Graduate Spotlight: Long Truong '23 Will Work for Major Global Law Firm

Long Truong ’23 said guidance from mentors helped put him on the path to work for one of the globe’s largest law firms.

This story is part of a series of profiles featuring some of this year’s outstanding law school graduates from UC Law San Francisco.

When he graduated from UC Law San Francisco in May, Long Truong ’23 had already secured a job at one of the world’s top law firms, an accomplishment he attributes to guidance from his mentors.

“Where I stand today stems from the people who believed in me enough to take me under their wing,” Truong said. “Their willingness to share what they did right and what they wish they had done provided me with timely wisdom to make key decisions during law school.”

Before law school, Truong spent a year studying Mandarin and interning at a global law firm in Shanghai. While there, he worked under a partner mentor who encouraged him to build his network early in law school.

Heeding that advice, Truong spent his 1L year meeting up to five attorneys per week for virtual coffee chats, resulting in over 100 meetings in a year. He said the connections he made helped him understand the legal “lay of the land.” The payoff was a 1L summer internship at a well-regarded law firm in the Silicon Valley.

“With COVID generating so much uncertainty, it felt surreal to receive an offer to work with startups and Fortune 500 companies in the Silicon Valley,” he said.

Truong soon set his sights on the top-rated multinational law firm Kirkland & Ellis, where he interned his 2L summer and will return as an associate in September, “After being exposed to the intellectual rigor of the corporate transactional practice and working with talented colleagues, I’m thrilled to join Kirkland & Ellis in the San Francisco office.”

Truong held many leadership positions in law school, serving as president of Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, vice president of Hastings Technology Law and Society, and development editor of the UC Law Journal. He also took part in Startup Legal Garage, where he worked with tech startups, and competed as a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Team.

He was a member of the Legal Education Opportunity Program (LEOP), which supports students from diverse backgrounds and those who have faced barriers to higher education. He said, “It’s a rarity to find a dedicated program as robust as LEOP that equally fosters a shared sense of community—which is why I chose UC Law SF.”

Truong was inducted into the Pro Bono Society after completing over 45 hours of pro bono legal work, community service, and public interest work. Among other work, he helped immigrants apply for citizenship and DACA renewals, taught pre-law courses to high school students, and delivered clothing and hot chocolate to homeless individuals.

Truong, who immigrated from Saigon at a young age and grew up in Southern California, earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and economics from UC San Diego.

As a first-generation college student from an immigrant household, Truong said he grappled with feeling like an outsider in law school, but mentors including LEOP Director Elizabeth McGriff, Assistant Dean for Career Development Amy Kimmel, and Professors Jon Sylvester, Betsy Candler, and Richard Sakai reminded him that he earned his seat at the table.

He said he wants to do the same for the next generation of aspiring attorneys. During law school, he worked with various organizations to advise students in high school, college, and law school. “By participating in mentorship programs, it is my hope that the message I send to my mentees matches in spirit the one I’ve received from my mentors: to give generously and be the example that reaffirms the goodness in others.”