Meet an Associate
Xiang Li
Seattle, Davis Wright Tremaine
View her bio here
What brought you to the legal field?
Growing up, my mom would take me to a Chinese bookstore on the weekends to rent tapes (and eventually DVDs) of popular TV series that had made their way to the Asian-American market. My favorites were period dramas from imperial China and wuxia legends steeped in a code of chivalry and righteousness. In second grade, I watched all 236 episodes of "Justice Bao," a show loosely based on a Song Dynasty magistrate known for his Sherlock-like sleuthing skills and honest and incorruptible nature in administering justice.
My parents encouraged these TV habits as a way to maintain my mother tongue. Unbeknownst to them, the pursuit of concepts like fairness and truth in these shows had also planted the seed to my interest in the law. In school, policy debate gave me the opportunity to practice lawyerly skills like persuasion, reasoning, and on-your-feet thinking.
By the time I graduated from high school, I was pretty set on law school in the future and had declared in my senior profile in the yearbook that I wanted to become an "international business lawyer."
Tell us a bit about your expertise, considering your unique professional background.
I am a litigator with an emphasis on intellectual property disputes and novel issues raised by emerging technologies. I have an undergraduate business degree from Wharton, so I bring to the table a solid understanding of general business and economic principles.
I specialized in marketing, which gives me focus as an advocate in how I craft messaging by audience to a particular call-to-action. And I previously worked at Microsoft as a product manager, so I know how to navigate complex organizational structures to gather the information I need.
What excites you about the future of the law and your practice?
Whether it's a life-saving drug, a process to ensure food safety, or a favorite video game, I am excited by the fact that my cases generally involve protecting innovation so my clients can create new products and services that make a difference in the lives of their customers.
I enjoy working with clients on the cutting edge of technology because the nature of their work puts my practice on the frontiers of courts and policymakers trying to navigate uncertainty about an emerging technology's costs and benefits to society. There's always a new technology to learn about or an evolving area of the law to keep an eye on, and I enjoy that challenge.
Tell us about a memorable experience working on a Microsoft matter.
A few years back, DWT represented Microsoft in a lawsuit brought by content moderator employees. I was fortunate enough to join the DWT team as discovery heated up and the case barreled towards summary judgment. The thinking that went into our defense—applying centuries-old legal principles in tort law to the new field of work known as content moderation—was both fun and challenging.
I also had the opportunity to observe a mock trial, and it was eye-opening to see what key facts for each side emerged to resonate most with the different panels. And hearing the deliberations proved that numbers may not matter as much as the strength of just one juror's convictions.
Aside from being a litigator at DWT, what would be your dream job?
Once upon a time, working in international relations or journalism. Now it's running a bed and breakfast off the Pacific Coast Highway.