Alumna spotlight: Duyen “Lulu” Tran

Duyen “Lulu” Tran, The Colleges of Law alumna, forged her own path to find her passion for law.

Duyen “Lulu” Tran will be the first to admit that her journey to becoming an attorney was far from straightforward. From immigrating to the United States from Vietnam as a child, to discovering her life’s passion as an undergrad, all the way to her recent graduation from The Colleges of Law and being sworn in as an attorney, Tran has become an independent and successful attorney who forged her own path to arrive where she is today.

Roots in perseverance

Tran and her family moved to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1999. The family settled in Sacramento, California, with few resources. “My parents didn’t speak English at all when we first moved, so I think it was really hard on them knowing they had to care and provide for my siblings and me in such a new environment,” she says.

The family bounced from place to place around Sacramento and Northern California as Tran’s parents made a living from whatever odd jobs they could find. “We were definitely very low income, but my parents worked hard for us,” she says.

From that time on, Tran became very independent, learning to take care of herself as her parents worked late hours to support the family.

Discovering the path

When Tran finished high school and was admitted to the University of California, Berkeley, she was not sure what she wanted to study. “I often think about how ridiculous it is to expect 18-year-olds to know what they want to major in and ultimately do,” she says.

It wasn’t until Tran’s final year at UC Berkeley that she discovered her path. She took a class called Twentieth Century American Legal History, hoping it would be an easy A, but it turned out to be so much more. The course covered the legal history of the United States and the U.S. Constitution, including its clauses and how those laws have now come into effect.

Tran was fascinated by the subject and found a mentor in the professor, who had been a practicing attorney for 30 years before he started teaching. “I’d go to his office hours and in addition to talking about class materials, he’d talk about his experiences as an attorney,” she says. “He could see how invested I was in his class, and he began encouraging me to become an attorney as well.”

After Tran completed her undergraduate degree with majors in political science and legal studies and a minor in molecular cell biology, she wasn’t immediately sure if she would be able to make this newfound dream a reality. But then she found The Colleges of Law.

As Tran was applying to the Master of Arts in Law program, she discovered the Juris Doctor program. “Everything I read about The Colleges of Law and the J.D. program matched the criteria I was looking for,” she says. “It was in the right location, it was perfect for my interest areas, it had small class sizes, and it was affordable.”

The Colleges of Law and beyond

In 2017, Tran began her first year at The Colleges of Law. Despite her UC Berkeley legal studies background, law school was challenging in new ways. It took some time to perfect her study methods and better prepare for tests. But she didn’t give up, and in time, things started to click. “I’d go back through old exams, figure out what I needed to improve on, and decided what and how I needed to study before each exam,” she says. The effort produced visible results. Tran made the Dean’s Honor List both her second and third years.

Tran speaks very highly of her law school experience. “I really appreciated having smaller class sizes and being able to have more personalized learning experiences with my professors,” she says. “They knew the material so well and were always happy to answer my many questions, because they knew how important it was that I understand the concepts for the bar exam. They made a huge difference in my education, my career, and ultimately my whole life.”

Tran graduated in December 2020, number four in her class. On June 4, 2021, she was officially sworn in as an attorney by Judge Von Nguyen Deroian, a fellow graduate from The Colleges of Law who also moved to California from Vietnam as a child.

Tran is looking forward to exploring new opportunities as she begins her career. “Currently, I’m working as an attorney for a law firm in Los Angeles, but in the long term, I’d really like to help victims of sexual assault, sexual abuse, and domestic violence. I’d like to become an attorney for an organization specializing in women’s empowerment or human rights. I’m already planning on doing some volunteer work with an organization like this in Los Angeles, but I’d like to be able to make it my main focus someday.”

Tran also hopes to set an example for others like her. “I’m really proud to be an Asian woman and an attorney, because we are very underrepresented in the field,” Tran says. “As the first person in my family to graduate from college and go to grad school, I’m really proud to be able to set an example for my younger siblings and cousins. I hope they know they can accomplish anything they set their minds to and work hard for as well.”

“If there’s any advice I could give others hoping to pursue law school or other goals, it would be to always remain motivated and have goals set for yourself,” Tran says. “It’s not as important for other people to tell you what to do, as long as you have goals set for yourself, and that you work toward and are dedicated to achieving those goals.”

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