Ford & Harrison LLP
2100 3rd Avenue North, Suite 400
Birmingham, AL 35203
(205)244-5904 /  

Carolyn is a 2006 graduate of Cumberland School of Law, Samford University, where she received a Presidential Scholarship. She also graduated in 2003 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a BA in English and Philosophy. Carolyn is an associate of Ford & Harrison LLP and practices in Defense Labor and Employment Law.

While at Cumberland, Carolyn served as president of the Environmental Law Society. She is a Chair of the Mentoring Program and the Leadership Committee for the Women Lawyer’s Section of the Birmingham Bar Association. She is Founding Member/President of Alabama Asian Pacific Bar Association and a board member of Birmingham Chinese Festival Association. She was involved in the Birmingham Track Club, Executive Women’s Golf Association, Shelby County Independent School District as a volunteer Vietnamese interpreter, Literacy Council – Friends of Literacy Board, the Youth Leadership Board of the Ronald McDonald House, a 2010 ‘Alabama Rising Star” in Law & Politics, and part of the 2011 convention host committee for the National Asian Pacific Bar Association. She is currently part of the 2011-2012 convention programs committee for the National Employment Labor Council.

The attorney who recommended Carolyn said, “I have known Carolyn since 2006. After she graduated that year from Cumberland, she began working for me in the fall of 2006 and continued as an associate in my office for three years. As a young lawyer, Carolyn was a superb associate. She is energetic, has a tireless work ethic, is personable and low-maintenance as an employee, writes well, is quite analytical, and is passionate about her work and the profession of the law. From the moment she got her license, she got involved with bar activities. I have attended functions of the Women Lawyers’ Section of the Birmingham Bar Association. For example, the “Paving the Way’ Award of the BBA Women Lawyers’ Section. I watched Carolyn leave the office early to go set up. I would attend the function, then see her be the last to leave as she was breaking down tables and loading unused beverages into the trunk of someone’s car. Carolyn has gotten involved in numerous bar activities earlier than any associate I’ve ever had work for me. She believes in what she is doing. While she is a people person, and does enjoy being with and around people, more importantly she believes in service, both to her fellow members of the bar and to the community at large. Carolyn also doesn’t wait until being anointed. She is the founder and current president of the Alabama Asian Pacific Bar Association. (Carolyn’s parents came from Vietnam in the early eighties and settled in St. Louis, where she was born. She grew up in Texas, and came to Alabama when she was an undergraduate student at UAB. She stayed for law school at Cumberland, and has made Alabama her home ever since.) While there are not many Asian American lawyers in Alabama, there are some, and no one had started such an organization heretofore. Carolyn cranked it up, and has organized meetings, hosted socials, spoken to community organizations, and is in the process of beginning a mentoring program. Carolyn is also involved with our profession on a national level. She is on the Programs Committee for the National Employment Lawyers’ Council (NELC). It is comprised of minority defense-side labor and employment lawyers across the country. She is the only associate on that National Committee, and works with programs and CLE development for their annual conference. She is also on the Programs Committee for the National Asian Pacific Bar Association (NAPABA), where she also develops programs and CLEs for the regional and annual conferences. Carolyn is now with the national management-side labor and employment firm of Ford & Harrison. She is on the diversity and associate retention committees for her firm, both of which address the needs of diverse attorneys or any young lawyers who feel overwhelmed as they come into the profession. Because of her work within the firm, the Birmingham Bar Association, and such national groups as NELC and NAPABA, she was recently awarded Ford & Harrison’s inaugural Diversity Award. I am proud to have known, and mentored myself, Carolyn Lam. She is one of the nicest human beings I have ever met. She has a big heart, loves people, and would do anything to help someone else. Beyond that, she is a terrific lawyer, and she is going to serve our state bar, our local bar, and probably our profession nationally, with distinction and honor. She will be a leader as a lawyer, a leader as a female lawyer, and a leader as an Asian-American lawyer. We could not do better than Carolyn Lam in the Alabama State Bar Leadership Forum.”

In her own words, Carolyn said, “I firmly believe that getting involved in activities outside of the pure practice of law is the best way to round out your career and ‘pay it forward.’ Becoming involved in the Alabama State Bar is a critical part of that growth, and I have no doubt that becoming involved in the Leadership Forum would help me accomplish my overall goal of helping other young lawyers reach their full potential. As a young lawyer, I have a hard time determining what my contribution is, when I’ve received so many rich compliments from lawyers of the academic and social side of my career. I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by amazing mentors from the very beginning; this includes partners I’ve worked with, opposing counsel, and clients. After talking to those older and wiser than me, what it boils down to is the fact that no matter what activity I engage in – be it depositions, a court hearing, or a mentoring program -- I am passionate and fully focused. All of my energies are devoted to bringing about the best result possible. In Birmingham, I’ve devoted a tremendous amount of energy to diversity projects. To borrow the words of the YMCA, one of my favorite organizations, I believe in the goals of empowering women and eliminating racism. I’ve tried to advance these goals by conducting training sessions, volunteering, and organizing community events. These activities are referenced on my resume’. My extracurricular community involvement activities, however, are more than lines on my resume’. They are part of what keeps me bonded and tied to my community, and I’ve worked hard to make sure that my community grows stronger by connecting disparate groups with others. Building bridges between individuals and organizations is my way of ensuring that we do not simply pay lip service to words like ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘diversity.’ I’ve long been involved with local bar activities, and within the last year, have become involved with different bar groups on a national level. It’s time, though, to look outside these bubbles, and get to know lawyers outside of Birmingham. I’m excited about becoming active on a state level and getting to know lawyers outside of my community and practice area. I can’t wait to find out what people are doing in their own communities, and how they’re coping with crises such as last April’s tornado, the new immigration bill, and the BP oil spill…not to mention fundamental bar-related issues, such as getting attorneys involved, increasing attendance at functions, and assisting law school students who are having a difficult time in our economy.”