About Francisco A. Suarez

I have been an attorney for more than 21 years. I have litigated several criminal, civil and civil rights cases. I have tried more than 50 cases in these areas. For example I have tried cases dealing with domestic violence, drug cases, resisting arrest, sex crimes, at the misdemeanor and felony levels. I also have tried several juvenile cases.

Education

In 1978 I graduated from California State University Los Angeles with a degree in English. I also graduated with a Masters of Public Administration in 1981 from the University of Southern California. I then graduated from the University of La Verne College of Law and was admitted to the California Bar in 1988.

I also have a certificate for attending the Institute on International and Comparative Law in Guadalajara, Mexico sponsored by the University of San Diego. Finally I studied and completed a course in Mediation of the Litigated Case sponsored by the Pepperdine University Strauss Institute in 1991.

Community Involvement

As a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer I have been involved in several activities to alleviate homelessness. I was a member of the task force on housing with the Western Center for Law and Poverty. I had also worked in housing at the Inland Counties Legal Services and the Los Angeles Center fro Law and Justice.

As a young attorney I was the founder of the Tri-Counties Mexican American Political Association and was president for several years.

In 1988 I was a founding Board of Director of the Mexican American Bar Association’s Political Action Committee. I was also later named vice-president for the group that raised money for judicial candidates.

In 1991 I was a founding Board of Director of La Camara Commercio Latina Del Valle de Pomona. This chamber targets the small business community. Projects included bringing in manufacturers, help obtaining funding for businesses through the Small Business Administration, assisting in code violation problems for businesses, etc.

In 1996 I was the spokesperson for the Association of the Inland Empire Hispanic Chambers of Commerce in its fight to defeat Proposition 209 the anti-civil rights initiative.

In 1997 as the President of the Camara De Comercio I was a founding board of director of the Pomona Economic Center. (PEOC). The PEOC has been termed the model day labor center and has assisted thousands of day Labors.

I have been involved in several impact litigation lawsuits including the LULAC v. California Governor Pete Wilson a lawsuit culminating in the infamous Proposition 187 declared unconstitutional by the California courts.