Xavier Law Firm

Focus and practice areas

The firm handles three areas of law: immigration, criminal defense, and civil litigation. Each area draws a different kind of client, and the firm lists all three as core work. In my opinion that breadth points to a general practice that takes on a wide range of matters. It also means a single office can help a client whose problem crosses more than one area, such as a criminal charge that carries immigration stakes.

Immigration matters

The immigration side names asylum, DACA, Temporary Protected Status, U visas, VAWA petitions, removal defense, residency, citizenship, and habeas corpus. These run on separate tracks. Asylum and removal defense go before immigration judges, while DACA and TPS renewals move through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on set filing cycles. U visas and VAWA petitions each open a route for people affected by crime or abuse, with eligibility tests set by federal law. Residency and citizenship work follows a longer timeline, and the steps can take years to reach a final decision. Listing habeas corpus alongside the rest points to work that can reach the federal courts when a person is held in custody.

Criminal defense

On the criminal side the firm covers assault and aggravated assault, DWI and DUI, drug possession, domestic violence, sex crimes, theft, and weapons charges. It also handles criminal appeals and record clearing. A DWI case often turns on the traffic stop, the testing, and the paperwork that follows an arrest, so early review of those details can matter. Drug and weapons charges carry rules that shift with the amount and the setting, and the specific facts drive each case. An appeal moves to a higher court and turns on what the trial record already contains, so that work suits lawyers who read transcripts closely. Record clearing aims to seal or expunge past cases so they drop off a background check.

Civil litigation

Civil cases cover disputes between private parties over money, contracts, or property. This is the third pillar the firm names, alongside immigration and criminal defense. Most open with pleadings, move through discovery where each side exchanges documents, and then head toward settlement talks or a trial date. Pairing civil work with criminal and immigration practice gives the firm a client base across several parts of the legal system.

Who leads the work

Xavier Vicente Chávez is the firm's lead attorney and the person who opened it. He earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1994, and before that he studied at California State University, finishing in 1991. His route into law ran through other work first: he served in the U.S. Navy from 1981 to 1984, then worked as a real estate broker in California.

Three other attorneys carry the firm's caseload. Oscar Treviño works as an associate attorney. Estrellita Diane Chávez and Nelly Carolina Sanchez Estrada hold senior associate roles, a step that usually marks more years as a lawyer. The firm also runs with a law clerk, case managers, and administrative staff who track filings and client contact.

As a reviewer, I read a named support team as a sign the firm expects steady case volume. Case managers and clerks usually handle scheduling, document collection, and client updates, which keeps a matter moving between court dates. That division of labor lets the attorneys keep their time on legal work.

Offices and languages

The firm keeps two offices. The first opened in the Houston, Texas area in 2010, and it now sits in The Woodlands, a community north of the city. A second office opened later in Bellflower, California, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Running offices in two states lets the firm take California immigration and criminal matters as well as Texas ones.

Staff at both offices are bilingual in English and Spanish. For immigration and criminal clients, working through a case in a first language can shape how clearly the facts come out. Both Houston and the Los Angeles area have large Spanish-speaking populations, so bilingual staff line up with the local client base. The firm also offers monthly payment plans, an option that can widen access to legal help.

How the firm presents its work

The firm publishes its practice areas and its attorney roster on its own site, which gives a prospective client a clear first look at scope and staffing. It keeps active profiles on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, so some of its public communication runs through short video and social posts. Video platforms in particular let a firm explain common legal questions to a wide audience. In my opinion a firm that puts its lawyers and services in plain view online makes the early research easier for anyone weighing options.

By its own account, the firm's attorneys hold more than 30 years of combined experience. That figure covers a roster of four named lawyers, led by a Harvard-trained attorney who has run the firm since 2010. The firm works from two offices, one in Texas and one in California, and takes immigration, criminal, and civil cases in both states.