An active trial attorney, Clifton Albright, pictured center, is the president of Albright, Yee & Schmit, APC (AY&S), a California-based law firm formed in 1982 that specializes in providing legal representation for employment, labor and tort defense to governmental and private entities. He was appointed to the Industry Trade Advisory Committee on small and minority business (ITAC11) by former President Barack Obama and former President Donald Trump. Albright often travels to Washington, D.C., to meet with government officials on international trade and trade relations. He has received several accolades for his work, including being selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America (2023 edition) in the area of litigation, labor, and employment, as well as being recognized by The Los Angeles Business Journal as a 2022 ‘Top 100 Lawyer’, a 2022 and 2023 ‘Leader of Influence: Minority Attorney,’ and a 2022 ‘Leader of Influence: Labor & Employment Attorney,’ among many others.
The Black EOE Journal had the pleasure of catching up with Albright to ask him more about his career as an experienced litigator, minority business leader and how being MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) certified has helped his business.
Black EOE Journal (BEOEJ): How did you decide to get into law and become a trial attorney?
Clifton Albright (CA): I became interested in law because I wanted to be a corporate executive, and in researching corporate executives, I noticed most very successful executives had law degrees. Once I entered law school, I found law to be very exciting and challenging. I became a trial lawyer because I enjoyed interacting with other trial lawyers; all my life, people told me I wasn’t very good, and I was made to feel unnecessary. I felt the only authentic way to know if I was good and necessary was to win at something important—my profession.
BEOEJ: Both you and your firm represent several notable clients. Tell us about some of your biggest wins with them.
CA: For the city of Los Angeles, we won a wage and hour case for the sanitation department, a copycat lawsuit in which the city lost $22 million dollars. For LA county, we won a reverse discrimination lawsuit where white firefighters claimed they were being discriminated against because Blacks and women were hired at an equal number as white men. Their theory was that white men were more intelligent and more capable than Blacks and women, so if they were hired at the same rate, the system had built-in discriminatory devices. We were able to discover and shut down a large fraud ring within one of our client’s facilities which saved them millions of dollars.
BEOEJ: You’ve received many accolades as a litigator. Which are you most proud of and why?
CA: My proudest accolade was “Lawyer of the Year,” an award I received from the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce (GLAAACC). There were about 3,000 people in attendance, and my mother and father were able to attend. I was not the greatest kid growing up and I promised my mother when I was in fourth grade that I would make her proud of me some day. When I sat down at our table, she placed her hand on my leg and said, “I’m proud of you.” That meant the world to me.
BEOEJ: What has been your greatest challenge as a minority business leader in this field and how have you handled it?
CA: My greatest challenge has been to break the stereotype of minorities being substandard and not qualified to handle significant assignments. I have discovered that managers in charge of assigning cases to law firms are hesitant to trust important matters to minority law firms for fear of being criticized for poor judgment if something goes wrong. Managers find it easy to escape criticism if something goes wrong, and they have assigned a case to a national law firm with hundreds of lawyers. My challenge is to convince managers they will be praised and rewarded for giving work to Albright, Yee & Schmit, because our record of handling complex cases easily justifies assigning significant cases to Albright, Yee & Schmit.
BEOEJ: How has being MBE certified helped both you and your firm? Would you recommend getting MBE certified to others and why?
CA: I would recommend becoming MBE certified for several reasons. Being MBE certified protects your status and prevents those unethical applicants from dishonestly claiming MBE status when they are not an MBE. Being MBE certified allows those looking to increase their DEI status an opportunity to hire without having to do their own background checks to determine the actual status of an applicant. Our MBE status has allowed us to bid and be seriously considered for assignments we would otherwise not be eligible for.
BEOEJ: What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone coming into the legal field today?
CA: Law is a wonderful and fulfilling profession; however, it’s a full-time job that requires your complete attention and effort for the first 10 years. If you’re unable or willing to commit fully, do something else.