Hon. Paul Yee

As an Access to Justice Fellow, Judge Paul Yee will be returning to the Asian Outreach Unit (AOU) at Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) after 50 years. He will be working on immigration cases and is excited for the opportunity.

While in law school, he interned at Boston Legal Assistance Project, the predecessor to Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS). Several law students including Paul helped start what has become the AOU of GBLS in Chinatown to address, both linguistically and culturally, the legal needs of indigent Asians.

Upon graduation from law school in 1974, Paul was awarded a Reginald Heber Smith Community Fellowship (“Reggie”). He was assigned to Brooklyn Legal Services Corp. A in the East New York/Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York to represent both individuals and community organizations.

After completing the three-year fellowship, he returned to Boston and worked in the legal department of the Boston Housing Authority providing low-income housing, while under court supervision due to a lawsuit by tenants.

In 1981, after seven years primarily in a civil practice, Paul was appointed the first Asian American Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk County. As a prosecutor in Boston for five years, he tried criminal cases in the district and superior courts.

In 1986, Paul, upon leaving the DA’s office, started and had a solo general practice serving Boston’s Asian community with an emphasis on civil and criminal litigation for 23 years. He was able to interweave pro bono activities to help Asian individuals and the Chinatown community.

In 2009, PauI had the honor and privilege of being appointed as Associate Justice to the Quincy District Court. Each of the district courts situated in the local communities are the gateways to justice. In October 2018, upon reaching mandatory retirement at 70, he retired and traveled until the pandemic in 2020.

Before going to law school, Paul obtained a degree in pharmacy and became a registered pharmacist in 1971.