When Randall Eng became a lawyer 50 years ago, there were seemingly just a handful of fellow Asians in New York who were in the profession at the time, mostly solos in Manhattan’s Chinatown who handled immigration and real estate matters.

In 1983, Eng found himself in a class of one—he became New York’s first Asian judge. Since then, he ascended to presiding justice for the Brooklyn-based Appellate Division, Second Department, and is now of counsel at Meyer Suozzi.