Why I Built This Website

This website is titled “Oh Dear! The Un-American Court of Alexandria”. The name comes from my three-year experience at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.

During this time, the court allowed two Allstate insurance company lawyers — Humphrey and Burnett — to fabricate case citations, lie during discovery, misrepresent a deceased manager as a current executive to avoid deposition, and place my employment contract with Allstate under court seal, even though similar contracts in other cases remain public.

The American legal system rests on two essential pillars: facts and law. When courts permit lawyers to cheat, lie, and operate with opaque records, the system begins to resemble the very “banana republics” it once mocked — countries lacking judicial integrity and due process.

Because of this, on January 9, 2026, I wrote an open letter to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, with copies sent to Virginia Senators and Congressmen, Asian-American legislators, various Asian-American civil rights and professional organizations, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). To my disappointment, I received no response from any of them.

Prior to that open letter, on October 22, 2025, I had forwarded to Governor Youngkin an email-open-letter I sent to the ten Supervisors of Fairfax County. In it, I complained that the Fairfax County tax office had suddenly terminated my previously approved real estate tax relief without any notice or explanation.¹ The Governor’s Office of Constituent Services replied with a letter acknowledging my situation but stating that the matter was outside their jurisdiction and suggesting I contact the Attorney General’s Office.²

I created this website in the hope that America’s political and legal elites will respond to the fundamental question I am raising: Does the American court system still need to uphold honesty and integrity? Especially as we approach the 250th anniversary of our nation, a time to remember President George Washington’s commitment to honesty and justice.

Over the past three years, AIs have become my most important advisors — helping me understand legal issues and build this website. In the “Update” section I offer my acknowledgement for their contributions.

Five years ago, before AI tools existed, I created another website called “Why Go Pro Se Litigant at Age 74.” That site can still be found at archive-paulyshao.com. There are two main reasons I have devoted myself so completely to this fight.

First: the contract

I signed an exclusive agency agreement with Allstate Insurance. This meant I could only sell Allstate products, and Allstate could not sell through non-Allstate agents. For over a century, the industry norm has been that exclusive agents are not subject to production quotas. Changing this rule requires a new written agreement (which is stated as a clause in the very contract) clearly amending the original contract. In 2019, without any such written amendment, Allstate unilaterally imposed production quotas. In 2020, they seized the insurance book of business I had purchased in 2015 for $339,787.91 — an asset that should have generated 9–10% annual returns. Allstate offered only $129,973.21 in compensation, to be paid over 24 installments with no interest. I consider this outright theft. Is this acceptable in a country that claims to respect contracts?

Second: the pandemic

In May 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic — when no effective treatments existed and refrigerated trucks filled with bodies lined the streets outside New York hospitals — the entire nation was gripped by fear. I asked Allstate for two extra months to wind down my office operations. The request was denied by corporate headquarters under then-President Glenn Shapiro. After retiring from Allstate, Mr. Shapiro founded KodiakCare with the slogan: “Passionate about saving lives, one dog at a time.”³ His words made me feel that, in his eyes, my life was worth less than that of a dog. This reminded me of the ancient yearning expressed by the Saxon ploughman eight hundred years ago: “England can once again breathe the air of freedom. Those Englishmen who were once despised like dogs can now walk with their heads held high.”⁴

For all oppressed and marginalized American citizens today, our task remains unchanged. We must use every available means — poetry, writing, speech, and political action — to clearly and powerfully convey our deep yearning for legal fairness and justice.