2020 40 Under 40 award recipient: Crystal Bui

2020 40 Under 40 award recipient: Crystal Bui
Crystal Bui <strong>Courtesy 616 Media</strong>

Crystal Bui, 35

Attorney/President
Bui Law PLC/Asian Community Outreach

Crystal Bui is serving her community in more ways than one. She is an attorney, and also the chair and president of Asian Community Outreach, a nonprofit organization.

Her legal career was born out of what she calls desperation. After being turned down for numerous jobs, Bui decided to start her law firm, Bui Law PLC. Bui needed experience and clients, however, so she signed up to provide services free of charge through Legal Aid of Western Michigan’s Pro Bono Program.

“The first cases I got were ones that I knew no other attorney would take, and they were ones that I probably wouldn’t have taken if they came to me independently,” she said. “But I learned not to judge a book by its cover. The first case I won for a Legal Aid client taught me so much about disability clients and that area of law in particular. I also felt that I truly made a difference in that I doubted any other attorney or firm would have taken (the case) because there wasn’t a lot of money involved and the client was difficult to reach.”

Now that Bui has garnered experience and clients, she has decided to also help people outside of the courtroom. She is a founding director of Asian Community Outreach, where she now serves as the chair and president.

She helped to establish the organization’s first program that provides an array of services to help Asian adults improve their financial security and career success. She led the organization’s 2020 Census outreach efforts and COVID-relief efforts, among other things.