Professor Mauricio Noroña, an immigration law specialist, shares insights on his unique path to immigration law, challenges faced by lawyers and clients in this practice area, and his experiences as an immigrant. He discusses different roles as a solo practitioner, non-profit supervisor, and clinical professor. The conversation covers the complexities of immigration law, ethical considerations, navigating work-life balance, and motivations for clinical teaching in law education.
Mauricio Noroña's journey to immigration law from being undocumented demonstrates the diverse paths lawyers can take in this field.
The importance of legal representation in immigration cases is emphasized, showcasing the need for reform and advocacy for systemic challenges.
Deep dives
Personal Journey to Immigration Law
Mauricio Nironia shares his unexpected path to immigration law starting from being undocumented, his experience at Baruch College and CUNY Law School, and overcoming family struggles with immigration lawyers to eventually falling in love with the field.
Motivations for Legal Career
Mauricio discusses the decision to become a lawyer influenced by engagements with legal organizations while living in impacted communities. He highlights the power dynamics and ethics in legal practices while emphasizing the importance of proper communication and ethical conduct.
Challenges in Immigration Law
The complexities of the immigration system are detailed, comparing its obscurity and challenges for practitioners to other legal areas, emphasizing the difficulty in obtaining clear legal guidance and interacting with clients under such circumstances.
Role of Legal Representation
The podcast delves into the vital role of legal representation in immigration cases, highlighting the significant impact of having legal assistance for individuals facing the system's intricacies and advocating for reform to address the systemic challenges within immigration law.
In today's episode I speak with Professor Mauricio Noroña who is a Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor of Law at the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic at Cardozo Law School. In that role, he supervises Clinic students on individual and impact litigation matters and drives large-scale immigration policy advocacy projects. Before joining the clinic, Noroña was the supervising attorney at African Services Committee where he led a team providing comprehensive legal services to immigrants and asylum seekers in New York City, and before that he worked as a solo immigration law practitioner. In law school, he was a Haywood Burns Fellow in Civil and Human Rights.
In our conversation we discuss his path to immigration law; the ways in which immigration law is a unique practice area with unique challenges for lawyers and clients; his own experiences as an immigrant to the United States and then as a solo practitioner, non-profit supervising attorney, and now clinical professor; how he thinks about his own participation in the system; the different ways to be an immigration lawyer today; and more.
This episode is sponsored, edited, and engineered by LawPods, a professional podcast production company for busy attorneys.
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