Immigration Basics for Criminal Defense and Family Law Attorneys

Criminal defense lawyers and family law attorneys must know how to evaluate immigration law consequences and opportunities any time they represent a foreign national (or sometimes the family member of a foreign national). This webinar provides an introduction to these complex issues, with special focus on criminal defense lawyers’ obligations under Padilla v. Kentucky to advise a client of the criminal consequences of a plea, and the process for representing unaccompanied minors in family court and before the immigration agencies. After this webinar, attorneys will be able to evaluate these immigration law issues in their practices and will know when to cooperate or consult with immigration counsel to protect and advise their clients.

Professor Alison Peck, WVU College of Law 
Alison Peck is the Director of the WVU College of Law's Immigration Clinic. In addition, she teaches and writes in the area of global sustainable development, including trade, immigration, and environmental law. Professor Peck leads WVU students every summer in a study abroad experience in Uganda, mentoring high school students in school-wide entrepreneurship competitions and generating new ideas for sustainable development both at home and abroad. Professor Peck practiced international arbitration and commercial litigation with Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP in Washington, D.C. She clerked for Judge Jon O. Newman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge G. Federico Mancini of the Court of Justice for the European Communities. She received a J.D. from Yale Law School and an LL.M. in Agricultural Law from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.