Kay Yu Runs for Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas

The Legal is running a series of Q&As with candidates running in Pennsylvania’s 2023 judicial election. Below are answers from Kay Yu, a candidate for Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Candidate: Kay Yu

Court: Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas

Party: Democrat

Philadelphia Bar Association rating: Highly Recommended

Ballot position: 14

The following has been edited lightly for length and style. 

The Legal Intelligencer: Tell us about your background, where you went to law school, what firms you have practiced at, and areas of law you focus on.

Kay Yu: I was born in Seoul, Korea, but I have lived in the United States since I was a small child. My mom had to bring us all over without a plan on how to feed the family. We struggled to make ends meet. Thankfully, she found a good, union job working as a secretary, and she showed me what it looks like to be resilient.

When I was 10, I found deportation notices for me and everyone in my family. By the time I was in college, I was working hard to navigate the new immigration laws. This created the opportunity for me to become my own first client. I went to the law library to research the immigration laws, started gathering evidence, and ultimately submitted my application for permanent residency. Although I wish I could have done the same for my mom, by then, she had already passed away. But this was the journey that inspired me to go to law school, and in 1993, the same year that I graduated from the Georgetown University Law Center, I became a naturalized citizen of these United States of America.

In the past three decades, I have worked in both the private and public sectors. Immediately after graduating, I started out at Shipman & Goodwin and developed a practice focused on employee benefits litigation. In 1999 I made Philadelphia my home when I started working at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius as an ERISA litigator. From 2004 through 2010, I was a partner at Pepper Hamilton in the litigation department.

In 2008, Mayor Michael Nutter appointed me to the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, where I discovered my public servant heart, and I did that work full-time from 2010 until January 2013. After stepping down from the commission, I joined the boutique, minority-owned law firm of Ahmad Zaffarese. From November 2019 through the end of the year in 2020, I served as the voter protection director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and the Biden-Harris Coordinated Campaign in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Currently, I am self-employed and serve as a neutral arbitrator and mediator.

The Legal: What is one major thing about your career experience that most qualifies you for this position, and why?

Yu: I have a long history of dedicated public service throughout my legal career, and I will continue this as judge. During the time I chaired the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, in addition to conducting adjudicatory hearings to decide claims of discrimination, I led a yearlong series of 11 public hearings where we gathered testimony from hundreds of Philadelphians who shared their experiences around intergroup conflicts in our public schools.

In 2020, I had the privilege to serve as the voter protection director for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and, ultimately, for the Biden-Harris campaign throughout the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

After the presidential election and, indeed, after all of the votes were counted and certified, I embarked on a new endeavor. I am now out on my own working as a neutral arbitrator and mediator. As an arbitrator, I decide cases that come before me, and as a mediator, I help parties get to a negotiated settlement. I absolutely love this work, but I am a public servant at heart, which is why I am running for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 2023.

The Legal: What is the main reason Pennsylvania voters should pick you?

Yu: In the 30 years since I started my legal career, I have discovered that helping people resolve their conflicts is core to who I am. Everyone, no matter their circumstances, no matter what life has brought them, deserves respect, dignity and equity. I have dedicated my life to serving others and to making our communities better, fairer places to live. If elected, I pledge to all Philadelphians my commitment to listen intently, consider wisely and decide fairly.

I believe that my experience, dedication, values and even temperament make me fit to be an excellent judge. Although I am happy to speak to my own qualifications, I am exceptionally proud to share about the many others who have endorsed my candidacy. The Judicial Commission of the Philadelphia Bar Association rated me “highly recommended,” and I have been more broadly endorsed than perhaps any other candidate running for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. I am endorsed by the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee, multiple labor unions including the Philadelphia AFL-CIO Council and the Laborers’ District Council, and, to date, 19 elected officials including [U.S. Rep.] Dwight Evans, [Pennsylvania] Sen. Nikil Saval, [Pennsylvania House] Speaker Joanna McClinton and Philadelphia City Commissioner Lisa Deeley.

The Legal: What will be your approach to moving matters efficiently through the case management system? 

Yu: Court dockets bloat with cases when they are not handled thoughtfully or efficiently. More than one cause contributes to the problem: Judges sometimes do not keep cases moving when the parties are awaiting a decision; sometimes one or more parties benefit from delay; and sometimes cases that reasonably should settle do not. My experience as a mediator and arbitrator have taught me how to bring parties together to reach settlements they might not otherwise have considered or been open to. I also am not one to dally. I intend to move promptly (though not rashly) when an issue is before me and to encourage the parties to avoid delayed justice.

The Legal: What would you say to voters regarding your plans to ensure the equal administration of justice for all people?

Yu: Equal justice requires treating everyone as human beings deserving of dignity and respect. I have a vision of running a courtroom where everyone is treated with decency and compassion, where there is respect for the rule of law, and one set of rules and laws that are consistently and uniformly applied to all. These values run deep in me. As a formerly undocumented person, I understand how it feels to be disenfranchised and to live under the threat of deportation. Having lived this experience, I understand the trials of others who are dealing with hardships, such as being undocumented, and I will bring that empathy and compassion into the courtroom.

The Legal: Where can voters go for more information about you?

Yu: More information about my judicial candidacy is available on my campaign website at www.kayforjudge.com, on social media @KayYuForJudge, and at Ballotpedia.org/Kay_Yu.