Lan Diep

Lan Diep is an Equal Justice Works/AmeriCorps Legal Fellow who serves as a member of a regional oil disaster legal advocacy team – a five-state consortium including attorneys from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida – that provides education and free legal assistance to communities affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. Jointly funded by the Mississippi Center for Justice, Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, and Legal Services of Alabama, Lan travels between the three states providing outreach and assistance to populations impacted by the spill and in need of legal advice and representation.

As the eldest son of Vietnamese refugees, Lan is particularly concerned about the Vietnamese American community in the Gulf, who are generally limited in their English proficiency but account for a third of the region’s fishermen. He not only hosts informational community gatherings to educate the Vietnamese American community about their rights and legal options, but also publishes a Vietnamese newsletter distributed throughout the region to further inform this underserved population.

Lan graduated from the University of California, San Diego where he earned dual bachelor degrees in Political Science and History. After college, he worked in Washington, D.C. as an international broadcaster for Radio Free Asia. Lan then earned his J.D. from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law where he specialized in international law. In addition to his service as an Equal Justice Works/AmeriCorps Legal Fellow, Lan also serves as a civilian Vietnamese language consultant to the Department of Defense as charter member of the National Language Service Corps.