In this webinar, we will discuss the necessary legal preparation that must take place before taking pleadings on behalf of a client. Participants will learn the importance of contesting charges on the NTA, contesting evidence submitted by the government, and review what information you must have before taking pleadings. We will cover the burden of proof for establishing removal, motions to suppress, and how to respond to a Notice to Appear (NTA).
Presenters:
Erin Quinn, ILRC Staff Attorney
Erin Quinn has been an immigration defense attorney for over 10 years and holds a joint degree in law and public policy (JD/MPP) from the University of Michigan. At the ILRC, Erin’s work focuses on building capacity of organizations and practitioners to assist immigrants. She conducts trainings and provides legal expertise on immigration law through ILRC’s Attorney of the Day program. In addition, Erin has contributed to numerous ILRC publications as author or editor, including Removal Defense: Defending Immigrants in Immigration Court; Essentials of Asylum and many others. Prior to coming to the ILRC, Erin represented immigrants in all aspects of their immigration matters, with an emphasis on removal defense and complex cases. She was owner and attorney at her own firm for 5 years after defending immigrants as an associate at the Law Office of Robert B. Jobe. Her experience in immigration law and policy includes working as a fellow for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, EU headquarters in Belgium; clerking for the Immigration Court of San Francisco; and teaching courses as a lecturer at CSU Eastbay. Originally from Fresno, California, Erin loves teaching, language and travel. She lived in Romania for over two years as a Peace Corps volunteer and worked in Hungary as a teacher trainer. In addition she has traveled, studied and taught in Central America, South Africa and Europe. Erin is on the Advisory Council for the Northern California Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), in which she serves as Pro Bono Coordinator and Liaison for Consumer Protection. She is a member of the California Bar.
Grisel Ruiz, ILRC Staff Attorney
Grisel joined the ILRC in 2012 through a fellowship focused on the intersection between immigration law and criminal law. Prior to joining the ILRC, Grisel was a litigation associate at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. Before Pillsbury, Grisel received the Stimson Fellowship to head a project jointly housed at the Immigration Law Clinic at UC Davis School of Law and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, through which she co-founded “Know Your Rights” programs at two local ICE-contracted facilities. These projects provided individual representation, pro bono referrals, pro se materials, and case consultations to hundreds of detained immigrants in removal proceedings. Grisel also provided community presentations regarding constitutional rights when confronted by law enforcement and supervised law students in removal defense cases before the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Grisel is fluent in Spanish and graduated from the University of Chicago Law School where she received the Tony Patiño Fellowship. Prior to law school she worked as a paralegal and coordinator at the National Immigrant Justice Center. She attended the University of Notre Dame for her B.A.