Q&A: Advanced Litigation Track

Robert Pauw is a partner in the Seattle law firm of Gibbs Houston Pauw. He has been counsel for plaintiffs in many significant immigration cases, including Zerezghi v. USCIS, 955 F.3d 802 (9th Cir. 2020) (challenge to marriage fraud penalty), Zuniga v. Barr, 946 F.3d 464 (9th Cir. 2019) (right to counsel in withholding-only proceedings), Vega-Anguiano v. Barr, 942 F.3d 945 (9th Cir. 2019) (collateral challenge to reinstatement of removal order), and Wayne Smith and Hugo Armendariz v. United States, Case No. 12.562 (IACHR 2010) (deportation policies violate the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man). He has taught immigration law at Seattle University for many years, and is one of the founding members of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project in Seattle. Mr. Pauw is author of Litigating Immigration Cases In Federal Court (AILA 5th ed. forthcoming). He has received AILA’s Jack Wasserman Award for Excellence in Litigation and the NLG’s Carol King Award.

Deborah Anker is a Clinical Professor of Law and founder of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program (HIRC). She also serves as senior researcher for the Refugee Law Initiative of the University of London. Author of the leading treatise, Law of Asylum in the United States, Prof. Anker has co-drafted groundbreaking gender asylum guidelines and amicus curiae briefs. Prof. Anker’s work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court as well as by various international tribunals. She has received numerous awards including the Elmer Fried Excellence in Teaching Award from AILA, the AILA Founder’s Award for the Women’s Refugee Project, the AILA Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law, AILA’s Arthur C. Helton Memorial Human Rights Award for the groundbreaking work of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, and the Pro Bono Award of the Immigration Section of Federal Bar Association.

Jeffrey S. Chase is an immigration lawyer in New York City. He is a former immigration judge and senior legal advisor at the Board of Immigration Appeals. He is a past recipient of the AILA’s Pro Bono Award. Jeff founded and leads the Round Table of Former Immigration Judges, which was awarded AILA’s 2019 Advocacy Award, and serves on the Boards of the Association of Deportation Defense Attorneys (ADDA) in NYC, and Central American Legal Assistance (CALA) in Brooklyn, NY. He also volunteers with the New Sanctuary Coalition. His immigration law blog can be found at jeffreyschase.com.

Brian Scott Green is a solo practitioner based in Denver. He has practiced law since 2001 and been a member of AILA since 2004. Brian began his career as a judicial law clerk, litigator, and trial lawyer handling civil and criminal matters in state and federal courts. He has successfully challenged denials of I-129 and I-140 petitions, visas, changes and extensions of status, I-485 applications, and findings of inadmissibility. A frequent volunteer, Brian is a member of AILA’s Administrative Litigation Task Force, an AILA mentor on Border & Admissions issues, and a former CBP co-liaison. Outside of AILA, Brian is a litigation mentor with ASISTA’s U visa project. He is a graduate of Washington & Jefferson College and Case Western Reserve University School of Law. 

Evelyn R.G. Smallwood is an associate at Hatch Rockers Immigration in Durham, NC, where she exclusively practices immigration law, including affirmative filings, deportation defense, and appeals. She became a North Carolina Board Certified Specialist in Immigration Law in November 2015, and is admitted to the Middle District of North Carolina as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits. The bulk of her deportation defense is representing Central American Asylum seekers in the Charlotte Immigration Court, one of the most hostile jurisdictions in the country. Among her proudest accomplishments, she traveled to Artesia, New Mexico, in October 2014 and Karnes City, Texas, in January 2015, to represent women and children who are being detained while seeking asylum in the United States. 

Jonathan (Jon) D. Wasden is an Administrative Procedures Act (APA) litigation attorney, focusing on business immigration issues. His practice blends expertise in the Immigration and Nationality Act, Administrative Procedures Act, Separation of Powers Doctrine, and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. He began his legal career as a trial attorney in the US Air Force, appearing in over fifty criminal trials in six years. He then joined the US Department of Justice, Civil Division, Office of Immigration Litigation-District Court Section, where he defended immigration regulations and decisions under the APA. He travelled extensively, and litigated cases in 17 district courts and 3 circuit courts across the country. His last position in government was with the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO), focusing on employment based legal issues, and advising on litigation in these areas. Jon now works in private practice consulting with clients on strategies to overcome immigration denials, and appealing cases in federal court under the APA. He lives in the Washington, DC, area, with his family, and is still a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve.

Leslie K. Dellon is the staff attorney (Business Immigration) at the American Immigration Council, where she encourages business immigration lawyers to consider litigation as another tool to serve their clients, engages in impact litigation and represents amicus curiae before courts and agencies. In addition to her extensive business immigration law experience, she previously handled general commercial and corporate matters, including civil litigation. She is a past AILA DC Chapter chair and has served on AILA National and DC Chapter committees. She has a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.