Since a pandemic has been declared over the new coronavirus, there has been an uptick in discrimination and hate crimes against Asian Americans. To help combat these crimes, Bonnie Lee Wolf, the president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, or NAPABA, helped put together a video with other leaders of different bar associations calling for the discrimination to stop.

Wolf, who also serves in-house as associate vice president in the litigation and employment department at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. in Columbia, Ohio, is asking attorneys to help people who experience discrimination by calling it out and helping victims find ways to report those incidents. Further, she said NAPABA has hosted webinars on "acts of hate against Asian Americans" and different parts of the law, and how to best practice during COVID-19.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Corporate Counsel: When did you first begin hearing reports of discrimination against the Asian American community because of COVID-19?

Bonnie Lee Wolf: I began to hear about it in late January. It aligned with the increased awareness and incidents of COVID-19. We had a board meeting in February and during that meeting, there were discussions that folks had already experienced some anti-Asian discrimination and acts of racism.

The video we made came together in a couple of days. We as an organization felt we needed to do more than just press releases and statements. There were several organizations that jumped in and we've seen solidarity with them in their own press releases against these acts of racism and bigotry.

CC: It sounds like other bar associations have been supportive during this time in calling for an end to anti-Asian discrimination.

BLW: This is a very challenging time because we're all being asked to shelter in place or stay at home. There is a sense of isolation. What has been reassuring and giving me hope is the solidarity that I've seen from other national bar associations and those at the local level.

The American Bar Association has been wonderful in bringing us all together. Their president [Judy Perry Martinez] has been very much focused on making sure that minority organizations are banding together and speaking with one voice. We've had this collaborative bar association where we come together. It has been nice because we can call upon each other to assist in speaking out to make sure our message is going beyond this bar membership.

CC: Are there any other initiatives that NAPABA plans on implementing to combat anti-Asian discrimination during the pandemic?

BLW: It is a continued effort. We are also seeing other of our affinity sister bar associations experiencing issues that are unique to their community. We'll join in on those efforts.

For our own community, we're trying to support our own members. We have a whole series of webinars coming up within our own organization. We're looking to do community town halls and continue to message what our members can be doing to support the community, to speak out and to report these incidents.

One of the biggest challenges that we're hearing from law enforcement is the underreporting of these hate crimes and acts of discrimination. NAPABA has a website devoted to it. You can go to justice.gov or standagainsthatred.org. All of these websites have information about how to report these crimes.

CC: What are some things that attorneys can do to help stop this kind of discrimination during the pandemic?

BLW: First and foremost it is important to make sure folks have accurate information. I think part of why this is arising is because of misinformation and stereotypes. We are referring people to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn more about the coronavirus.

Now, because we've seen such an uptick of racism and discrimination, we are encouraging folks to speak out. We're asking people to call it out when they see it. As we know this disease doesn't discriminate and we cannot allow this racism to continue.

We are encouraging lawyers to support community-based organizations. Particularly where there are limited English-speaking communities and providing some kind of pro bono legal services. Overall what we saw, we saw a significant decline for Asian-owned businesses and their customers. We're asking folks to support small businesses in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.