Twice a year the Center for Social Justice sponsors a program to enable Santa Clara University School of Law students to interact with an outstanding practicing lawyer.
The Spring 2005 Practitioner-in-Residence, Julie Su of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California (APALC), gained national prominence from her representation of Thai and Latina garment workers who labored in slave conditions in El Monte, California. A report to the Rockefeller Foundation described her path-breaking work:
“In the wake of the discovery of imprisoned garment workers at the El Monte, California, sweatshop, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California joined with . . . other organizations to launch a multifaceted campaign. The campaign assisted the El Monte garment workers in their fight for justice and provided momentum for broader industry reform efforts. Each organization brought its own expertise to the work, as the coalition simultaneously sought to obtain justice for the formerly enslaved workers; work with them to gain control of their lives and their advocacy efforts; promote greater racial and gender equity; and forge a multiracial coalition that involved workers from multiple facilities.
As the organization in charge of legal advocacy, APALC never wavered in its commitment first to help the formerly enslaved Thai workers gain control over their lives and their own advocacy efforts. At the same time, APALC formed alliances across racial lines by including Latina workers and attacked the structural inequities within the garment industry. . . .
Early on, APALC made a decision to represent both the formerly enslaved Thai workers from the secret El Monte shop and a group of Latina workers laboring in traditional sweatshops in downtown Los Angeles. The traditional sweatshops served as front shops for the El Monte compound. All of the workers produced garments for the same manufacturers and retailers and were supervised by the same group of people – the captors of the Thai workers. The two groups of workers ultimately built a solid coalition, although the work was painstaking and not without errors along the way.” [From Penda D. Hair, Louder than Words: Lawyers, Communities, and the Struggle for Justice 42 (2001)]."
Ms. Su described this work and the importance of coalitions in "Making the Invisible Visible: The Garment Industry’s Dirty Laundry", 1 J. Gender, Race and Just. 405 (1998) [a Social Justice Thursday reading on April 7]. Ms. Su received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, and she served as a Skadden Fellow from 1994-96.
She will speak at Social Justice Monday on "Social Justice Lawyering: Becoming the Lawyer You Want To Be" in Bannan 127 from noon to 1 p.m. The facilitator is Margalynne Armstrong. Pizza will provided.
Lunch at 1 p.m. on Monday, 3/21 – Limited availability
Call the Center at 551.1720 to reserve a place.
Wine & Cheese Reception on Monday, 3/21, at 5 p.m.
Strong Common Room
Ms. Su will hold office hours for students at Montgomery House (874 Lafayette Street) from 2 to 3 p.m. on Monday, March 21, and from 10 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 3:30 on Tuesday, March 22. Additional information is available from the Center for Social Justice at 551.1720 or socialjustice@scu.edu.
