Yan Li

Yan spent her childhood both in a metro city of Shanghai, China, and a suburb city of Hiroshima prefecture in Japan. Her immigration to Japan from China taught her respect to other cultures, critical and independent thinking, and struggles in surviving as a foreigner in an unfamiliar land. After graduating high school in Japan, Yan came to the U.S. to further explore the world. She was fascinated by the diversity, though she soon realized the same struggles foreigners in the U.S. had as those of her childhood - culture, language, social status, and immigration status. She then determined to be an immigration lawyer and utilize her experiences and skills to help those who strive to make a successful living in the new land of the U.S.

After graduating from University of California, Los Angeles in 2009, Yan interned at Tomita Law Office for a year, where she reaffirmed her passion to work with immigrants and nonimmigrant workers. Thereafter, she enrolled in Santa Clara University School of Law and participated in its famous immigration clinic at Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center, working on various humanitarian immigration cases, including U visas and T visas. She also took on an asylum case as part of a class, submitting briefs to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and negotiating for prosecutorial discretion with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Upon graduation from Santa Clara University in 2013, Yan rejoined Tomita Law Office to pursue her dream of making life easier for those who strive to make a successful living in this country of possibility and hope.