By Stanley O. Williford
Director of Publications
In 1996, Howard Hom became one of a very select group of attorneys who have argued a case before the United States Supreme Court.
He accomplished that when his client chose to remain with him even after Hom explained that there were other attorneys with Supreme Court experience who were offering to argue the case at no charge.
But Hom had a pretty good track record himself. He had prevailed in the case before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
“I wrote the [Supreme Court] brief with other lawyers, but I did the argument myself,” Hom said.
To no avail. The government won.
Hom, a Los Angeles native, understandably considers standing before the highest court in the land a momentous point in his life.
Today, he is back in private practice as an immigration attorney after serving seven years as an administrative law judge. He also taught immigration law at Whittier Law School for 11 years.
Now he is serving his fifth term as a board member at CCC.
Hom is a fourth-generation Chinese American. His great-grandfather, like many early Chinese immigrants, helped construct the nation’s railroad system. Knowing the hard history of his forebears, Hom adopted the wisdom that “if you don’t want to break your back, go to school.”
Hom said his “first exposure to Jesus was from a little white lady, a missionary to China, who was home on leave. She stopped by my parents’ laundry on Western Avenue near First Street. She spoke Chinese fluently and before we knew it we were going to an Assemblies of God Church in Echo Park.”
Hom attended the church for a while, but fell away for many years. Still, he offers this advice to young people who are in ministry: never give up. Because of that little seed the missionary sowed, he’s a Christian today.
Howard married in December, 1991, and he and his wife began visiting churches in the city.
“One Sunday morning she asked if I had ever heard of Crenshaw Christian Center,” he said.
He had, he told her, so she asked whether he’d like to visit the church. They agreed to attend, but called first. The service had already begun, so they waited until the following Sunday to visit.
“We walked up Price Drive,” he said. “Everybody was so friendly and loving. It was such a welcoming reception. We made a decision to join.” The year was 1992, but Hom said it seems as if he has been a member forever.
Hom said longtime member and Helps Ministry worker Breard Mason was his counselor when he joined, and although that counseling session occurred 15 years ago, Mason still calls him once a week to encourage him.
Hom attended Belmont High School and UCLA, where he majored in biology. After UCLA, he entered law school at Loyola Marymount University. While in his third year he was offered a position at the U.S. Department of Justice under the Attorney General Honor Law Graduate Program.
But guess who else he thinks might have ascended to the heights of arguing a case before the Supreme Court had he been inclined to the legal profession?
“I’ve been a lawyer for 41 years now, and based on my experience in the Supreme Court and the 9th Circuit Court, teaching immigration law and reading a lot of briefs from other lawyers, I can testify that Apostle Price would have been an extraordinary trial lawyer or appellate lawyer.
“He would have been successful arguing before Supreme Court.”
