Akin Gump’s Pro Bono Lawsuit On Behalf Of Los Angeles Koreatown Residents Attracts Media Coverage

A team of attorneys from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, together with another law firm, are representing a group of residents of Los Angeles’ Koreatown in a lawsuit filed against the city of Los Angeles. The suit alleges, among other things, that the city’s Redistricting Commission and City Council sought to illegally redraw city council district boundaries (in the process, maintaining a divided Koreatown) along racial lines, violating both the Los Angeles City Charter and the U.S. Constitution.

Both firms are handling the case pro bono. The Akin Gump team includes Los Angeles partner in charge John A. Karaczynski, partner Joanna Kim, counsel Hyongsoon Kim and associate Anya Stein and received substantial guidance from Longview, Texas, partner Judge Chad Everingham IV.

John Karaczynski was quoted in the Los Angeles Daily News concerning the suit: “This lawsuit seeks to accomplish what the Los Angeles City Council refused to do. Which is, respect both the unified voices of community residents as well as city and federal law, which prohibit precisely the type of racially motivated redistricting the city is seeking to implement.”

Hyongsoon Kim has been quoted in other stories related to the case, notably in the Los Angeles Times. In a statement, Kim noted that “the city’s decision to leave Koreatown economically and politically divided was both unconstitutional and unnecessary. Our lawsuit seeks to correct this injustice.”