Articles of Interest

The Best and the Brightest of the Next Millennium (The Player, 1998)

David Oh is a friend indeed.  That is to say, when his friends are in need - whether they are penniless immigrants or presidential hopefuls - Oh makes it his business to extend a helping hand.

He is an attorney, the profession that he chose when, as a young boy, his father asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up.  "I didn't know what a lawyer did," Oh says, "I just thought that a lawyer was a person who did good.  Someone who made things right."

While not every barrister fits that noble description, Oh makes an effort to maintain the dignified image that attracted him to law in the first place.  His biography reads like that of a man twice his age; at 38, he has already done more than most people do in a lifetime:

*  He is managing attorney of his 13 lawyer, self-named law firm, which has offices in the North American Building on Avenue of the Arts;

*  He is the director and founder of the Asian Law Center, Inc., a non-profit organization that provides legal services to Asian immigrants;

*  He has won awards that have named him a Humanitarian (1995), an Outstanding Young Leader (1994), and an Outstanding Asian American (1990);

*  He's been a Green Beret, a trial attorney in the DA's office, a football player at Dickinson College, and a member of too many boards and committees to name;

*  And, he is one of the most successful political fund-raisers in Philadelphia, with a bipartisan list of beneficiaries that include Mayor Rendell, Gov. Ridge, Bob Dole, Sen. Arlen Specter and, most recently, mayoral hopeful Dwight Evans.

All this from the son of a Presbyterian minister, a product of Philadelphia's public schools, who has lived on the same street in Southwest Philadelphia since he was 3 years old.

"My father was very much involved with public service and community service," Oh says, explaining his natural inclination to help others.  "Besides being a minister, he had a social service organization, where he tried to help immigrants acclimate themselves to life in the United States."  Oh would watch television shows, like "Perry Mason" and "Judd for the Defense," that depicted lawyers as serious people.  "They weren't riding around in convertibles and talking on cell phones.  They were representing the poor, and people who were wrongly accused."

Oh got his J.D. from Rutgers Law School in Camden, and opened his own law office in September 1990.  He had already spent three years in the D.A.'s office and two years in the army.  But that initial practice was cut short just six months later when, as an officer in a special forces unit, he was called to serve in Operation Desert Storm.  Oh returned to Philadelphia in May 1991, and set up shop again.

"I really enjoyed the solo practice of law," he says, "because 50 percent of the time, I was doing free legal services through the Asian Law Center.  I spent the rest of my time being an attorney for people who own small businesses."

His firm, which was incorporated in 1996, currently specializes in litigation, workers' compensation defense, immigration, general liability defense, international trade and employment discrimination defense.

On the political side, Oh held his first fund-raiser in 1992 for Specter.  The senator had spoken at the Asian American Leadership Conference.

"I was so impressed," Oh says.   "He gave a great speech, and it was very significant for us, because at the time, I don't think anyone of his stature had ever been in a Korean church, speaking to the community.

 "So, I thought, 'How do we support this person?'  And I realized that we couldn't give him that many votes, but we could certainly help raise some funds.  And that's just what we did."

Since then, Oh has earned a reputation as a fund-raiser who delivers what he has promised, and who takes his job seriously.  "Fund-raising has such a negative connotation these days.  But really, we do need good representatives," he says earnestly.  When you find someone who has ideas that make sense, who is a person of good character, you want to see those ideas put into effect.  We can help in every way by supporting their efforts."  He estimates that he has raised close to $500,000 since 1996; as a registered independent, he chooses candidates without regard to party affiliation. 

Oh says he won't run for public office himself; instead, he wants to concentrate on growing his law firm.  "Our firm gives an honest day's work, and  that has been a big seller for us," Oh says.  "Working hard and not cutting corners shouldn't be a big deal, but unfortunately, it is."

He doesn't regret the choices that he's made, even those that others in his position would find unusual.  Oh's decision to temporarily abandon his law career to join the army was the result of his personal philosophy.

"I try to look at thingfs as if I were 75 or 80, and looking back on my life," he explains.  "I ask myself, 'What have I become?  What am I?'  And from that perspective, taking a couple years out to be in the military seems like a good thing.  I had a choice; I could spend a couple of years in a law library, or I could have another experience, do something more enriching.  And now I can look back and say, 'This is the national service that I've done.'"

Oh makes a point of remembering the people who have come through for him when he has asked for support for a given cause or candidate, and he believes that one good turn deserves another.  "One of the things that I had been taught by my parents is that you should always value the things that people do for you," he sates.

"Maybe right now, there isn't anything that I can do for a particular person who has helped me.  But one day, maybe I'll hear that their kid is looking for a summer job, or a recommendation for school.  When the time comes, I'll do what I can to help.

"This is not an outgrowth of poitics; it's just the right way to be."

- Miranda K. Salomon

1700 Race Street,1st Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
215.561.2000
David@DavidOh.com