Folks, once in a while I receive a comment which is more than just feedback on something about which I've written or spoken...it is, unto itself, a thoughtful and intelligent observation which will be appreciated by many or most of my readers. Today's blog entry is one such case and the writer, attorney Karen Samuels, has kindly agreed to let me reproduce her comments to share with you. After reading this, you will understand why the synopsis of my response to Karen was basically "relax...you can't help but succeed when you view your profession the way you view it, Karen"...(-:
Dear Mr. Latour:
I read your article, “When it Really is the Immigration Lawyer's Fault v. Rethinking Ineffective Assistance of Immigration Counsel,” in today’s ILW.COM. This is a topic that is close to my heart because my fear is that if I practice immigration law on my own, I will become one of those attorneys in your article. And that fear has prevented me from opening my own immigration law practice.
I took an immigration course in law school in 1992. In those days, there were no immigration law clinics at my school, and, although I enjoyed the course, I never thought of working in that field. In 1997, I worked on an immigration matter for a friend. It went well; however, if I had known then what I know now, I would have referred him to my immigration law professor. In 2004, I thought about practicing immigration law, but had a difficult time obtaining work in the field due to the lack of experience and the fact that I do not speak a second language. My attempts to work as a volunteer ended with the same results.
To get an idea of what it is currently like working in immigration law, I called immigration attorneys – some on the recommendation of my brother, who is an immigration officer in Miami. No one returned my calls. Oh, wait! I lie. There was one attorney’s number I called, and, while it was ringing and ringing, I decided that the person was not going to return my call anyway, so I hung up. Well, I was wrong. He called me right back and said that someone had called his number. He did speak with me and offered some advice, for which I was grateful, but explained that it would be difficult to get attorneys to return my calls because I would be viewed as competition.
So I took a week-long immigration law seminar in Des Moines, Iowa. Half-way through the seminar, I was so excited about the work that I asked the instructor if I could do volunteer work in his office. He told me that I just have to make my own mistakes. I then returned to Florida and started taking webinars. And again, I applied for many immigration jobs, even where they insisted on 3 to 5 years experience. In one of my job applications, I created a secondary assistant position from the virtual office immigration lawyer position that was being advertised. They must have found it quite laughable.
Recently, I did some pro bono immigration work for a friend, here in Tampa, and a client in Pensacola, FL, who was in the U.S. on a J-1 visa and who was soon to return to Ghana because his employment was at an end. To be sure I wasn’t giving bad advice, I did a lot of research and attempted to find an experienced immigration attorney who knew what I was talking about (I was unable to do this). [I advised him as best I could]; I felt it was better to err on the side of caution. Clients pay you to know, so how can I, in good conscience, charge them?
Nonetheless, everything I have learned so far has brought me to this one stark conclusion: I will never get anywhere unless I… make mistakes. It was the very reason I never learned to skate well: I was afraid to fall – until someone pushed me, and I learned that it wasn't the end of the world. Of course, I was the only one hurt in that incident (and perhaps it was only my pride). In this arena, I am aware that the stakes are high. My lack of knowledge could really harm someone and her family. I have read all the horror stories. But what choice do I have? Referring them to someone else is not going to help me or the next client. Having said that, I know me, and I know I will do just that – refer them to a more knowledgeable attorney. But at some point, and that point is coming soon, I am going to have to trust that doing the best I can will save the day for my client. And if it doesn't, I will have to try to make amends. In the interim, I continue to study. Next week I will be attending a(nother) basic immigration law seminar – this one is for two days. Again, I am very excited, but this time, upon completion, I will face the fear and put up my own shingle anyway.
In reflecting on the important issues you discuss in your article, I think one of the things that we, as lawyers, need to do a better job with is mentoring. If one finds himself outside the regular channels of networking, there is very little in the way of mentoring, or simply connecting with peers, that exists to assist the novice, who is left to make his own way and, perhaps, to cause harm to his client. Yes, there are seminars, webinars, and webcasts, but one has to hunt and peck a great deal to find inexpensive ways to ensure that the lack of substantive experience will not inure to the detriment of an unsuspecting client, who has saved up all his hard-earned money for an attorney to help him and his family have a chance at a better life in America.
Furthermore, to effect the change for which you argue, we, as immigration lawyers, may have to hold ourselves responsible for finding ways to reduce the number of sins our fellow attorneys commit. How do we make the majority of us measurably more competent in our practice? Perhaps we could treat immigration lawyers - those not affiliated with a firm - somewhat like accredited representatives and have mandatory free or inexpensive basic trainings, on certain aspects of immigration law, which would be administered by the AILA, and certifications, which would be issued by the BIA. Without this certification, solo practitioners would not be allowed to represent anyone. Also, there may be other types of law - patent or tax, for example - from which we could learn how to ensure a degree of competence among the lawyers who practice within the field.
Until we fix the problem, I hope you will keep writing about this and your experience and expertise in the complicated field of immigration law. I would love to read a Horror (Immigration) Stories corner of ILW that would feature in each issue one terrible job done by a lousy immigration attorney and dissect the steps he took and failed to take and the results obtained.
Respectfully,
Karen Samuels
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