More than 120 attorneys, students, faculty, staff and alumni took part in October's sixth annual Immigration Law Seminar hosted by ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Law's Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic.
By Sharon Dunmore L’17
The Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ School of Law hosted its sixth annual Immigration Law Seminar on Oct. 7, 2016, with presentations by several nationally renowned immigration law experts who spoke on issues that arise within the practice of immigration law.
The seminar welcomed to Greensboro more than 120 immigration attorneys from across North Carolina, as well as ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Law faculty, staff, alumni and students. ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Law Assistant Professor Heather Scavone facilitated the seminar, while various speakers gave presentations on the following topics:
- Selected Approaches to Contesting Deportability; Dan Kesselbrenner, Executive Director of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyer’s Guild
- Updates from the USCIS Asylum Division, Including Current Trends in Unaccompanied Children’s Claims; Ted Kim, Deputy Director, Asylum Division, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
- Rethinking Protection for Vulnerable Migrants; Elizabeth Keyes, Assistant Professor, University of Baltimore School of Law
- The Lockbox, National Benefits Center, and Field Office: Practical Advice for Managing Expectations; Jay Weselmann, Department of Homeland Security, USCIS Field Office Director of the Raleigh-Durham Field Office
- Practice Pointers for Winning Humanitarian Parole Cases; Heather Scavone, Director of the Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic and Assistant Professor of Law at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ School of Law
Following the presentations, several ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Law students and alumni – including Holly Wilcox L’16, Daniel Karlsson L’16, Sharon Dunmore L’17 and Abigail Seymour L’17 – conversed with presenters in the Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic to gain practice tips and advice.
Wilcox had recently opened her own private immigration practice in North Carolina.
“The HILC event is always a wonderful networking opportunity, and it is great to see practicing attorneys from across the state coming together to share experiences,” she said. “In addition, Professor Scavone puts together a phenomenal list of speakers every year who are in the cutting edge of their fields and able to provide attorneys with the latest information to best assist their clients facing humanitarian immigration challenges.”
Seymour aspires to practice immigration law upon graduation from ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Law.
“It was incredibly helpful to hear from both practitioners who are representing clients as well as their government counterparts,” she said. “I took copious notes, all of it relevant, and all of it will help me in my future practice. This is my third year attending, and each year the panelists knock it out of the park.”