immigration & citizenship appeals
Suite 1100
Tel:
Fax: (510) 835-1116
About Scott A. Mossman
Scott Mossman is an attorney licensed by the State Bar of California. In addition to the California courts, he is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Central Districts of California. He also is entitled to practice before the various immigration agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and the Department of Justice.
Scott's law practice focuses on advising noncitizens on the immigration consequences of criminal pleas, defending noncitizens in removal proceedings, and appealing adverse immigration decisions to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO).
Scott also has represented clients before the federal district courts in actions for injunctions, mandamus, and declaratory relief. This type of litigation is sometimes necessary when the government violates the law or unreasonably delays a decision on an immigration petition or application.
Scott is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and is on the Board of Directors for the U.C. Davis Immigration Law Clinic Alumni Council.
Scott Mossman received his law degree from the University of California, Davis, where he graduated in the top 5% of his class. He received his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from California State University, Sacramento. In law school, he was active in the Immigration Law Clinic and the King Hall Immigrant Detainee Project. During the second year of law school, he served as a legal extern for a judge at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. Finally, he also spent a summer as a law clerk at the State Bar of California, Office of the Chief Trial Counsel (the disciplinary arm of the State Bar).
Scott volunteers his services through various nonprofit organizations. He successfully has represented two indigent, detained clients through the Board of Immigration Appeals Pro Bono Project. In one of those cases, he obtained remand after an immigration judge denied due process to a previously unrepresented, mentally incompetent asylum seeker. In the other case, Scott obtained remand for a previously unrepresented person with a claim to U.S. citizenship through his deceased father. (These favorable results do not constitute a warranty, guarantee, or prediction of success in any other matter.)
Scott mentors other volunteer attorneys through the Asylum Program of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Nearly every month, you also will find Scott providing free consultations at Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland's Fruitvale District. He also participates in other free clinics organized by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco--most often in Oakland, Berkeley, or Richmond.
Scott Mossman also has spoken and written about immigration, as listed below:
- Scott spoke about immigrant rights and eligibility for benefits at the Western Service Workers Association office in West Oakland on February 23, 2008.
- Scott participated in an advice clinic organized by Oakland Community Organizations at St. Anthony Catholic Church, on February 17, 2008.
- Scott served as a panel commentator on Refugee Roulette: Disparities in Asylum Adjudication, an important study by Professors Jaya Ramji-Nogales, Andrew Schoenholtz, and Philip G. Schrag, on October 18, 2007, at Stanford Law School.
- Immigration Daily published an article by Scott Mossman entitled An Invitation To Dialogue To Improve Adjudication In Removal Proceedings, on October 11, 2007.
- Scott discussed the role of a mentor attorney in pro bono asylum cases at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of San Francisco on September 18, 2007.
- Scott moderated a presentation on ethical witness preparation at a lawyer education event on September 15, 2007, at U.C. Davis School of Law.
- Scott discussed Social Security no-match letters, Real ID driver's license requirements, immigrant rights, and immigration reform with members of the Roofer's and Waterproofer's Local Union No. 40 in San Francisco on July 19, 2007.
- Scott was the principal author of two sections of the report of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission published in November 2006: Real ID Act: A Federal Law's Impact on the Human and Civil Rights of San Franciscans.
- Scott Mossman published an article in the October 2006 issue of Verdict, the journal of the National Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals, entitled Restriction of Judicial Review in Immigration Cases. (Article provided courtesy of Verdict, 233 Broadway, Suite 1807, New York NY 10279, (212) 791-1364.)
- Scott published an article, The USCIS Ombudsman's Proposal To Restrict The Jurisdiction Of The Asylum Office Would Waste Resources, Inhibit Government Scrutiny Of The Applications, And Do Nothing To Reduce Fraudulent Claims, in the May 1, 2006, edition of Immigration Daily.
- Scott and other speakers discussed immigration enforcement legislation at a town hall meeting, Current Immigration Reform: Bordering on Injustice?, sponsored by the UC Hastings Race and Poverty Law Journal. The event took place on March 29, 2006. EVENT FLYER
- Scott published an article, The New Enforcement Bill's Attack On Judicial Review: The Wrong Response To Widespread Judicial Criticism Of The Department of Justice's Unfair And Incompetent Handling of Immigration Cases , in the February 1, 2006, edition of Immigration Daily.
- A June 15, 2005, East Bay Express article on how REAL ID could affect victims of torture quoted Scott. Opening Old Wounds by Robert Gammon
- On May 26, 2005, Scott Mossman and other representatives from labor, civil rights, and immigrant rights groups testified before the San Francisco Human Rights Commission about the REAL ID Act and the USA PATRIOT Act.
- Scott published an article, Scraps From The Table: Positive Changes To REAL ID Made By The House And Senate Conferees, in the May 9, 2005, edition of Immigration Daily.
- Scott appeared as a guest on the Karel Show on KGO ABC Radio 810AM, to discuss the REAL ID Act on May 8, 2005.
- Scott participated in a block party at Lincoln Park, East Oakland, to educate youth about deportation on April 30, 2005. Asian & Pacific Islander Youth Promoting Advocacy and Leadership and Oakland Asian Students Educational Services organized the event.