Leana Taing

Leana Serey Taing is the first in her family to go to law school and become an attorney. Her family fled the Cambodian genocide and started anew in Stockton, California. Their experiences compelled her to become a public interest attorney and dedicate herself to public service. As a part of her legal journey, Taing assisted the Office of the Co-Prosecutor in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) to prosecute Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity and genocide. She interned for the United Nations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as a part of the international team and was the only international member with Cambodian heritage.

Taing is a Deputy County Counsel for the Office of County Counsel. In 2017, Taing contributed to dependency case law in California on the issue of language access through In re J.P., 14 Cal.App.5th 616 (2017). The appellate court reversed the trial court’s decision and quoted the arguments made by Taing as trial counsel in its published decision. The case ensures that parents have the right to meaningful language access in the disposition of their dependency cases.

She also teaches Legal Writing as an Adjunct Lecturer in Law for USC Gould School of Law. She earned her J.D. from UCLA School of Law. She specialized in Critical Race Studies and Public Interest Law & Policy Program. Taing earned her B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley and was honored with a distinction in general scholarship.

Taing previously served on WLALA’s Board of Governors as the Co-Chair of the Access to Justice Committee and a member of the Advisory Council for Racial Justice and Equality. She is a past President of the Asian Pacific American Women Lawyers Alliance (APAWLA). She continues to serve on APAWLA’s Board of Governors and the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline as the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) liaison.