Victor I. King

Background

Victor I. King was born on November 12, 1964, in Hong Kong. He later established his professional and civic career in California, where he practiced law in the Los Angeles area and became involved in public higher-education governance.

Education

King studied at the University of Chicago, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors and a Master of Arts degree in 1986. The University of Chicago is a major American research university whose College and graduate divisions are known for broad liberal-arts education and rigorous analytical study.

He then attended the University of Michigan Law School and received a Juris Doctor degree in 1989. Michigan Law is one of the United States' longstanding law schools, with a tradition of legal scholarship and professional preparation. During his law-school years, King served as associate editor of the University of Michigan Journal of International Law from 1987 to 1988 and as articles editor from 1988 to 1989.

Career

King began practicing law in California after receiving his Juris Doctor degree. He was an associate with Ochoa and Sillas from 1991 to 1995 and with Bottum and Feliton from 1996 to 1999. He then joined Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard and Smith LLP, first as an associate from 1999 to 2001 and then as a partner from 2001 to 2002.

In December 2002, King became University Legal Counsel at California State University, Los Angeles. Cal State LA is part of the California State University system, the largest four-year public university system in the United States. As university counsel, King has advised campus leadership on legal matters involving litigation, risk management, contracts, employment, information privacy, intellectual property, and related institutional affairs. He served in that position through 2024.

King was a trustee of the Glendale Community College District from 1997 to 2009 and served as president of the Glendale Community College Board of Trustees. Glendale Community College is a public community college serving the northeastern Los Angeles region, and the district's trustees oversee institutional policy, budgets, and educational services. King also taught political science part-time at the college.

In 2011, King joined the California Law Revision Commission, a state body that studies California law and recommends statutory revisions to the Legislature. He served as chairperson in 2014–2015 and again in 2019–2020, and later became vice-chairperson. His commission work included participation in the California Public Records Act Clean-Up project, whose recodification became operative on January 1, 2023. In 2025 he was described as senior counsel practicing education law in Los Angeles while continuing to serve as vice-chairperson of the Commission.

Achievements

• King served as chairperson of the California Law Revision Commission in 2014–2015 and 2019–2020, helping lead the Commission's work of studying California law and recommending statutory revisions.

• As a member and chairperson of the California Law Revision Commission, King participated in the California Public Records Act Clean-Up project, which reorganized and recodified the state's public-records statutes and became operative in 2023.

• King won $500,000 as a contestant on the Fox television quiz program Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? in 2007.

Works

• legal report

  • California Public Records Act Clean-Up

    (A California Law Revision Commission recommendation to re...)

    2019

Politics

King's public service has included elected trusteeship at the Glendale Community College District and appointment to the California Law Revision Commission. His documented civic work has centered on community-college governance, public education, and the revision of California statutes rather than on a recorded partisan affiliation.

Views

King's documented public work reflects an emphasis on public education, institutional accountability, legal modernization, and access to public information. His participation in the California Public Records Act Clean-Up project was directed toward reorganizing and clarifying California's public-records statutes without changing their substantive scope.

Membership

King has been a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the State Bar of California, and the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association. These organizations provide professional services, continuing legal education, networking, and advocacy for the legal profession and, in the case of the Chinese Lawyers Association, for attorneys of Chinese and Chinese-American background.

• Los Angeles County Bar Association , United States

• American Bar Association , United States

• Admitted to practice law in California in 1991.

  State Bar of California , United States

  1991 - present

• Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association , United States

• Served as chairperson in 2014–2015 and 2019–2020 and as vice-chairperson.

  California Law Revision Commission , United States

  2011 - present

Personality

King has been described in public accounts as a university attorney who combined legal work with civic and educational service. His participation in a nationally televised quiz program also brought a public, informal dimension to his professional profile.

Quotes from others about the person

• Los Angeles Business Journal recognized King as its 2018 Government/Municipal In-House Counsel of the Year. The award coverage emphasized his long service as university legal counsel and his management of litigation, privacy, contracts, employment, and other legal matters for California State University, Los Angeles.

Interests

• King has expressed interests in politics, improv and acting. He studied comedy and acting at Second City and the Upright Citizens Brigade and appeared as a contestant on unscripted television programs.

Connections

King is married to Grace King and has two sons. His family accompanied him during his public appearance as a contestant on the television quiz program Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? in 2007.

Wife:

Grace King

Son:

King's son

Son:

King's son

References

• California Law Revision Commission, 2025 Commissioner Biographies Documents King's service as vice-chairperson of the California Law Revision Commission, his education-law practice, and his previous positions at California State University, Los Angeles and Los Angeles law firms.
  2025
• California Law Revision Commission, 2023 Commissioner Biographies Documents King's career as university legal counsel, private-practice attorney, Glendale Community College trustee, and University of Michigan Law School graduate.
  2023
• California State University, Los Angeles Campus Community News Reports King's appointment as University Counsel at California State University, Los Angeles, effective December 16, 2002.
  2002
• California Law Revision Commission, 2014 Annual Report Identifies King as chairperson of the California Law Revision Commission.
  2014
• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Best Under 40 Past Recipients Lists King among the 2004 recipients of the Best Lawyers Under 40 Award.
• Los Angeles Business Journal, Leaders in Law 2018 Winners Profiles King as Government/Municipal In-House Counsel of the Year and describes his responsibilities at California State University, Los Angeles.
  2018
• Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? Episode 1x21 Documents King's appearance as the contestant in the July 23, 2007 episode of the television quiz program.
  2007