Our Mission
Asian Law Alliance, established in 1977, is a non-profit organization providing equal access to the justice system for Asian Pacific Islander and low-income populations in the Silicon Valley. Our mission is through providing legal counseling, community education and community organizing, we promote self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and a better quality of life for all.
The Asian Law Alliance has helped tens of thousands of people in obtaining decent housing, justice in the immigration process, and access to basic human and legal rights.
Today, Asian/Pacific Islanders continue to be denied fundamental rights. ALA continues to keep its doors open for those individuals who are limited in English, who do not understand the legal system, who cannot afford legal fees and who face the reality of discrimination.
Richard Konda’s interview on Comcast Cable
Comcast Newsmakers interviews Richard Konda of the Asian Law Alliiance (ALA) on January 22, 2009.
History of the Asian Law Alliance
In 1975, several of the founding members of the ALA began to investigate the possibility of starting a community law office similar to the Asian Law Caucus which had been founded in Oakland in 1972. Our main challenge was convincing people that there was a significant Asian/Pacific Islander community in need of legal services. Two roadblocks stood in our way. The first was the dearth of research statistics to prove that an identifiable Asian/Pacific community existed. The second was the popular stereotype that Asian-Americans were a “model minority” who did not need social assistance.
We determined that we had to gather evidence to support the contention that the “model minority” stereotype had overshadowed the existence of a sizable Asian Pacific population that did not have access to the legal system. As volunteers, we conducted extensive outreach by speaking with many community leaders, human service providers, and members of the Asian American community itself who needed our services. Staffing the Information and Referral Project that had just been initiated by the San Jose Japanese American Citizens League provided us with a base from which to conduct our research.
We quickly discovered that a silently growing Asian Pacific American community had been developing in several areas of Santa Clara county. Overcrowded conditions in San Francisco and Oakland and the lure of job opportunities in Silicon Valley had brought Asian families and immigrants to the South Bay. Working through the Information and Referral Services of the Japanese American Citizens League, we soon encountered a whole range of legal needs that were not being addressed in this newly growing Asian Pacific American community.
With this evidence in hand, a consensus was quickly reached among the founding members that it was necessary to establish a community law office to provide individual legal assistance, community legal education, and community advocacy. Office space was donated by the San Jose JACL and with the help of two young attorneys, Brad Yamauchi and Don Tamaki, the Asian Law Alliance began taking its own cases in January 1977.
Location
Asian Law Alliance is unable to respond to legal inquiries via email. If you have a legal question, please call us at 408-287-9710.
We are located at 991 West Hedding Street Suite #202 San Jose, CA 95126
Telephone: (408) 287-9710 Fax: (408) 287-0864
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