Marc Santamaria is an attorney and law lecturer, ESL instructor, and AI trainer for ESL teachers and attorneys. He is the founding attorney of Santamaria Law Firm, P.C. which is a full-service immigration law firm based in San Francisco, CA. He leads the law firm team and together with the team, they’ve assisted clients obtain humanitarian relief at USCIS and from Immigration Court (e.g., asylum, cancellation of removal), various non-immigrant visas (e.g., investor visas, work visas), and many other types of immigration relief. Santamaria Law Firm has been recognized by several consulates in the Bay Area and community organizations for their work in advocating for immigrants. Marc Santamaria is licensed to practice law in California and is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Attorney Santamaria has extensive experience in teaching the law. He currently teaches LL.M. Legal Research and Writing (“LRW”) at UC Berkeley Law School. In the LRW course, he empowers students to navigate the intricacies of legal research, critical analysis, and effective writing by teaching them writing concepts like CREAC. He also teaches removal defense where he cross-trains with PhD psychology students and law students to assist immigration clients to strengthen their cases through psychological reports at San Francisco Law School. He was also an SJD (PhD equivalent) Dissertation Committee Member at Golden Gate University Law School, in which he guided his students in legal research and writing and conducted, or participated in their first and final oral defenses.
Attorney Santamaria draws his teaching techniques from his background as an English as Second Language teacher. He teaches ESL at City College of San Francisco (“CCSF”) where he was voted as a member of the Academic Senate. He also taught Legal Writing and Introduction to the U.S. Legal System to ESL students at UC Berkeley’s College of Writing Program.
Attorney Santamaria is researching, writing, and speaking on the intersection of AI, education, and the law working in Silicon Valley. He is a committee member of the Distance Learning Advisory Committee at CCSF, where he contributes to advancing innovative approaches to online education including AI. He serves as a legal advisor to California Technological Care where he shares his insights on AI and the law. He speaks about AI at conferences like the International Conference on Innovative Education and Learning Resources in Fukuyama, Japan, as a selected speaker, sharing insights on the transformative role of AI in education. His work reflects a commitment to integrating cutting-edge technology with practical applications to drive progress in law and English. He earned certificates in Generative AI for the Legal Profession from UC Berkeley Law School in Executive Education and AI in Education: Leveraging ChatGPT for Teaching from Coursera.
Education
B.A. in Legal Studies, UC Berkeley (2004)
J.D., San Francisco Law School (2011)
M.A. in TESOL, University of San Francisco (2014)
LL.M. in Taxation, University of San Francisco Law School (2015)
S.J.D. in International Legal Studies, Golden Gate University School of Law (2016)