Vladimir Yelizarov emigrated to the United States at the age of 13—one of a flood of Jewish refugees from the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan in Central Asia.

Like some 50,000 of their countrymen, he and his family—including his mother and father and a younger sister who is now an accountant—ended up in Queens, “a home away from home,” says Yelizarov, now 29. There are barely enough Jews left in the ancient city of Bokhara to care for graves of their ancestors.

In America, Yelizarov was attracted to law and earned his JD degree from the Hofstra University School of Law. He benefitted from a scholarship program offered by O'Melveny & Myers and now is an associate at the firm.