John Flanagan
Principal / Founding Attorney
Contact
+1 (510) 916-4466
info@flanagan.legal
Languages
English, Spanish, French
Bar Admissions
California
U.S. District Court – Northern California
U.S. Court of Appeals – Ninth Circuit
Education
UC Berkeley School of Law
Juris Doctor
Public Interest & Social Justice Certificate
Georgetown University
Bachelor of Science – Foreign Service
International Political Economy
Magna Cum Laude
Flanagan Legal is a cutting-edge immigration law practice founded by John Flanagan to provide creative solutions to complex immigration challenges.
As a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law, John is well versed in all areas of immigration, with a focus on humanitarian and family-based immigration. Since graduating from U.C. Berkeley School of Law, John has represented families and individuals from all across the globe.
Far from shying away from tough cases, John firmly believes that everyone deserves safety and belonging, no matter their background or experience.
Prior to founding Flanagan Legal, John worked for six years at Becker & Lee LLP, a preeminent local immigration firm that was selected to participate in a federally-funded universal representation program for individuals with serious mental illness. Leveraging his preexisting criminal law background, John has developed an expertise in cases with a connection to mental health and criminal law.
At Flanagan Legal, clients are more than the worst thing that happened to them or that they have done. No matter the type of case, John brings a trauma-informed and non-judgmental approach to his work.
John is bilingual in French and has full professional working proficiency in Spanish.
Honors, Awards, Positions
CBP Co-Liaison for American Immigration Lawyers Association, Northern California Chapter (2021-Present)
Patricia Barragan
Paralegal
A graduate of UCLA with a Bachelor’s in Philosophy, Patricia also obtained a paralegal certificate from SFSU. She is the daughter of an immigrant parent and is acutely aware of how immigration laws shape the lives of her community.
Beyond preparing the forms and evidence necessary to build a case, Patricia works directly with clients to tell their story in a compelling and persuasive way. She has a wide variety of experience in different immigration matters, including removal defense, affirmative benefits with USCIS, and consular processing.
Patricia is fluent in both English and Spanish.
Daianna Cristerna
Office Manager
Born in Hayward, California, to immigrant parents, Daianna moved to Mexico with her mother and brother when she was only eight years old. She lived most of her childhood and teenage years in her mother’s hometown of Santa Rosa de Lima, Jalisco, Mexico.
When Daianna was eighteen years old, she decided to move back to the United States. She left behind her family and friends in order to provide a better life and better opportunities for her and her family. Through her own journey, she witnessed the sacrifices and struggles of moving to another country. She understood how leaving everything you love and care about behind feels and she has firsthand experiences of what her parents and every other person immigrating to another country experience when they make the decision to immigrate. This experience has made her take the topic of immigration personally.
Daianna is fluent in both Spanish and English.
Christina H. Lee
Of Counsel
While an undergraduate student at Barnard College, Columbia University, Christina found her passion for her immigrant rights under the mentorship of civil rights leader Yuri Kochiyama. After graduating from King Hall, UC Davis School of Law, in 2003, Christina put her passion into practice representing clients in all manner of immigration matters, including removal defense, family-based immigration, employment-based immigration, and federal court litigation.
After 10 years at the head of the well-respected Oakland immigration law firm of Becker & Lee LLP, Christina serves as a key advisor to the Flanagan Legal team. She has transitioned away from private practice to become a managing attorney Immigrant Legal Defense and an adjunct professor of law at UC Berkeley. Nonetheless, Christina’s 20+ years at the front lines of immigration law – from private practice to her new role in non-profit legal services and academia – are an invaluable asset to Flanagan Legal.
Christina’s “of counsel” role at Flanagan Legal continues her life-long commitment to service and fostering the next generation of immigrant rights advocates. Her past service roles including mentor attorney to Pangea Legal Services and Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, “of counsel” for National Center for Lesbian Rights, alumni council for UC Davis Immigration Clinic, volunteer attorney for Centro Legal de la Raza and , and EOIR liaison for the Northern California Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.