The Santa Clara University School of Law is pleased to announce the receipt of a gift to create an endowment that will contribute to the support of its Community Law Center. In recognition of the generosity of the donors, the Center is being named the Katharine and George Alexander Community Law Center of Santa Clara University School of Law.
The Law Center provides free civil legal services to low income individuals residing in the Silicon Valley area in immigration, consumer rights, workers’ rights, workers’ compensation and small business development. Law students, supervised by trained clinical faculty, provide the legal advice and representation. The Law Center was founded in 1993 by a group of SCU La Raza law students and was initially called the East San José Community Law Center. According to the Law Center’s advisory board president, attorney Kristin Nevarez of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, “The Community Law Center educates law students to become competent, ethical and compassionate attorneys who maintain a commitment to pro bono service throughout their legal careers, while, at the same time, providing over 1,000 individuals per year with access to essential legal services they could not otherwise obtain.”
The Katharine and George Alexander Community Law Center is the recipient of a gift from Katharine and George Alexander of Los Altos Hills. The Alexanders have promoted and supported numerous social justice causes throughout their careers and are dedicated to improving access to legal services in Silicon Valley while instilling in law students a life-long commitment to serve the community. Katharine Alexander practiced law for 25 years as a public defender for Santa Clara County and taught law courses for several years at San Jose State University. George Alexander served as Professor of Law at Santa Clara University for 34 years and as Dean of its School of Law for 15 years.
According to Dean Donald J. Polden, “George and Katharine Alexander’s generous gift to the School of Law will provide enduring support for one of its most important community-based programs–one that teaches our law students essential lawyer’s skills and assists many people in the area with legal problems that would not otherwise be addressed.”
Cynthia Mertens, Professor of Law and Director of the law school’s Community Law Center, said, “This gift demonstrates the commitment of prominent members of our law school and our community to clinical legal education – education that combines delivery of legal services with the goal of producing lawyers who have the highest professional and ethical standards.”
Provided by the Community Law Center
Photos by Charles Barry
