James Yuanxin Li, lawyer. Bar: California 1988; United States Patent and Trademark Office 1992; Solicitor (inactive), Supreme Court of England & Wales 1996.
Background
Ethnicity:
James is allegedly 92.6% Han Chinese. James is sad that 23andMe has recently removed North Korea as a possible ancestral origin for him. James is also sad that AncestryDNA removed "Polynesian 10%" after its last update.
James was born at Peralta Hospital in Oakland, California, United States.
Education
Proud alumnus of Lincoln Elementary School in Oakland, California. Subsequent lesser accomplishments include, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, 1981. Juris Doctor, Golden Gate University, 1987.
In elementary school, James was given a multi-day IQ test but was never told the results. James assumes that his teacher was protecting him from another life disappointment.
Career
Newspaper carrier, Oakland Tribune, 1970s. James took advantage of the federal child labor law loophole for newspaper boy jobs and attained multiple awards and trophies for Carrier of the Month. He always made sure the newspapers were on the porch instead of being left on the stairs or in the driveway. Occasionally/rarely got tipped $1 at the end of the month by grateful customers. After counting the customers who moved without paying, he usually broke even.
Hamburger and fries salesperson, Kwik Way, Oakland, CA. 1977-1978. To make up for the minimum wage pay, James and his co-workers were allowed to eat anything during the legally-mandated breaks except for the fried prawns. The fries are still famous throughout Oakland.
Electrical Engineering student, Hughes Aircraft, Fullerton, CA. 1979-1980. James worked one summer on a radar system named Project 548 because Hughes thought that Israel would buy more radar systems if they named it after Israel's May 1948 date of independence. When he went back the next summer (because the company gave him a free apartment), Hughes tried to sell the same radar system to the Arabs. James decided after that not to work for any more defense contractors. Security clearance level achieved: Confidential (automatically given to any non-communist with a pulse). The former Hughes Aircraft facility at 1901 West Malvern Ave. in Fullerton, California, was later converted into a strip mall and apartment complex.
Manager, Research and Development, Matthew Bender and Company, San Francisco, 1981-1985. Worked for a top publisher in the legal field. James got to pick his own job title and so picked the most annoyingly arrogant one possible. (This was prior to the advent of Silicon Valley "Chief Happiness Officer"-type titles.) Best perk: "Everyone in the San Francisco office flies First Class!"
Manager. Information Systems, McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enerson, San Francisco, 1985-1986. Famous for its weekly Business and Social Hour (BASH) with plates of sushi covering an entire massive conference room table. As a non-lawyer in the law firm, James got to watch through the glass walls.
Sedgwick Law, San Francisco, 1988+. Great law firm.
Membership
Former member, Oakland High School Latvian Student Union. (Disbanded after the sole Latvian in the school graduated.)
Former member, Radio Shack Battery of the Month Club.
Former member, George Takei Appreciation Club. (Membership cards were personally signed by him.)
Personality
Physical Characteristics:
Height: 5'10", according to his California Driver License. As it is a potential felony to lie about one's height and weight on a Driver License application (Cal. Vehicle Code §20, Cal. Penal Code §118), this measurement must obviously be true. James regards 5'10" to be the perfect height because he doesn't care if the person in front of him on an airplane reclines or not.