A Word From the Executive Director
We hope your fall season is off to a wonderful start. We write to bring news and information about the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center.
We continue to take pride in the skills and talents of our law students and volunteer attorneys whose work greatly benefits clients and extends our reach within the community. We are gratified that their experience here influences and re-enforces their commitment to service, as is the case with law alumni Gamaliel Galindo ’14, Christian Mora ’16, Kristi Nevarez ’96 and third-year law student Jeffrey Wang, recent panelists during the first of our Fall 2016 Hot Topics dicussions. We are as passionate about our work as we are about embracing new opportunities, especially those that involve our use of new technologies. That’s why we are participating in the testing for the Workers’ Lab application – a cutting-edge app that will enhance our ability, as a community, to ensure fairness to workers locally (and possibly across the nation). We continue to work with our community partners, such as the Mexican Consulate, to ensure that we remain an accessible force for good in the community. I invite you to read our articles below.
And I also invite you to join us on Saturday, October 22nd for our Annual Celebration. This year is quite special. We will present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Professor of Law Emerita Cynthia A. Mertens for her many years of exemplary leadership and service to both Santa Clara Law and the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center. Come celebrate her legacy and our promising future.
Deborah Moss-West
Executive Director
Second-year law student Brian Olfato interviews a client with the assistance of Spanish-speaking interpreter Esmeralda Huerta (left).
Reaching Out to the Community Through the Mexican Consulate in San Jose
On August 30, thanks to its long-standing partnership with the Mexican Consulate, the Alexander Community Law Center’s Workers’ Rights Clinic went “on the road” to the Consulate’s location in South San Jose. Law Center staff, law students, volunteer employment and immigration attorneys, and interpreters traveled to South San Jose to offer legal advice to community members who scheduled their appointments in advance through the Law Center.
Third-year law student Catherine Connor greets a client at the Mexican Consulate.
Offered in the evening hours, the free clinic allowed a diverse group of working individuals the opportunity to consult on their immigration and employment-related issues.
To law students, this represented an opportunity to connect with the community in a different setting than the Law Center and learn important legal skills.
“At the Mexican consulate, I had the opportunity to not only provide legal advice but to be an emotional support for people. I could tell that for many, this was the first time that they sought outside help for their employment problems,“ said third-year student Catherine Connor.
In addition to this clinic, the Mexican Consulate also hosts an annual Semana de Derechos Laborales (Workers’ Rights Week), held around Labor Day. The Alexander Community Law Center is a regular participant as well.
Tracking Stolen Wages? There is an App for That…and We Are Helping to Test It
Tracking Stolen Wages? There is an App for That…and We Are Helping to Test ItThe Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition (of which the Alexander Community Law Center is a member), the Fair Work Center (Seattle) and the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (Oakland) were selected by The Workers Lab to conduct pilot testing on WorkerReport, a free app to report wage theft and other labor-related violations.
“We believe that the app will assist workers in Santa Clara County in pursuing their rights through an easily accessible means to report wage theft and health and safety violations and include photos, which will lead to greater enforcement,” says Alexander Community Law Center Supervising Attorney Ruth Silver Taube of the Wage Theft Coalition. “Local community groups, labor unions, workers’ centers, and the Alexander Community Law Center’s Workers’ Rights Clinic comprise the Wage Theft Coalition. We are all eager to provide this important tool to workers. I am also excited to see how my Law Center students can use this new tool as they work with their clients.”
The testing partners will use the app to enhance the grassroots work and advocacy they are already conducting. From now until spring 2017, the partnership’s primary goal is to implement outreach strategies to maximize the app’s adoption and to collect data on local worker complaints. Simultaneously, partners aim to use WorkerReport to provide rapid assistance to those who report workplace violations and connect workers with the right partners to pursue legal action and/or obtain support services. Partners will also route reports to the appropriate advocates, organizers, and/or regulators in the enforcement community for follow-up support.
You may download the free WorkerReport in its OS and Android formats on iTunes or Google Play.
About The Workers Lab: Founded in 2014, The Workers Lab stands to help define the next generation solutions that increase worker’s mobility and power in the U.S. through our catalytic investments. As a living laboratory, we have the opportunity to ground the political and strategic conversations about the future of work in the lived-experiences of workers and organizers at the front lines of innovation. www.theworkerslab.com.
The Alexander Community Law Center Launches Fall Hot Topics Series with an Immigration Panel Presentation
The Alexander Community Law Center launched its Hot Topics Series this fall, featuring the first panel discussion on immigration on September 27. Designed as hour-long presentations followed by Q&As, these panel discussions explore recent developments in the legal areas covered by the Law Center. While helpful to law students in charting their professional paths, these noon sessions also represent a good opportunity for the SCU faculty and staff to learn about the law and the work of our students in the community.
We are grateful to the immigration panelists, law alumni Gamaliel Galindo ’14 (Gam Galindo Law), Christian Mora ’16 (Congressional Assistant to Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren), Kristi Nevarez ’96 (Partner, Fragomen Worldwide) and third-year law student Jeffrey Wang. Thanks to Lynette Parker, the Law Center’s Immigration Supervising Attorney and moderator.
Other Hot Topics will follow on November 9 (Workers’ Rights), January 25 (Consumer Law) and April 25 (Human Trafficking). Members of our greater community are welcome. Stay tuned for additional information.
Come Celebrate with Us!
Join us in presenting our Lifetime Achievement Award to former Executive Director Cynthia Mertens in recognition of her enduring legacy to the Alexander Community Law Center. Read more.
Come celebrate our promising future under the leadership of Deborah Moss-West, our new Executive Director.
You simply cannot miss this event. Register now.
Advisory Board Highlights
Board member Robert Greeley J.D. ’97 recently shifted the main focus of his solo law practice from employment law to wills, trusts, and probate. After nearly 20 years of litigating cases on behalf of employees, Robert felt it was time for a change. “I spent the first half of my career as a warrior, and I’ll spend the second half bringing peace – peace of mind, that is, to families and individuals as they protect themselves and their loved ones through their estate planning.” Robert has offices in San Jose, Mountain View and San Carlos.
Congratulations to Board Member Bart Volkmer J.D. ’02, who assumed the role of General Counsel at Dropbox in June, 2016. He joined the company in 2011 and previously spent eight years at Wilson Sonsini. As a law student, he worked for three years in the consumer area of the Alexander Community Law Center. He became a member of the Advisory Board in 2009.