Biglaw Siblings Take Gold in the Amazing Race

Back in January, we interviewed siblings Victor Jih, a partner at O’Melveny & Myers, and Tammy Jih, an associate at Quinn Emanuel, who starred on this season’s Amazing Race. Little did we know in January that we were talking to this season’s race winners. Last night, the Jihs beat out some cheerleaders and a deaf kid and his mom to win the Amazing Race prize.
(For the uninitiated, the Amazing Race is a reality TV show where teams of two race around the world in the hopes of winning $1 million.)
Not everyone is thrilled for the Harvard Law grads. The Chicago Sun-Times is asking whether the Mandarin-speaking Chinese-American siblings had an unfair advantage in China. And the Associated Press called the finish of the race “heartbreaking:”

Luke Adams, 22, just graduated as the valedictorian of the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, and raced with his mother Margie, 50. They were in the lead heading into the last competition, which involved picking out surfboards with insignias representing every leg of their trip. Luke started fast but couldn’t get the last one right.
As he was frustrated, Victor Jih completed his task and headed into a taxi for the finish line.

Maybe the AP would be happier for the twins if they realized how tough lawyers have it these days. Or maybe not. Regardless, we bet that $500k bonus feels pretty good to each sibling. We checked in with them via e-mail, but got just a brief reply from Tammy:

Thanks for watching the show! Sorry we could not respond earlier. I have not been on the internet, but I am assuming you have already written your article. Sorry for the delayed response, but we have had a busy last 24 hours, as I am sure you can imagine!

Actually, we’ve been delinquent in watching the show regularly this season, but we got reviews from folks who have. The reviews and a photo of the Jihs in (admittedly-conservative) beach attire, after the jump.


You can watch full episodes from this season here and see photos from the final episode here.
We’ve received a few reviews from loyal watchers this season. Feel free to add your own in the comments.
From one legal viewer who watched the Amazing Race for the first time this season (and so was surprised by the relentless cultural stereotypes the show perpetuates):

generally: i was amazed the way the show shamelessly exploited the stereotypes of every country they went to (trannies in bangkok, russian brides in siberia, drunken gypsies in romania, etc, etc) … but beyond that it was a fun way to kill time on a sunday night
i was pulling for victor and tammy the whole way, and it looked from the beginning like they had the best combination of athleticism and smarts to pull it off… i really liked that it seemed like the race itself was a motivation for them, rather than constantly harping about the million dollar prize like the other groups… i realize they’re probably better off financially then the other groups, but it just seemed like they genuinely cared about competing and winning… margie and luke were the same way
victor and tammy were also mostly gracious throughout… overachievers like them tend to have big superiority complexes and they had a camera on them in stressful situations 24-7 trying to catch incriminating stuff like that, and they never put people down or sounded like brats
that said, i was surprised at how much emotion victor really displayed throughout the show, he had no shame about crying, talking through his relationship with his sister, etc… maybe they do things differently in california, but i can’t imagine many partners in my firm letting loose like that
good stuff, i was happy they won…

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Says another viewer who was offended by our Biglaw Girls Don’t Cartwheel, But Biglaw Partners Do Cry post:

Victor recovered from his meltdown in Romania. They went on to win several more legs. Last 3 were in China, where the team speaks fluent Mandarin. They made the final 3. Smoked the final task on the final leg and made the finish line first. Since you made so much fun of Victor bawling in Romania, this deserves a mention.

We didn’t make so much fun. We could have been harsher, but we were charmed by the hottie Biglaw siblings. Congrats on the win, Tammy and Victor!
‘Amazing Race’ finale: Did Victor and Tammy have an unfair advantage? [Chicago Sun-Times]
Heartbreaking finish to CBS’ ‘Amazing Race’ [Associated Press]
Earlier: Biglaw Girls Don’t Cartwheel, but Biglaw Partners Do Cry
Interview with soon-to-be Reality TV Stars, Victor and Tammy Jih
Biglaw Siblings to Compete on the Amazing Race

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