponsoring the California Asian Pacific American Bar Association APA vs. Hate Conference, which seeks to identify, understand, and confront the problem of anti-Asian hate, as well as call allies to action. And third, we will provide accommodations to AAPI employees traveling to and from work who have been forced to question their safety in light of the recent violence. On behalf of the entire Hanson Bridgett firm, we will continue to speak up, take real action, and stand in solidarity in the fight against anti-Asian violence and hate.

Kristina Lawson, Managing Partner

Jennifer Martinez, Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer