Christopher M. Lapinig

Christopher M. Lapinig is Asian Americans Advancing Justice-LA’s Skadden Fellow in the Impact Litigation Unit. His work focuses on providing holistic and culturally sensitive legal services to victims and survivors of human trafficking in the Filipino community. Born and raised in Queens, New York, Chris previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable Denny Chin of the Second Circuit and to the Honorable Lorna G. Schofield of the Southern District of New York, the first federal Article III judge of Filipino descent in United States history. Chris was also a Fulbright Research Scholar in the Philippines. A Phi Beta Kappa member, Chris graduated summa cum laude from Yale College and earned a B.A. with Distinction in Linguistics and with Distinction in Ethnicity, Race and Migration. In college, Chris served as President of Kasama: The Filipino Club at Yale, Moderator of the Asian American Students Alliance, and Head Coordinator of the Asian American Cultural Center. Chris returned to Yale for law school and received his J.D. in 2013. In law school, Chris served as the Co-Chair of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, the Co-Coordinator of the Critical Race Theory Conference, the inaugural Diversity Editor of the Yale Law Journal, and the Founding Coordinator of the Alliance for Diversity. He was a member of the Worker and Immigrant Rights’ Advocacy Clinic. Chris is admitted to practice in New York and is a Registered Legal Services Attorney in California. He previously sat on the Steering Committee of the Filipino American Lawyers Association of New York.