WA immigration law firm founded by Alexandra Lozano shuts down
The international, multimillion-dollar immigration law firm founded by Alexandra Lozano announced Wednesday it is closing its doors, leaving questions about what will happen to tens of thousands of clients the Tukwila-based firm represented.
The announcement by the firm, now known as Luz Legal or La Luz del Camino Legal, comes two weeks after Lozano permanently gave up her law license rather than face a disciplinary hearing for alleged misconduct by the Washington State Bar Association. Lozano and Luz Legal were sued in May by nine former clients alleging the firm's services were "illusory, negligent, and even fraudulent."
As many of you know, our firm has faced increasing challenges and unjust scrutiny in recent years. After careful consideration, we have determined that closing the firm is the best course of action," Luz Legal's statement says. "This decision was not made lightly. Our clients have always been at the center of everything we do, and making this announcement is one of the most difficult moments in our firm's history."
"I'm relieved," said Seattle immigration lawyer Vicente Omar Barraza, who is on a legal team representing the clients suing Lozano and Luz Legal. After Lozano resigned, it was unclear who was running the firm - Lozano was still listed as Luz Legal's "governor" with Washington Secretary of State. It was also unclear whether the firm was continuing practices the lawsuit and the bar deemed as wrongful.
"I was hearing that they were still taking money from people not knowing who was actually in charge," Barraza said. "I wasn't sure if this was going to end. At least now, I think we can say with some certainty that it's going to end."
"The fallout is going to be a whole other thing," he continued. "I don't think it's histrionic to say that this is a catastrophe."
As of March, 54,000 immigration applications signed by Lozano were pending, according to the bar's statement of allegations against her, and her firm had 35,000 clients at the time of her resignation.
The allegations against Lozano and her firm include submitting immigration applications with exaggerated or false information without having clients review them. The firm, which operated in five major locations across the country and had back offices in Colombia, Mexico and Argentina, also allegedly applied for green cards regardless of whether clients were eligible, according to the bar and lawsuit.
Lozano has denied the allegations. Her lawyer, Angelo Calfo, said in a statement that "her practice has always been to fight for her clients, zealously pursue every lawful option available to them, and support their efforts to build lives in this country."
The Department of Homeland Security is currently investigating Lozano, according to five people who have interacted with federal officials and an email reviewed by The Seattle Times. The Washington Attorney General's Office was, as of July of last year, also conducting a "pre-litigation investigation" of the firm.
Luz Legal's closure announcement provides a list of steps clients could take now.
"A team of attorneys who may have worked on your case previously are taking on clients from Luz Legal," the announcement said, linking to a form to request that the case be transferred to them.
The names of the attorneys are not given.
"It's still very shady in my opinion," said Tacoma immigration attorney Gustavo Cueva.
He acknowledged the announcement said clients could seek new legal counsel but noted the offer to transfer cases to attorneys designated by Luz Legal appears further up on the website.
"They're still trying to retain clients and send them to a team of attorneys," Cueva said. "Who they are, we don't know. Who they work for, we don't know."
Said Seattle immigration attorney Chelan Crutcher-Herrejon: "Clients, I think, need to be very cautious about continuing with anyone associated with that firm."
A website about the lawsuit against Lozano and Luz Legal lists more than two dozen attorneys willing to talk with clients about their cases.
Like other attorneys, Crutcher-Herrejon worries Luz Legal's clients will be left adrift in other ways. The firm typically put its address on applications it submitted. Clients now have to submit a change of address form with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or, if they're in deportation proceedings, with immigration court.
Luz Legal's announcement notes the need to submit a change of address form, adding the firm will only be monitoring mail from USCIS for 30 days. Still, Crutcher-Herrejon said some people may be unaware how to access the forms. (USCIS has how-to information on its website, as does immigration court on its.)
The announcement also says the firm is "reviewing all cases to determine whether a refund may be appropriate" but notes that those who have cases already submitted may not be eligible.
The bar this week created an online resource page for Lozano clients that refers them to a client protection fund, which helps people harmed by a lawyer's dishonest practices or failure to account for money.
Still, some say the bar, as well as other authorities, could be doing more to help those who suddenly have no lawyer and may have had applications submitted in their name with false information. Many are now panicking and flooding other attorneys' offices with calls.
"The bar association needs to step up. The attorney general needs to step up. And we need to figure out how we're going to help these people not fall through the cracks," Barraza said.
He and other attorneys said they felt authorities have been slow to act despite complaints about Lozano submitted to the bar and the attorney general's office going back years.
"Everyone just ignored it," Crutcher-Herrejon said.
A spokesperson for the attorney general's office declined to comment on why it has not yet acted, saying it can't talk about potential investigatory matters.
Bar spokesperson Sara Niegowski said the association's "Office of Disciplinary Counsel did not ignore warning signs." When it came upon "information that met a reasonable threshold of concern it commenced a wide-ranging and intensive investigation." She did not elaborate on what constituted a "reasonable threshold" or how long the bar was working on its investigation.
Asked before Luz Legal's closure announcement about whether the bar was monitoring its practices, Niegowski indicated it wasn't the association's place to do so. "We rely on grievances," she said.
The bar's resource page says it will not take new grievances about Lozano since she is no longer a lawyer. The wesbsite leaves open the possibility that people can file a grievance about a new lawyer and says they must first verify the person is licensed in Washington.
That strikes Barraza as inadequate. "The bar association needs to find a way to accept grievances from people, if for no other reason than to document for history what has happened here," he said. "If we don't learn from this, it will repeat itself.
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 4:58 PM.