about Andrew M. WongI am a native New Yorker, born Flushing and raised in Rego Park, Queens. On my father's side I am a third generation American - my father was born and raised in New York City's Chinatown and his father was born in California. I am first generation on my mother's side - she emigrated from China in the 1950s. My father owned, with two his brothers, a pharmacy Chinatown that was the oldest drug store in the United States.
I am a proud product of the NYC public school system - P.S. 139 in Rego Park and Russell Sage Junior High School in Forest Hills. Like my father, I attended Stuyvesant High School (in the old building) and graduated in 1985. I was fortunate to attend college at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. I received a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Cornell in 1989. During college I was a member of the Cornell Lightweight Crew. Following college I spent two years, 1989-91, in Washington, D.C. working on Capitol Hill on the staff of Congressman Gary L. Ackerman of New York. This entry level job that barely paid enough for me to survive was one of the best periods of my life. After studying government in college it was fascinating to see how politics really worked. I was able to attend the State of the Union address, meet the Congressional leadership, help constituents with problems, pick up the Congressman from the airport and buy his trademark white carnation in the morning. In 1991 I left the Hill to pursue my long-held ambition to become an attorney by enrolling at the Syracuse University College of Law for three more long, cold central New York winters. I received my J.D. from Syracuse in 1994. During my third year I served as Executive Editor of the Syracuse Law Review and I was a legal writing instructor for first year law students. Though many people have horror stories of the law school experience, I truly enjoyed law school. I found the courses interesting (for the most part), the professors very good and I met smart interesting people who remain my friends and colleagues today. I began my legal career working at large law firms, representing corporations and businesses, gaining valuable experience that I now apply to my small business and individual clients. However, after a few years of large firm practice, I wanted to get back to why I became a lawyer - to help solve the problems of individuals and small business owners like my father.. So I took what I learned from the large law firm to start my own law practice devoted to giving clients high quality legal representation with individualized attention on a time efficient and cost-effective basis. I am able, working with the client, to handle every aspect of a case from start to finish while also being able to offer reasonable billing rates and alternative billing plan options to fit each client's particular needs. I was admitted to the bar of the State of New York in 1995. I am also admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Southern, Eastern and Northern Districts of New York as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. I live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with my wife Lily and our 15-year-old twin daughters, Amy and Jill. Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family, playing an all-too-occasional round of golf, watching too much (according to my wife) sports on TV and cooking meals with my girls. Also, after always regretting not learning to play the piano when I was a child I began taking piano lessons in October 2013 - I love it and practice every day. |
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