When Christopher and Alexandra Lau graduated with Huntington High School’s Class of 2009 there was little doubt the twin brothers were headed toward a successful future. That’s just how life has been unfolding for the pair, who recently again graduated together, this time from Fordham University’s School of Law.
Chris Lau was valedictorian of Huntington’s Class of 2009. He was introduced to the overflow commencement crowd by his brother. The brothers went their separate ways as they pursued undergraduate degrees.
Chris Lau studied at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in finance and minored in sociology. He served as vice president of Wharton’s undergraduate cohort system and the undergraduate sports business club.
Alex Lau attended Georgetown University, where he majored in government and minored in history and sociology. He played “lock” for Georgetown’s rugby team and wrote a sports column for university’s newspaper, The Hoya.
With their respective colleges just two-and-a-half hours apart, the fraternal twins visited each other every semester. Chris would head to Georgetown in the winter to catch a Hoyas basketball game and to watch Alex play rugby. Alex traveled to Penn each spring for that school’s annual “spring fling” weekend, as did many of their fellow Huntington alums.
After graduating from Georgetown, Alex went to work as a paralegal at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, a law firm on Wall Street in Manhattan. Chris accepted an offer from Teach For America and went on to teach third grade in Newark, New Jersey.
The brothers moved to Hoboken, where they spent the next two years. Alex worked in the litigation department and had the opportunity to work on a number of high-profile cases. Meanwhile, Chris taught at a startup charter school and founded and coached the school’s first after-school organization; a basketball team. He funded the club by procuring donations from family members and local businesses.
Following two years in their respective positions, the Huntington alums were both accepted to the Fordham University School of Law. They moved together to Manhattan and performed admirably during their time at the Lincoln Center campus, where they both served as editors of the Fordham Law Review and associate editors of the Dispute Resolution Society.
Chris Lau published a note on youth sports concussion legislation titled Leaders and Laggards: Tackling State Legislative Responses to the Youth Sports Concussion Epidemic.
Alex Lau published a note on court-approved labor settlements titled The FLSA Permission Slip: Determining Whether FLSA Settlements and Voluntary Dismissals Require Approval. The piece won the Donald J. Feerick Prize for the best paper on the subject of labor law.
It was a thrill for the brothers to recently graduate together from Fordham’s School of Law. In the fall, Chris will begin working at Proskauer Rose in the Manhattan firm’s private client services department. Alex will work a few blocks away in Akin Gump’s labor and employment group.
Both Huntington grads are newly engaged. Alex is set to wed Jena in Seattle in August of 2019. Chris and his fiancée Kristen are currently planning their wedding date.
While Chris and Alex Lau no longer live together, they both still reside in Manhattan and their neighborhoods are not far apart. Chris lives in Chelsea while Alex calls NoMad his home base.
Nearly a decade removed from their Huntington High School days, the brothers frequently return to the hometown for holidays, family gatherings and to watch their little brother, Cole play lacrosse for the Blue Devils. Safe to say, nine years later, Chris and Alex Lau are proud Huntington alums.