John is a proven change agent, helping individuals and organizations achieve excellence through his experience as a global law firm leader, diversity professional and executive coach. He serves as Reed Smith's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Global Chair, leading Reed Smith’s efforts to sponsor and achieve diversity and inclusion in the legal community. Reed Smith is a global law firm with over 3,000 employees in 31 offices around the world. Some of the most notable accomplishments during his tenure as DE&I Global Chair:
- Navigated and championed the firm's efforts to support diverse talent during the COVID pandemic and to develop tangible goals to advance and support Black talent in the wake of the murders of George Floyd and many others.
- Recognized as one of the top three major law firms to receive the Thomas Sager Award from
the Minority Corporate Counsel Association for diversity & inclusion programming and
successes (2019)
- Reed Smith’s ranking in the American Lawyer Annual Diversity Scorecard moved from #120 to #22 (2017-2022)
- Increased number of diverse lawyers by 76% (2016-2021)
- Decreased attrition of diverse lawyers from 21% to 17% (2016-2021)
John is a Certified Diversity Professional (CDP) from the Institute of Diversity Certification. He recently was recognized as one of the Top 50 Chief Diversity Officers by the National Diversity Council. John serves as the host of Reed Smith’s acclaimed “Inclusivity Included: Powerful Personal Stories” podcast.
John also serves as a professional coach, focused on business and leadership coaching for lawyers and executives. He has achieved Associate Certified Coach (ACC) status from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and received his coaching certification and training from The Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). He is certified as an iPEC COR.E Dynamics Leadership Specialist (CDLS), specialized in coaching leaders and also has earned iPEC Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner (ELI-MP) status. His coaching has helped numerous individuals reach their goals and achieve greater awareness.
John previously served as Global Chair of Reed Smith’s Business & Finance Department, overseeing a $400M division of a $1B global law firm. He also served as Chair of the U.S. Corporate & Securities Group and Managing Partner of the Los Angeles office. In 2010, John became the first Asian American to serve on Reed Smith's Executive Committee and Senior Management Team. He previously served as the Chair of Reed Smith's Asian American Affinity Group.
John was recognized as “Nation’s Best (Western Region)” by Lawyers of Color (2019) and a 2020 TOP50 Diversity Star by Diversity Stars, and was one of the inaugural recipients of the “DiversityFIRSTTM” Award from the California Diversity Council (2019). He was named among the top 500 ''Most Influential People in LA'' by the Los Angeles Business Journal (2018) and has been named ''One of the Nation's Most Influential Minority Attorneys'' for two consecutive years (2014-2015). John received the ''Lifetime Achievement Award'' at the Los Angeles Business Journal's Asian Business Awards (2016), the "Volunteer of the Year" Award from Ednovate, Inc. (2019), the Leadership Award from the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association (2017) and the President's Award from the USC Alumni Association (2017).
John serves on the Board of Trustees of USC and is the Immediate Past-President of the USC Alumni Association Board of Governors, and previously served as the Chair of the USC Gould School of Law Board of Councilors and as a member of the Board of Directors of the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association. He also serves on the National Board for 50/50 Women on Boards and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles.
He is a frequent speaker and trainer on topics such as diversity, equity and inclusion, inclusive leadership and law firm management.
