Bashir Ghazialam, Attorney At Law
University of California, San Diego (UCSD) (B.A., Political Science); Whittier Law School (Juris Doctorate (J.D.), 2000); Oxford University (International and Comparative Law Institute, 1999).
Mr. Ghazialam was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and immigrated to the U.S. as a refugee at age 13.
He was admitted to the California State Bar in 2001. Mr. Ghazialam is authorized to practice before the Supreme Court of California, the Federal District Courts in the Southern, Central, and Northern Districts of California, as well as immigration courts all over the United States of America. He is also admitted in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.), where he litigates lawsuits and mandamus actions against the U.S. government as well as its agencies.
Mr. Ghazialam founded the Law Offices of Bashir Ghazialam, A Professional Corporation, in 2002. Initially, his area of focus was limited to civil and criminal law litigation; however, since the majority of his clients were immigrants, he naturally developed an interest in immigration law. Mr. Ghazialam's two decades of diverse legal experience has manifested itself into his present practice portfolio, which is immigration law and Defense Base Act law (which is an extension of the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act).
Moreover, Mr. Ghazialam's dedicated and extensive legal experience, as well as hundreds of hours of Continuing Legal Education throughout the years has enabled him to develop a vast network of legal experts and other professionals who specialize in key areas of law that have met all sorts of the firm's legal needs. As a result, our firm has a growing list of Of Counsels and other Affiliates that are very knowledgeable and up to date in their respective areas of practice. Therefore, you can rest assured that Mr. Ghazialam will be there to guide you toward the right direction when any kind of legal need arises in the future, from family law, to criminal defense, civil litigation and beyond.
Before embarking on his legal career, Mr. Ghazialam was an English teacher as well as a court interpreter. He spent one year in China teaching English at a university there. He paid his way to college by parking expensive luxury and sports cars at fancy restaurants as well as very much appreciated financial aid and scholarship opportunities.
During law school, Mr. Ghazialam worked as a Certified Law Clerk for the Orange County District Attorney's Office, where he gained invaluable experience assisting in prosecution of all sorts of misdemeanors and felonies. He also was authorized to conduct Preliminary Hearings. Also while studying law, Mr. Ghazialam clerked for an employment, wrongful termination, and civil rights law firm.
After graduating from law school and shortly after taking the bar exam (which he passed on his first try), Mr. Ghazialam landed a job at a very busy mass torts civil litigation and civil rights law firm where he worked on hundreds of cases under the supervision of senior attorneys. His duties included drafting and filing lawsuits, drafting motions, writing discovery and objections, taking and defending depositions, trial preparation, mediations and settlement conferences, as well as courtroom trial experience. As a new attorney, Mr. Ghazialam displayed so much enthusiasm and confidence that on the day after being sworn in as an attorney, his boss assigned him to take the deposition of a defendant doctor as a well as a defense expert in a medical malpractice case in Fresno, California.
Between 2003 and 2006, while continuing to run his law practice, Mr. Ghazialam served several stints in dangerous and high stakes overseas missions. He served as a Legal Consultant with the Afghanistan Judicial Reform Commission, which was then charged with helping draft Afghanistan's post-Taliban Constitution. In addition, Mr. Ghazialam was hired by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, based in Geneva, Switzerland, along with a team of other legal scholars and experts, to work on a special report relating to the status of Rule of Law and Justice Reform in Afghanistan in 2004. He also worked as a legal consultant with the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), based in Rome, Italy, and returned to Kabul, Afghanistan (his place of birth) to help open a Kabul office. Mr. Ghazialam also served as Legal Advisor to Afghanistan's Minister of Justice. Moreover, Mr. Ghazialam worked as a Legal Advisor to the U.S. State Department as well as the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
Mr. Ghazialam's present representation of his immigration clients include, but is not limited to, asylum seeking, removal and bond proceedings, victims of crime, trafficking, and domestic violence related cases, "special immigrant visas," family immigration, adjustment of status, consular processing, waivers of inadmissibility, and naturalizations. He also handles appeals in front of the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as lawsuits, habeas, and mandamus actions in Federal District Courts. He also has a successful track record in Labo Law as well as Social Security Appeals.
Mr. Ghazialam's present representation of his DBA clients include injured Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other war contractors, such as interpreters, advisors, analysts and other personnel.
Mr. Ghazialam is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Workers' Injury Law and Advocacy Group (WILG), as well as many other active legal advocacy groups. He has also been a member of the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, the San Diego County Bar Association, Consumer Attorneys Association, and the American Bar Association. Mr. Ghazialam also receives invitations and serves as a judge at the University of San Diego Mock Trial Competition.
Mr. Ghazialam has also served as general counsel as well as board member for several non-profit humanitarian and educational organizations, including Afghanistan Relief Organization, Sister Cities International, Sister Cities of San Diego, San Diego-Jalalabad Sister Cities Committee, and the Afghan Community Islamic Center (ACIC).
Mr. Ghazialam and his firm also provides hundreds of hours of pro-bono legal services to indigent and deserving clients, mainly asylum seekers who have been caught up in this administration's ongoing war against immigrants, mainly asylum seekers and refugees.
Lastly, In addition to always participating in continuing legal education seminars and conferences all over the country, Mr. Ghazialam also serves as mentor to many junior attorneys, helping them navigate the complex and ever-evolving immigration law system. He also frequently gets hired by other attorneys to make special court appearances as well as to serve as co-counsel on their immigration as well as other federal litigation cases.
On his spare time, he remains physically active keeping up with his 3 young, energetic and fast growing boys.
