Mai D. Phan, Phan, Nguyen and Associates, LLP
Mai D. Phan is a New Orleans native and an attorney in San Jose, California. Mai graduted from Tulane University and earned her J.D. from Loyola Law School in 2002. During law school, Mai served as President of APALSA and clerked for the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Louisiana. Mai obtained her LLM in International Legal Studies from Golden Gate University School of Law with an emphasis on International Business Transactions. Mai is admitted to practice in the State of California and practices family, immigration, and corporate law.
Mai is the founding President of the National Conference of Vietnamese American Attorneys (NCVAA), the only national bar association for Vietnamese American attorneys. Mai was a founding member of the inaugural NCVAA 2006 and has served on the organizing committee from 2006 to present. During the 2006 NCVAA, Mai sat on the Community Service panel and spoke about relief efforts for Katrina victims. Mai helped organize a legal aid clinic with Boat People S.O.S to provide assistance to Vietnamese Americans impacted by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Mai, along with a team of Vietnamese-speaking attorneys and several law students, volunteered and assisted over 100 families during the clinic.
During 2008, Mai served as President of the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association, Silicon Valley Chapter (AILA-SCV) and served as an Ambassador for the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF). Mai is also a member of Santa Clara County Bar Association (SCCBA), the Asian Pacific Bar Association of Sillicon Valley (APBSV), and the Vietnamese Amercian Bar Association of Northern California (VABANC). In 2008, Mai served as President of VABANC, in which she organized a law clinic in response to the US-VIETNAM MOU on the repatriation of removable Vietnamese citizens. The clinic was co-sponsored by AILA SCV and the Asian Law Caucus and was a tremendous success.
During June 2010, Mai led and mobilized attorneys to the Gulf States to conduct legal aid clinics in response to the urgent legal needs of the Vietnamese American community affected by the BP Oil Disaster. The legal clinics provided access and education concerning BP claims policy affecting thousands of Vietnamese fishermen. The clinics were a collaborative effort led by the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California in conjunction with other legal aid organizations and bar associations. Over 3 days, the corps of volunteers conducted 4 legal education clinics in three Gulf states - Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama – and served over 100 Vietnamese community leaders and members. These clinics are the first bilingual, pro-bono legal education clinics since the Oil Spill disaster occurred. Mai was a contributing writer to the White Paper that was submitted to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by invitation. Mai received Congressional recognition for her leadership role in organizing the BP clinics. Mai continued to bring relief efforts to the Gulf States and helped organized a second clinic during October 2010. Mai was a panelist at the 2010 NAPABA conference and spoke about her collaborations with community organizations to serve the Asian American communities.
Mai is the 2009 Rising Star Unity Award Recipient recognized by the Minority Bar Coalition. Mai was honored along with CA Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno and civil litigator James Brosnahan. During 2009, Mai participated at a press conference rallying support for Reform Immigration For America (RIFA), a coalition of non-profit service providers, immigrant advocates, labor, faith, and immigrant organizations working to support Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). Mai is also involved as a VIP (Volunteers in Parole) advocate, working to pair up attorney volunteers to parolees in Santa Clara County. VIP Mentors is the only program in California that recruits attorneys to become mentors and role models for parolees as they struggle to turn their lives around.
Mai is a founding member and past President of the Vietnamese American Professional Women Association of Silicon Valley (VAPAW). Mai also serves on the board of directors of VNHELP, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to children and women in Vietnam. In 2007, Mai co-chaired the inaugural Kind Gala held at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose. The dinner benefit was organized to raise funds for VNHELP’s children programs in Vietnam. The dinner gala’s highlight was a special appearance by Yul Kwon, winner of the NBC hit reality series Survivor. The dinner was a tremendous success, and the Gala helped raise donations for VNHELP.
