Credentials

FAQs

• What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
  Legal fees for complex cases can often break the budget. At the same time, we do not think someone should forego legal services just because of the expense. As a result, we have a sizable low-bono and pro-bono practice and we work with our client's budget.
• What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
  The first step is scheduling an initial consultation to study a prospective client’s legal situation and analyze the facts of the case. The consultation is confidential and privileged, and is conducted with an attorney in person at our downtown office or over the phone or via Skype. During a typical consultation, we take whatever time is necessary to fully understand the situation in order to determine what relief may be available to you, your company, or your loved ones. For a small fee, we make sure to explain the relevant laws and how they apply to your specific case. During your consultation, we will also provide detailed information on the overall process and discuss your individual case’s issues, risks, and benefits. We will answer all your questions and make sure you understand the potential risks involved with choosing any of the options available to you. After the consultation, if you choose to hire us, the initial consultation fee is waived, or applied towards your total legal fees.
• What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
  I have worked at leading law firms and non-profits on both sides of the country, focusing on employment and family-based immigration law. As a law clerk, I worked at Trow & Rahal P.C., specializing in corporate and employment immigration matters, and at Benach Collopy LLP, specializing in complex immigration federal court litigation and removal defense. As a policy attorney in Washington D.C., I also worked at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC to craft federal policies such as extended DACA, DAPA, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Nepal and parole-in-place for the family members of Filipino war veterans. Most of these policies remain in place even under the Trump Administration. Most recently, I served as the sole immigration counsel for over 500 students and their family members at the University of California, Berkeley, single-handedly creating and sustaining the most successful school-based legal services program in the United States for almost three years. At the East Bay Community Law Center, I also taught at the immigration law clinic for over two years and mentored a new generation of law students from across the country on how to become public interest attorneys.