Immigration Practice Clinic
About Us
Students in the Immigration Practice Clinic have full responsibility for defending clients against deportation in the Memphis Immigration Court, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the federal courts of appeals. As part of that work, students write complex legal briefs, argue cases, conduct fact investigation, interview witnesses and clients, and represent clients in administrative law trials. Students also engage in advocacy in partnership with local and national immigrants' rights organizations.
What Students Can Expect
- Conducting legal research and writing, drafting pleadings and motions, advocacy, interpersonal professional communication, problem-solving, client and witness interviewing and counseling, discovery, and litigation strategy.
- Conducting research that navigates through federal and agency cases, statutes, and regulations to develop nuanced arguments in support of client's case.
- Writing briefs for clients before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Collaborating, preparing and submitting work product, meeting deadlines, case management, and attorney ethics.
- Counseling clients. With guidance from the professor, students analyze and discuss best options for avoiding deportation with their client.
- Establishing rapport with their clients and building a client-centered attorney-client relationship.
Immigration Clinic Director
Alvaro A. Manrique Barrenechea
Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor of Law
Alvaro Barrenechea LLM'19 earned his law degree from Universidad de Lima Law School in Peru in 2013. Before moving to the United States, he practiced in the field of international commercial arbitration at the Centro de Arbitraje de la Camara de Comercio de Lima. Alvaro joined Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors in 2015 and has been responsible for several projects including TNJFON’s Woodbine Immigration Intake Clinic, the Families Together educational series, and the Oye Vecino podcast, which he currently co-hosts. Alvaro’s practice at TNJFON focuses on providing legal representation to individuals and families that are making the United States their second home.
FAQs
Have Questions?
Contact the Legal Clinic administrator.