Description
For those of you who missed our May 2024, Virtual Practical Skills Course: "4-Part Survivor-Based Relief Practical Skills Course,” the session recordings are now available for purchase. The online course is composed of four separate sessions. You can buy all four sessions together and save $150 or buy individual sessions.
See below the agenda for additional information.
Session 1: Intake and Initial Meetings (2 hrs.)
We start the course at the start of the case. Presented with a fact pattern, we discuss intake techniques to identify the primary strengths, weaknesses, and strategy decisions arising in a fictitious client’s cases. We identify critical facts that remain unknown and discuss how to learn them. Throughout, we remember the impacts of trauma on how the client presents in initial meetings, and how we can help minimize retraumatization.
Speakers:
- Astrid Munn, Lead U/T/VAWA Attorney, Immigrant Legal Center.
- Lia Ocasio, Staff Attorney, ASISTA.
- Kristen Stanley, Assistant Clinical Professor, Lawyering Program, Cornell Law School.
Session 2: Declaration Drafting and Preparation of Other Evidence (2 hrs.)
In our second session, we focus on mid-case skills surrounding the gathering and preparation of strong evidence. We start by modeling client interview techniques that are effective and trauma-informed. From there, we take on the task of distilling, re-ordering, and framing what our client told us into a readable, relevant, and credible declaration. Along the way, we identify places where external corroborating evidence will be important and suggest tips for obtaining it, incorporating it into our brief, and ensuring USCIS takes what we want from its content.
Speakers:
- Rebecca Eissenova, Senior Staff Attorney, ASISTA
- Tim Paikopoulos, Senior Attorney, South Coastal Counties Legal Services
- Trisha Teofilo Olave, National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)
Session 3: Evaluating Admissibility and Preparing a Waiver Application (2 hrs.)
For our third session, we reconnect with our fictitious client as she prepares to file for adjustment of status (based on her VAWA self-petition). We thoroughly evaluate what we now know of her case for any inadmissibility grounds, and assess possible legal arguments surrounding them. For grounds that must be waived, we discuss how to present the strongest possible application for a waiver. Because it’s possible she may be interviewed for adjustment, we also address best practices to be trauma-informed while preparing her for that setting.
Speakers:
- Kelly Byrne, Staff Attorney, ASISTA
- Nicole Weitnauer, Senior Attorney, Antonini & Cohen Immigration Law Group
- Victoria Maqueda Feldman, Ayuda
Session 4: Responding to RFEs and Problematic Decisions (2 hrs.)
We end with techniques for responding when USCIS does not agree our filings have presented a winning case. First, our client receives a difficult RFE, to which we must respond on time. Then, to our frustration, she receives a denial that is also problematic. Our experts walk through tips on making arguments about the premises of USCIS’s demands and determinations, selecting evidence to supply in response, and choosing when it is appropriate to move to reopen, reconsider, appeal, or do something else.
Speakers:
- Evangeline Chan, Director of the Immigration Law Project, Safe Horizon
- Payal Sinha, Managing Attorney, Tahirih San Francisco Office
- Cristina Velez, Legal & Policy Director, ASISTA
Disclaimer: Content is current as of date of recording. It is your responsibility to ensure content is up to date. Written materials accompany the webinar. Please note that you will not receive CLE credit for watching the recording.
