Immigration lawyers are like a breed of their own. They should be in a professional category separate from other lawyers who suffer from the disparaging laywers jokes and overall general public disdain. What makes them different from lawyers in the legal industry? Here's five reasons.
1. Immigration lawyers advocate against immigration laws designed to separate families and loved ones. The primary purpose of immigration lawyers is to provide advocacy for individual clients (normal people who may not be able to understand their rights and options) that want to be reunited with their families due to harsh and antiquated immigration laws. Their clients are normally people who have been wrongfully denied a federal benefit or unable to grasp the nuisances of the law. Compared to some lawyers who represent multinational corporations or conglomerates seeking for tax havens and taxation loopholes.
2. Immigration lawyers advocate against the federal government, not against another private party, and not against a business entity. They solely challenge federal organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security, and all the different branches of DHS, such as USCIS, Department of State, National Visa Center, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration lawyers do not litigate against another spouse nor family member, if anything they normally represent the entire immediate family in the hopes of gaining an immigration benefit.
3. Most immigration lawyers are sole prioprietors, or they work in a small to medium size law firms. This in turns means it allows them to become quite familiar with their clients and their clients personal background. Cases are generally filed by the applicant's last name, not a case file number or by reference number. Thereby giving immigration attorneys an intimate knowledge of each client's background, family history, education and work history. Every case is a person that they know and for a period of time, not just a mere case file.
4. Most immigration lawyers make very little money and spend long hours on their cases. Because visa cases filed with the State Department or USCIS usually face a backlog anywhere from months to years, the same attorney or law firm may be the representative for the client for years. Moreover, most immigration attorneys charge a flat fee or project based fee so clients are not on an hourly schedule. This fee schedule takes into account the estimated amount of time each case may take but not the length of time, so a 40 hour case may take six months to finish thereby putting the lawyer on the hook for the entire period of time and longer if the case is not resolved.
5. Immigration attorneys are generally not rich. As number (4) long hours in a flat fee schedule means there's no room for excessive billable hours or exorbitant legal fees. Regardless, most immigration lawyers do find reward in their work in the appreciation and gratitude they receive from their clients. By seeing the joyful and emotional connections and reunions that they make possible, from seeing families separate by arbitrary and capricious laws, and then to be able to make a difference in someone's life is simply priceless.
Most attorneys that decide to specialize in immigration law essentially do it for their personal reasons, whether it's because they are an immigrant themselves, or they thoroughly enjoy a judicial system that does more good than cause acrimony. They either are addicted to assisting those who may not have a voice or wrongfully denied a right or benefit. They chip away at the Immigration and Nationality Act and advocate for changes that would affect thousands of lives. All for personal gratification of knowing that they are contributing to the enrichment of lives of others, because it's certainly not for the legal fees.
While there's no official report or survey on the level of satisfaction of lawyers based on the type of law they specialize in, you can simply see from the news reports of attacks on lawyers inside and outside of the courtroom, and the combined number of lawyers that are suspended, disbarred, or disciplined each year and you will find that very few of those are immigration lawyers.
It is true that immigration lawyers are not immune to criticisms from their clients because of cases that are denied by the government. It is reasonable to attribute such denial to the quality of work of the attorney in charge but such complaints are rare and far in between. In the end, the vast number of satisfied clients far outweigh the few negative ones which makes immigration lawyers grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in society one family at a time.
1. Immigration lawyers advocate against immigration laws designed to separate families and loved ones. The primary purpose of immigration lawyers is to provide advocacy for individual clients (normal people who may not be able to understand their rights and options) that want to be reunited with their families due to harsh and antiquated immigration laws. Their clients are normally people who have been wrongfully denied a federal benefit or unable to grasp the nuisances of the law. Compared to some lawyers who represent multinational corporations or conglomerates seeking for tax havens and taxation loopholes.
2. Immigration lawyers advocate against the federal government, not against another private party, and not against a business entity. They solely challenge federal organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security, and all the different branches of DHS, such as USCIS, Department of State, National Visa Center, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration lawyers do not litigate against another spouse nor family member, if anything they normally represent the entire immediate family in the hopes of gaining an immigration benefit.
3. Most immigration lawyers are sole prioprietors, or they work in a small to medium size law firms. This in turns means it allows them to become quite familiar with their clients and their clients personal background. Cases are generally filed by the applicant's last name, not a case file number or by reference number. Thereby giving immigration attorneys an intimate knowledge of each client's background, family history, education and work history. Every case is a person that they know and for a period of time, not just a mere case file.
4. Most immigration lawyers make very little money and spend long hours on their cases. Because visa cases filed with the State Department or USCIS usually face a backlog anywhere from months to years, the same attorney or law firm may be the representative for the client for years. Moreover, most immigration attorneys charge a flat fee or project based fee so clients are not on an hourly schedule. This fee schedule takes into account the estimated amount of time each case may take but not the length of time, so a 40 hour case may take six months to finish thereby putting the lawyer on the hook for the entire period of time and longer if the case is not resolved.
5. Immigration attorneys are generally not rich. As number (4) long hours in a flat fee schedule means there's no room for excessive billable hours or exorbitant legal fees. Regardless, most immigration lawyers do find reward in their work in the appreciation and gratitude they receive from their clients. By seeing the joyful and emotional connections and reunions that they make possible, from seeing families separate by arbitrary and capricious laws, and then to be able to make a difference in someone's life is simply priceless.
Most attorneys that decide to specialize in immigration law essentially do it for their personal reasons, whether it's because they are an immigrant themselves, or they thoroughly enjoy a judicial system that does more good than cause acrimony. They either are addicted to assisting those who may not have a voice or wrongfully denied a right or benefit. They chip away at the Immigration and Nationality Act and advocate for changes that would affect thousands of lives. All for personal gratification of knowing that they are contributing to the enrichment of lives of others, because it's certainly not for the legal fees.
While there's no official report or survey on the level of satisfaction of lawyers based on the type of law they specialize in, you can simply see from the news reports of attacks on lawyers inside and outside of the courtroom, and the combined number of lawyers that are suspended, disbarred, or disciplined each year and you will find that very few of those are immigration lawyers.
It is true that immigration lawyers are not immune to criticisms from their clients because of cases that are denied by the government. It is reasonable to attribute such denial to the quality of work of the attorney in charge but such complaints are rare and far in between. In the end, the vast number of satisfied clients far outweigh the few negative ones which makes immigration lawyers grateful for the opportunity to make a difference in society one family at a time.
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