Profile of Jim Li(Jinjin Li) Esq.
Jim Li is a well-known lawyer and pro-democracy activist in the Chinese community in New York. He is upright and kind-hearted, public-spirited, righteous, philanthropic-minded, selflessly dedicated, diligent, caring for the country and the people, and helping the poor and needy. He is deeply loved by people from all walks of life.
A native of Wuhan, Hubei Province, Jim Li Esq. was born into a family of police officers in 1955. He joined the People's Liberation Army at the age of 15 and returned to Wuhan to work as a police officer after he left the army. In 1978, he took the college entrance examination and was admitted to the Law Department of Hubei Institute of Finance and Economics (now Zhongnan University of Economics and Law). After graduating from the university, he went to the Law School of Peking University for postgraduate studies in August 1982 and obtained a master's degree in law in 1985. After graduation, he returned to Wuhan to teach at the Zhongnan Institute of Political Science and Law. In 1987, he furthered legal studies at Peking University for a doctorate in law, specializing in constitutional research. During this period, he served as the president of the Peking University Graduate Student Association.
He is a prominent leader of the Chinese democracy movement and a true patriot. As early as the mid-1980s, he began to join the pro-democracy movement, pursued democratic constitutionalism, and was concerned about everything, whether family affairs or global situations. During the June 4th Movement in 1989, he played a significant role, participated in the founding of the Beijing Workers' Autonomous Federation, wrote the charter, and served as a legal advisor. After the June 4th Incident, he left Beijing and returned to Wuhan. He was arrested at home on June 10, 1989, and detained in Qincheng Prison. On April 24, 1991, he was released without being charged. He came to the United States in 1993 as a visiting scholar at Columbia University, and then went on to study law at the University of Wisconsin, where he received an S.J.D. degree. He has been a licensed attorney, practicing law in New York State since 1998.
For more than two decades, he has successfully represented thousands of immigrants seeking legal immigration status in the U.S., arguing before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, Immigration Courts, Board of Immigration Appeals, and the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd, 6th, and 9th Circuit Courts. He was admitted and qualified as an attorney and counselor of the Supreme Court of the United States on October 4, 2004. He has also provided high-quality legal services in other areas such as civil litigation, personal injury, medical malpractice, criminal defense, real estate transactions, matrimonial cases, and family law matters.
He is a symbol of Chinese natives and nationals fighting for democracy and promoting universal values of democracy in the Chinese communities in and out of the United States.
