The Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center (KGACLC) proudly celebrated 30 years of dedicated education, service and advocacy at its Annual Celebration, held in the Locatelli Center on the beautiful Santa Clara University campus.
Founded by La Raza Law students, faculty, and community members, the Center began operations from a bakery in East San Jose, helping day laborers recover unpaid wages. Today, the Center continues to provide essential legal services to the most vulnerable members of the community, focusing on consumer, immigration, and workers’ rights. In addition to their outstanding legal team, key components to the Center’s success are the dedicated students, alumni, volunteers, and donors. Deborah Moss-West J.D. ‘94 (executive director of Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center) noted, “I graduated from Santa Clara Law in 1994, just as the Law Center was launched by my classmates. It was heartwarming to see their commitment to justice turn into a full service legal clinic. Many of the early students remain connected to the Law Center as some of our strongest supporters—mentors, volunteers, and donors—and several serve on our board. I am honored to work alongside them to advance our mission of education, advocacy, and service.”
As a cornerstone for Santa Clara University School of Law, the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center’s mission is to provide pro bono legal representation and education to individuals and communities facing economic hardship, ensuring that everyone has access to justice. By empowering individuals to understand and protect their rights, the center plays a vital role in promoting social justice and equality.
Since its founding, the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center has been providing free legal services to the community. KGACLC announced that it has provided $800,000 in free legal services to 1,000 low-income individuals and families over the past year. The services included community education and outreach, advice clinics, and direct representation. In addition, law students, working under the supervision of attorneys, invested more than 5,400 hours to deliver these services.
This year, the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center was privileged to welcome California Supreme Court Justice Kelli M. Evans as the keynote speaker, gracing the community with her esteemed presence, wisdom, and inspiration. Justice Kelli M. Evans, now serving on the California Supreme Court as an Associate Justice, has a distinguished history of service, having presided as a Judge in Alameda County Superior Court and held influential positions with the California State Bar and the ACLU of Northern California. Her remarkable career spans from serving as a Senior Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice to defending the underrepresented as an Assistant Public Defender, while also playing a pivotal role in federal oversight of police reform efforts in Oakland and Cleveland. During her remarks Justice Evans shared that she “feel(s) a deep connection to the work of the Center and I could not be more delighted to be here to help Celebrate the 30th Anniversary.”
The celebration also provided us with an opportunity to express our collective gratitude to Deborah Moss-West. Since 2016, Deborah has served as the remarkable Executive Director of the KGACLC, as the Executive Director of the KGACLC, where she works with an exceptional faculty and staff team who build on the Law Center’s distinctive strengths and reputation for excellence.
As a special surprise tribute to Deborah, Dean Kaufman had the privilege of presenting her with the University’s Marquette Jones Award. This prestigious award is given in recognition of a faculty or staff member whose creative projects and advocacy in the arts or law works to empower and advance women in those fields. An accomplished faculty member, filmmaker, and lawyer, Marquette Jones was dedicated to advancing and promoting women, especially in the African-American community, of which she was a part. In selecting Deborah to receive this award, the University rightly recognizes her leadership, talent, and hard work which has lifted up so many in our community.
The Annual Celebration stands as a testament to the Center’s unwavering commitment to delivering vital legal services and advancing justice for all. As the Center anticipates the next 30 years, it warmly invites the community to join in celebrating its achievements and supporting its mission to ensure equal access to justice for everyone.
Check out photos from the celebration here!