A WORD FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
As we reach the end of another remarkable academic year, we reflect on the successes and milestones achieved by our students, faculty, and staff. This year has been filled with hard work, dedication, and countless moments of growth and discovery. For 2023-2024, the Law Center’s community education and outreach, advice clinics, and direct representation reached 1,000 low-income individuals and families. Law students, working under the supervision of attorneys, invested more than 5,400 hours to deliver $800K in free legal services, not to mention the numerous attorney hours. We have immense gratitude for the privilege of working alongside our client community and you for nearly 30 years to advance justice for consumers, immigrants, and workers.
Read about the Consumer Law practice, the impact for both students and clients, and how alumni and volunteers keep the work going. Also, meet our Cindy Avitia ’06 Immigration Justice Summer Fellow Kim Ngo; made possible through a generous grant from the La Raza Lawyers Charitable Foundation of Santa Clara County. And we are quite pleased to partner with The Foundation for Hispanic Education bringing legal resources to the community. Our alumni and community ties run deep.
Lastly, help make the Law Center’s 30th Anniversary year special. Explore ways to get involved below and join our 30th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, September 28th at 5:00pm. We can’t wait to connect with you and to celebrate all we have accomplished together.
Continued blessings,
Deborah Moss West JD ’94
Executive Director
Consider making a gift to keep our programs strong; we’d be quite grateful.
The Consumer Law Practice – Working for us All
The Consumer Law Practice launched in 1996 and provides free legal services for low-income individuals who have been victimized as consumers and debtors by unfair business practices and fraud. Consumers access services through our community outreach, weekly Consumer Courthouse Clinic at the Santa Clara County Superior Court, or through direct representation.
Under the dynamic supervision of Scott Maurer ’95 (clinical professor) and Reuben Castillo (paralegal), law students empower consumers facing legal challenges. This past academic year, consumer students successfully defended 100% of collection suits filed against their clients, employing a variety of consumer protection defenses; they saved their clients over $125,000. Nearly every consumer case taken to court by Law Center students has yielded favorable outcomes. Furthermore, students exhibit proficiency or excellence in various critical skills such as interviewing, advising, brief-writing, drafting discovery requests and responses, motion practice, deposition-taking, and negotiation.
“This work never gets old. Each year a new set of eager law students enroll in our classes, ready to learn, share their ideas, and serve clients. The student energy drives the Law Center to continually advocate for stronger consumer rights,” explained Prof. Maurer.
Following are two recent success stories from our exceptional students:
A young woman without a driver’s license co-signed for her mother. The car dealer failed to provide the woman with a legally-required written notice that she might be forced to pay the debt if her mother didn’t, even though the daughter received no benefit from the contract. Later, the lender sued our client seeking over $12,000. Andrew Alves ‘25 wrote a letter to the lender notifying it of the facts set forth above, but the lender pressed its case. Sven Peterson ‘24 filed a motion for summary judgment. At that point the lender agreed to dismiss the case and pay the Law Center’s attorneys’ fees.
Miaoyu Ma '24
Miaoyu Ma ’24 assisted a client whose bank account was drained based on a lawsuit she was never served with. Ma first convinced the bank to reverse the withdrawal and pay the client an extra $2,000 for unlawfully removing exempt funds for her account. She then convinced opposing counsel to set aside the four-year-old default judgment and answer the case on the merits. The Law Center is confident our client will ultimately win the case. “Every case I have worked on this semester is so interesting and critical to my clients’ financial stability. Nothing can beat the rewarding feeling when I win for my clients!” Ma shared.
In addition to providing clients with peace of mind and economic stability, law students gain a deeper understanding of low-income consumers’ legal needs, fostering a social justice perspective for their future work.
Thank You Consumer Law Attorney Volunteers.
Our consumer law work would not be possible without the invaluable assistance of volunteer attorneys who generously share their time and expertise. We are deeply grateful to the attorney volunteers of 2023 - 2024:
William Kennedy
Samantha King ’20
Balam O. Letona ’23
James M. Lindfelt ’10
Alexandria Long
Prof. Gary Neustadter
Ronald Wilcox
Consumer Practice on Your Side Tip:
Some good news on the robocall front as a result of FTC pressure on the telecom companies to use analytics to identify and stop robocalls. If you’re still receiving robocalls and texts here are a few resources to try:
Register for free for the Do Not Call list: https://www.donotcall.gov/
See what resources are available for call-blocking from your service provider and third parties:
https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/stop_unwanted_robocalls_and_texts.pdf
https://www.fcc.gov/call-blocking
KGACLC 30th ANNIVERSARY MCLE SPEAKER SERIES
Consumer Law Update
Creating and Protecting the Rights of Consumers in Debt
May 23, 2024 | MCLE via Zoom
Ten years ago, creditors in California could garnish wages, put levies on bank accounts, and take other drastic measures if an average consumer fell into delinquency on their debt.
On May 23, 2024, EKO Law and the Law Center hosted Senator Bob Wieckowski in conversation with Santa Clara Law Profs. Scott Maurer and Gary G. Neustadter looking at the gains made through legislation in California for average debtors since then and discuss the state of consumers’ current slate of rights and protections.
To learn more about your consumer rights, view the MCLE presentation materials.
COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS
The Foundation for Hispanic Education
The Law Center is pleased to partner with The Foundation for Hispanic Education (TFHE) to bring legal resources to the school community. Over the past year, we’ve taken part in the “Back to School Resource Fair,” held a virtual workshop on Workers’ Rights for the parent group, and hosted a Tuesday night legal clinic for parents and affiliates of the organization. The Law Center's roots are in East San Jose, where we first started, and we remain connected. TFHE’s Community Outreach Manager and former Law Center undergraduate volunteer, Bibiana Cruz ’20, is key to our connection. Part of the Law Center’s mission is to train students to be lifelong social justice advocates, it is wonderful when we witness that vision coming to life. “Volunteering at the Law Center showed me the importance of connecting the community to legal services and the impact that advice alone can have on an individual’s life. I use this same ideology in my position now because I believe that our families have the right to equitable access to all available resources,” Bibiana shared.
Thank you to everyone at TFHE for all you do to serve “all students, particularly those from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, by eliminating opportunity gaps through innovation and collaboration in preparation for leadership and success.” It is an honor to collaborate with you.
Reach out to the Law Center if you are engaged with a mission aligned community-based organization to which we might partner.
Introducing the 2024 Cindy Avitia
Immigration Justice Fellow
Kim Ngo
Rising 2L Kim Ngo is the 2024 recipient of the Cindy Avitia Immigration Justice Summer Fellowship, established in 2017 through a partnership between the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center and La Raza Lawyers of Santa Clara County Charitable Foundation. The Foundation’s steadfast commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion is evident in their numerous programs, including the $10,000 grant for the Fellow to work at the Law Center this summer. The goal of the Fellowship is to provide and expand legal assistance, education, and outreach for immigrant communities.
“As the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, I have always been grateful to organizations like the Law Center and the La Raza Lawyers Charitable Foundation of Santa Clara County for their dedicated service to immigrant communities. Now as the 2024 Cindy Avitia Fellow, I look forward to joining their efforts to provide communities with accessible legal aid and dignified representation,” shared Kim.
The fellowship is named in memory of Cindy Avitia ’06, a long-time member of Santa Clara County La Raza Lawyers Association, graduate of Santa Clara Law, passionate advocate for immigrant rights, and former employee of the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center. The Law Center is grateful to the La Raza Lawyers of Santa Clara County Charitable Foundation for making this grant possible.
Contact Deborah Moss-West JD ’94, dmosswest@scu.edu if you’d like to support a summer fellow in our office.
S A V E T H E D A T E
30th Anniversary Celebration
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2024 | 5 P.M.
To make the 30th Anniversary and Annual Celebration the best yet, we need to hear from you!
1) Share your favorite Law Center memory, story or photo; and/or
2) Set an appointment to meet with Deborah Moss-West who loves connecting with folks who care about the Law Center. We’d love to have your involvement!
Thirty years ago, La Raza Law students, faculty, and community members founded the East San Jose Community Law Center. From the back of a bakery in East San Jose, they helped day laborers recover unpaid wages. The vision of seeking justice for the most vulnerable workers in the community lives on and is thriving today as the Katharine and Alexander Community Law Center.
We extend immense gratitude to the students, volunteers, and donors whose active engagement over the years has kept our program strong.
Save-the-Celebration date and watch your email for details on how we will commemorate another year of teaching, advocacy, and service this fall.
YOUR VOLUNTEER WORK AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT
WILL HELP KGACLC:
- Stay at the forefront of social justice issues, serving as a thought leader, consistent provider of legal services for low-income communities, and skill-builder for law students, in line with the University’s Jesuit values.
- Facilitate educational opportunities and job prospects for Law Center students through mentoring.
- Launch a one-year fellowship program for graduating Law Center alumni to continue their work and commitment to social justice.
Interested in volunteering with the Law Center, funding a fellowship, or joining the Advisory Board? Contact Deborah Moss-West or Board Chair Delma Locke to learn more. We would like to hear from you.
