How and where do you find immigration laws, and once you find them, how do you use them? Knowing how to find the law, and how to write clearly and effectively are essential parts of every immigrant advocate's job. This hands-on, four-week e-learning course will focus on building fundamental legal research and writing skills. Through readings, webinars, and exercises, participants will learn methods for conducting legal research using primary and secondary immigration source books and the Internet. Students will practice writing persuasive letters and declarations, and will receive substantive feedback from the instructors. The instructors will also discuss client interview techniques and how to advocate for clients before DHS. The course is aimed at practitioners who have had little experience with legal writing and research.
Topics include:
-Sources of Immigration Legal Authority
-How to Find Immigration Legal Authority
-Persuasive Legal Writing
-Advocating for Clients with DHS
-Client Interview Techniques
The course requires a time commitment of approximately four hours per week for each of the four weeks of the course. This time will be spent in different activities, including reading assignments, exercises, and participation in five webinars conducted on consecutive Wednesdays, as listed above. The course will be interactive, with opportunities for online discussion among students, and between the students and the instructors. The instructors for this course will be CLINIC attorneys Jennie Guilfoyle and Charles Wheeler. For questions about the course content, please contact Jennie Guilfoyle at jguilfoyle@cliniclegal.org. Note that successful completion of the course requires participation, not simply registration. Before you register, please carefully consider the dates and times of the scheduled webinars, as well as the additional time required each week for completion of the reading and assignments. Before registering for this training, please make sure that you will be available for these webinars.

Training Level:
Introductory. This is an introduction to immigration legal research and writing. Basic familiarity with the immigration system, especially family-based immigration, is assumed.

Cost:
$200 per person for CLINIC affiliate agencies (paying annual dues). $225 per person for other nonprofit agency staff. $325 per person for private attorneys and staff.

Registration:
The training is for the staff of Catholic Charities and other community-based organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status, and attorneys and legal staff of private law offices. If you are registering as staff of a community-based organization, you must fax a copy of your IRS 501(c)(3) letter designating your agency as a nonprofit entity to: CLINIC at 202-635-2649 to the attention of Andrés Abella or to his e-mail: aabella@cliniclegal.org. Your registration will be confirmed upon receipt of this letter. If you are an attorney, please include your state bar number. Payment is by credit card only. Please note that only the person who registers for the training has authorized access to course webinars and the e-learning website and posted materials. Please be sure to register under the correct category and for the correct training. All registration changes or cancellations are subject to an administrative charge of $70.00. Please note that CLINIC can only issue refunds for an e-learning course until one week prior to the first day of the training. Be sure to list the full name and a working email address for each individual taking this course. We will communicate with each registrant via email only, so it is very important that we have the correct name and email address for each registrant. On the registration form, please provide us the name and email address of the individual who will be taking the course. Space is limited. The deadline for registration is January 4, 2012, or sooner if registration is filled. For registration information contact Andres Abella at aabella@cliniclegal.org. Register by clicking here.