Yam Schaal joined Ropes & Gray's corporate department in 2023. During law school, Yam was a student attorney at Cornell’s Immigration Law clinic, where she assisted students and local community members with immigration questions; the Farmworkers’ Rights clinic, where she helped farmers handle employment issues; and the Cornell Estates Practicum, where she drafted wills for residents in need of legal assistance.

Yam was also a notes editor of the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy and was the recipient of the Daniel P. Chernoff Prize for her demonstrated academic excellence in intellectual property and patent law.