National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild

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Immigration Damages Litigation

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IMMIGRATION DAMAGES LITIGATION

 A Continuing Legal Education Seminar

Friday, January 11, 2013
8:45AM - 5:00PM

University of Miami School of Law
1311 Miller Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33146

This site is wheelchair-accessible.

This one-day training will focus on using litigation as a tool to hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct and abuse committed against noncitizens in detention facilities, on the border, and during vehicle stops and raids. Topics will include: Litigation under the Federal Tort Claims Act, Bivens, § 1983, and motion and discovery practice.

Click here for Event Flyer [PDF]

REGISTRATION AND FEES

Online Registration IS NOW OPEN.

Fees increase by $25 more for registration the day of the seminar. 
Materials not guaranteed to same-day registrants.

Seminar Fees (lunch included). Please click on the appropriate category:

PROGRAM

8:00 – 8:45:  Registration

8:45 – 9:00:   Introductory Remarks

Trina Realmuto, Rebecca Sharpless, Brigitt Keller

9:00 – 10:00:   Accountability Litigation 101

  • Using damages actions to further immigration options and increase accountability
  • Cause of action under § 1983, Bivens and FTCA, other available statutes
  • Basics: who to sue, actionable conduct, statute of limitations
  • Quantifying damages
  • Fee agreements and attorneys’ fees

Javier Maldonado, Law Office of Javier Maldonado, San Antonio, TX
Ghita Schwarz, Center for Constitutional Rights, New York, NY
Moderator: Brigitt Keller, Nat'l Police Accountability Project/NLG, NYC, NY

10:00 – 11:00:   Anatomy of Detention Abuse and Illegal Arrest Cases

  • Step-by-Step Analysis
  • Choosing defendants, venue, and claims
  • The challenges of multiple actors
  • Using damage actions in the immigration context: “U” visas, prosecutorial discretion
    and motions to suppress

Michael Avery, Suffolk University School of Law, Boston, MA
Rebecca Sharpless, University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, FL

11:00 – 11:15:   Morning Break

11:15 – 12:30:   Surviving Dispositive Motions

  • Iqbal strategies
  • Bivens: Responding to “Special Factors” and Alternative Remedial Scheme Arguments
  • FTCA: Responding to “discretionary function” issues
  • Overcoming absolute and qualified immunity

Philip Hwang, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, CA
Lee Gelernt, ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, New York, NY
Moderator: Farrin Anello, University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, FL

12:30 – 1:30:    Lunch Discussion (box lunches provided)

Civil rights lawyer Arthur Kinoy once said, “The test for a people’s lawyer is not always the technical winning or losing of the formal proceedings. The real test is the impact of the legal activities on the morale and understanding of the people involved in the struggle." Over lunch we will discuss how litigators and activists might support common goals, why it is important for litigators to support movements, and the advantages of doing so.

Facilitator: King Downing, Human Rights-Racial Justice Center, New York, NY

1:45 – 3:00:   Discovery Strategies

  • Plaintiff goals and concerns (retaliation, family status)
  • Strategies to protect undocumented plaintiffs (Pseudonyms, motions to seal, for protective orders, motions in limine)
  • Conducting discovery where individual is abroad
  • Interrogatories, depositions and examinations of law enforcement officers

Jonathan Feinberg, Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg LLP, Phila., PA
Annie Lai, Yale Law School, New Haven, CT
Moderator: Trina Realmuto, National Immigration Project/NLG

3:00-3:15:  Afternoon Break

3:15 – 5:00:  Litigation Lessons

The seminar will conclude with an interactive session on cutting-edge litigation involving damages claims based on unlawful detention, lack of medical care, conspiracy to commit civil rights violations, and related Fourth and Fifth Amendment claims. Panelists will discuss their respective litigation and share the lessons they have learned. Expert discussion leader will pose and answer related questions from panelists and seminar attendees.   

Ira J. Kurzban, Kurzban Kurzban Weinger Tetzeli & Pratt P.A., Miami, Florida (discussion leader)

John DeLeon, Law Offices of Chavez & De Leon, P.A., Miami, Florida
Matt Adams, Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Seattle, WA
Andre Segura, ACLU Immigrant Rights Project, New York, NY
Moderator: Rebecca Sharpless, Univ. of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, FL

5:00 Onwards: HAPPY HOUR SOCIAL at a local pub (Venue TBA)

CLE CREDIT

  • A request for CLE credit will be submitted to the Florida Bar. Individuals also may seek CLE credit from other states independently.   

FACULTY

  • Click here to read the biographies of our expert faculty.

HOTEL AND TRANSPORTATION

Holiday Inn Coral Gables
1350 South Dixie Hwy (US1)
Coral Gables, FL 33146
(305) 667-5611
1-800-HOLIDAY (1-800-465-4329)

Ask for the University of Miami 2013 room rate!
(For reference, the 2012 room rate for a Standard King or Double was $132)
Reservation link here

SPONSORS

Co-Sponsored by National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), National Police Accountability Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NPAP), University of Miami School of Law, National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Southern Region Chapter, and National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Miami Law Student Chapter.

All proceeds of the seminar support the work of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), a network of lawyers and legal community workers engaged in immigration law and practice. NIPNLG works to diminish discrimination against noncitizens and to preserve, defend, and extend the rights of all immigrants in the United States.


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